Ap English and Composition Synthesis

ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND COMPOSITION
SECTION II
Total time -1hr 15min

Question 1
(Suggested time- 45 minutes. This question counts for one-third of the total essay section score.)
Directions: The following prompt is based on the accompanying five sources.
This question requires you to synthesize a variety of sources into a coherent, well-written essay. When you synthesize sources, you refer to them to develop your position and cite them accurately. Your argument should be central; the sources should support the argument. Avoid merely summarizing sources.
Remember to attribute both direct and indirect references.
Introduction
President Barak Hussein Obama tends to be the most influential president in the United States of America in comparison to the last recent presidents. However, some feel like he is taking his job seriously enough. Irresponsibility is not an exception while trying to lead a country.
Assignment
Read the following sources (including the introductory information) carefully. Then, in an essay that synthesizes at least three of the sources, develop a position about what issues should be considered most important in making decisions as the president of the USA.
You may refer to the sources by their title’s (Source A, Source B, etc.) or by the descriptions in the parentheses.

Source A (Teuxeira)
Source B (Peek)
Source C (Photo)
Source D (Fein)
Source E ( Ivanov)

Source A
Teixeira, Ruy. “Good Speech, Bad Strategy Obama's State of the Union doesn't bode well for his coalition” 13 Feb. 2013.

Source A
Teixeira, Ruy. “Good Speech, Bad Strategy Obama's State of the Union doesn't bode well for his coalition” 13 Feb. 2013.

The following is from the web page of a person dedicated to Obama. The Obama team is not unaware of [these necessities]. But the strategy they've developed to address them isn't entirely adequate. It seems to consist of emphasizing particular fights like immigration reform, gun control, same sex marriage, and climate change that appeal most strongly to different elements of the Obama coalition. This strategy does have merit. The thought is that even if all these fights don’t yield legislative victories (and they won’t so long as Republicans control part of Congress), they will nevertheless serve to generate more enthusiasm among key parts of the coalition, without imposing much of an electoral cost. Moreover, these fights are all substantively important in policy terms, so any victories attained will be important breakthroughs. But the strategy has serious limitations. To begin with, even if these issues do little damage to Democrats’ standing among white working class voters, they will also do little to win their support. These voters are primarily looking for material improvements in their lives, improvements that are not possible without strong economic growth and the jobs, tight labor markets, and rising incomes such growth would bring. In a low-growth environment, these voters will remain exceptionally pessimistic and inclined to blame Democrats and government for their lack of upward mobility. Even more serious, core groups of the Obama coalition will be weakened by continued slow growth. Obama was well-supported by these groups in 2012, but a sluggish economic environment, where unemployment continues pushing 8 percent, will try these voters’ patience. How much enthusiasm will Hispanics, blacks, youth, single women, etc., whose unemployment rates are considerably above the national average, continue to have for a party that cannot do more to improve economic conditions? Attrition in support will be inevitable in such a scenario and the opportunity to consolidate a dominant coalition will be lost.

Source B
Peek, Liz. “President Obama has abandoned America's unemployed” 1 Feb. 2013.

Source B
Peek, Liz. “President Obama has abandoned America's unemployed” 1 Feb. 2013.

The following is from an online article. The most recent news on unemployment is bleak – only 157,000 jobs were added last month, and the unemployment rate rose again, to 7.9%. There are 23 million Americans unable to find full-time work. Many have been disadvantaged by the Obama administration’s liberal agenda. Others have simply been left behind as the president focuses on matters more significant to him – such as climate change and taxing the rich. Our jobs shortage has disappeared as an issue – buried by a news community anxious to reelect President Obama. The White House has scuttled all discussions of employment and even of the economy. In his second inaugural address, the president waxed enthusiastic about gay rights and the sanctity of our entitlements programs, and also proclaimed that America’s prosperity must “rest on the broad shoulders of a rising middle class.” How that class is supposed to rise when people can’t find jobs is a mystery – one that President Obama has yet to reveal. Mr. Obama only in passing mentioned that “an economic recovery has begun.” Well, it certainly didn’t get very far in the fourth quarter. In fact, output took a nosedive in the final three months of the year, contracting by 0.1% as businesses pared inventories, exports tumbled and government spending took a hit. Doubtless activity will return to modest growth in the current quarter, but the economic news reminds us: something is not quite right in this recovery.

Source C
<http://www.frugal-cafe.com/public_html />
Source C
<http://www.frugal-cafe.com/public_html />

The following photo is taken from the Frugal-Cafe photo archive.

Photo credit: Vickie Davidson

Source D
Fein, Leonard. “Barack Obama's Speech Appeals to Israelis' Best Instincts — and Interests” 30 March 2013.

Source D
Fein, Leonard. “Barack Obama's Speech Appeals to Israelis' Best Instincts — and Interests” 30 March 2013.

The following is from the web page of a person addressing President Barack Obama. President Obama’s speech in Jerusalem was not merely a home run; it was out of the park. Few people — truth to tell, I can think of none — combine eloquence and substance as well as Obama, and the shame of it is that there was no one on base when he delivered his major address while in Israel. “For the Jewish people, the journey to the promise of the state of Israel wound through countless generations. It involved centuries of suffering and exile, prejudice and pogroms and even genocide. Through it all, the Jewish people sustained their unique identity and traditions, as well as a longing to return home. And while Jews achieved extraordinary success in many parts of the world, the dream of true freedom finally found its full expression in the Zionist idea – to be a free people in your homeland.” These may be thought simple rhetorical flourishes, but they set the stage for the message Obama sought to communicate, a message about security, peace and prosperity and the links that tie them together. “We bear all that history on our shoulders. We carry all that history in our hearts. Today you, the young people of Israel, must write the next chapter in the great story of this great nation. “That’s your job. That’s my job. That’s the task of all of us.”

Source E Ivanov, Georgi . ”9 Foreign Policy Priorities For Obama's Second Term” 26 March 2013.
Source E Ivanov, Georgi . ”9 Foreign Policy Priorities For Obama's Second Term” 26 March 2013.

In this following article, the author suggests what President Obama's priorities should be in his second term. President Obama will win a second term, and given that he will not be constrained by electoral concerns, he can be braver in his foreign policy and create some positive change in the world, or so we can hope. 9. Government and finance. Raising the debt ceiling can potentially cripple the American economy, and if the current debt trends continue , the system will break. So, the president’s priority for the second term should be to continue to bring the country back from the brink of financial doom and work internationally to stop the creation of bubbles that threaten the viability of the entire global economy. 8. Dollar signs. Foreign policy is expensive, and with reduced budgets, Washington must delineate clear priorities. China and Russia should be the most important foreign policy commitments for Obama. 7. Iran. The establishment of official diplomatic relations is key for alleviating the pressures surrounding the country’s nuclear program, regardless of the protests that will come in result of it. In turn, Teheran can and must do more to gain the trust of the international community. An overture from Washington, notwithstanding the pointless hurt pride from 1979, would be a strong incentive to get out of Kindergarten and put in place some grown-up diplomacy on both sides 6. China. Beijing rising ability to project power worldwide – political, military and economic – will increasingly put America’s strategic interests in a smaller box, but China will not be able to displace America from its position in the world in any conceivable way this century. Using the important economic co-dependence between the two countries, Obama should put in place an irreversible trend for the deepening of cooperation between the two countries.