Your essay must show an accurate understanding of the principles of asylum from the assigned reading and must introduce specific information from throughout the novel(Rempell, Scott. Five Grounds 978-1479201723), indicating your thorough knowledge of its contents. In addition to structure, integration of quotes, punctuation, conciseness, and grammar, your essay will be graded on its use of the text to give thoroughly supported answers.
Read the 3rd, 4th and 5th links listed at the top of this page to understand what asylum is and what laws govern it. Then choose which of the characters — Lin, Sofia, or Tesafye — you believe most deserves to win an asylum case. Remember that, as the readings explain, asylum is decided in two phases. The analysis in the first phase is whether all the legal requirements are met. The analysis in the second phase is discretionary meaning that you are allowed to consider the positive and negative qualities of the applicant and weigh them against the circumstances they are in and their background. If a person doesn’t meet the legal requirements of step 1, they cannot win no matter how appealing their qualities are in step 2.
Organize your essay by analyzing your chosen character in terms of each phase, and argue why they are a better choice than the other two characters. Organization is key. First comes Phase 1: do they qualify? Run through each of the requirements. Then comes Phase 2: what good qualities does this character have, and how do they weigh against negative qualities. After you have analyzed the character of your choice, you should run both the other two through the same analysis to show they’re not as deserving.
I’m looking to see how focused you can stay, how well you can support your claims with details from the novel, how organized you keep this discussion, how well you document your sources MLA-style, and how convincing you are. Proper grammar and mechanics are obviously required.
You are free to do additional research into the subject of asylum or of the applicants’ home countries. Cite all your sources, including the ones given to you in these Unit instructions (and the novel itself). Papers that don’t follow MLA style for citation will not pass.