Assignment: Letter to Your RepresentativeDepending on the urgency of a social problem and policy timeline, you may not have the opportunity to attend a meeting with local, state, or federal representatives to vocalize your advocacy goals as they relate to the specific policies and agendas.As an advocacy professional, you have other means of communication that can influence decision makers and legislators. Some social workers communicate by writing letters and emails to their legislators on a regular basis—others might write to broader audiences by submitting a letter to the editor of a periodical or news site. Through direct and personalized correspondence, the social worker can develop a professional relationship with the legislator. The more letters a legislator receives, the more likely they are to become an ally and to be influenced to support and vote for your social change projects.For this Assignment, you will craft a message to the political leader(s) responsible for the policy or policy alternative you identified earlier in the course. As part of your Assignment, you will also send your message—either via physical mail or email—to your representative(s) and reflect on the experience. To Prepare:Locate the information for your local or state representative(s) responsible for the policy and/or policy alternative you selected earlier in the course. (Jaimie Ross heads the Florida Housing Coalition) you can make up an address Review the advocacy resources from the Council on Social Work Education and the American Psychological Association from the Learning Resources this week. Review the letter and email examples from the Sample Letters and Emails section of the Learning Resources this week. Determine whether you will write a letter or an email to your representative(s). (Consider the tips from your resources this week to make your decision.) Craft your message and send it to your local or state representative(s). By Day 7Complete the two-part Assignment.Part 1: Submit a 1- to 2-page message to your political representative(s). Address the following in your message: Use the appropriate structure for the delivery format (letter or email). Introduce yourself and your intent or request. Describe the social problem and impacts of the policy in question. (see wk4 assignment attached for social problem)Use facts, stories, or other details to appeal to the representative(s) and connect the policy work to their district or state. Provide a call to action—inspire your representative(s) to rise to this occasion. Part 2: Submit a 1-page reflection of your process for writing a message to your political representative(s). Address the following in your short reflection: Describe the experience of sending the message—either via letter or email—to your representative(s). How did it feel to formally advocate on behalf of a policy to alleviate a social problem you have thoroughly reviewed? Did you write a letter or an email? Explain your reasoning. Describe how you constructed the letter. Use the Council on Social Work Education and American Psychological Association resources from the Learning Resources this week to support your choices. Explain how you used your advocacy skills in your communication. What are your next steps as an advocate?

Christian Art in the Roman Empire Christ as the Good Shepherd is a rare free-standing sculpture in early Christian art. After watching the video below, describe why this is considered rare and why Christian art started to move away from the classical model. What were the potential problems with a sculpture of Christ that looks like the figure of Hermes? (Important: All posts should be brief paragraphs, 5-7 sentences with no quoted or paraphrased material. Please use your own words. Longer posts with irrelevant information will have points deducted.) Post on Time: All Discussion posts are due Wednesdays. You must post your initial discussion by the due date. After the due date you will have 2 days to respond to others (including responding to the professor if asked). If your initial post is not by the due date, you will receive a 0 for the assignment. Please note that you must post before seeing the work of other students. If you write an initial post in order to see other responses, then delete it and repost, or return to "edit" a post, you will receive a 0 grade. Keep it Short: Do NOT post more than 5 sentences and stick to the point. (any posts longer than 5 sentences will be deleted and you will be asked to re-post.) No one wants to read an entire essay or a bunch of random information. Make it short and conversational and answer the prompts directly.