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Consider this statement:

In a democracy, the successful politician resembles the ordinary citizen.

Write a unified essay in which you perform the following tasks. Explain what you think the above

statement means. Describe a specific situation in which the successful politician in a democracy doe

not resemble the ordinary citizen. Discuss what you think determines whether or not the successful

politician resembles the ordinary citizen.Sample Essay #1

A successful politician does resemble an ordinary citizen. The ordinary citizen voted

the politician in office. Ordinary citizens do not want a politician in office who is

different from them, like in moral, ethics and viewpoints. A politician would not be

successful, if the politician does not have the support of the ordinary citizen.

A situation in which a successful politician does not resemble the ordinary citizen, is

when a politician were to take a bribe, or go against his ethics and morals. An ordinary

would not take a bribe, or go against what he stands for. Politician has to do good work

for the ordinary citizen, instead of himself. A bribe would only benefit the politician

and not for the ordinary citizen.

A good politician resembles the ordinary citizens, because his success lies in the hands

of the ordinary citizens. If a politician does not do his job, or does something against

the ordinary citizens, they will vote him out of office. Most ordinary citizens have goo

character, and a successful politician must have good character.

SCORE = 1

Explanation of score:

This writer demonstrates only a tenuous understanding of the rhetorical assignment. There is a kerne

of an idea in the first paragraph, but the writer makes no attempt to develop or defend it. The second

paragraphs failure to connect its assertions to the prompt undercuts the essays clarity and focus; th

bribes example is an unproductive tangent that leads the essay off course.

The final paragraph fails to identify a determining factor or offer an opinion regarding whether or no

a politician should resemble an ordinary citizen. Language use is quite basic throughout, with many

repetitions and missteps in mechanics. The low score is ensured by the essays wandering focus,

failure to address all three tasks, and the writers inability to fully grasp the underlying concerns of t

prompt.

Sample Essay #2

A democracy is a government in which all citizens take part in determining how they ar

governed. A representative democracy is a government in which the citizens elect a

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incapable of making decisions for the whole of society, as ones opinions are slanted du

to a particular standpoint in society. Undoubtedly, a politicians need to be led by what

the ordinary person needs when making laws. However, who the ordinary person is

and what they want is less well defined.

In recent years, America has seen the rise of many common man politicians; Jimmy

Carter, with his rural upbringing, and George Bush, with his colloquial speech, are just a

few examples. In contradiction to these men, a few extraordinary politicians have give

rise to great democracy and achieved the goals of the ordinary citizen. Ted Kennedy is

certainly not of an ordinary American lineage, yet he has consistently voted for

legislation that benefits those in lower tax brackets and even on welfare. He has voted

against racial discrimination on all levels, as well as sexual, despite have the privilege o

being a wealthy white man in a patriarchy. While his standpoint is not that of the

majority and he would certainly not experience any discrimination nor financial woes, h

has maintained a policy towards incorporating all types of American people with all

types of ordinary problems that he has never experienced first hand.

This commitment to his constituents would indicate a great deal of understanding and

empathy for the plight of the common person, despite being one of the wealthiest

members of the Senate. Many sociologists see standpoint theory as having a greater

importance for those belonging to the lower classes. This individual needs to understan

those who hold power over him. However, in this case of the non-ordinary politician, to

be successful he or she needs to understand those in the lower statuses because these

are the very individuals who will be voting, thus holding power over the politician. It is

really an amazing system of checks-and-balances, as long as those individuals are willing

to participate in this process.

Ordinary citizens like to see politicians that resemble themselves, so they dont feel

disenfranchised. This often works well because the politician is well aware of the

problems of the people. However, this seems to work better on a local level, where

there are fewer types that one has to please. Also, temptations at higher levels of

government would tend to be more attractive options to the ordinary citizen politicianthan to the politician who has already achieved greater status.

One can conclude that an ordinary or not-so-ordinary politician can be successful as lon

as ones principles and focus on the needs of the people are not diminished. A politician

needs to be able to separate self-preservation and the desires of the people. One mus

always keep that in perspective.

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