English 3123 previous essay assignments, spring 2005

Essay 1

Read every word of the assignment carefully.

Choose one of the following options and respond in an argumentative essay of 1000-1250 words (in the body of the essay, excluding headers, name, date, title, works cited entries, etc.). Raise a central question at the end of your introduction that the rest of the paper strives to answer in the persuasive format.

For details of the physical formatting of your paper on paper—margins, headers, titles, etc.—see the simple stuff page. For guidelines on quotation and documentation, see the quotes and documentation page. All options require that you offer quotes from our readings to illustrate or substantiate your claims, so a works cited page is required.

I encourage you to seek my help with your paper outside of class. If my office hours don't mesh well with your schedule, let me know, and we'll make arrangements for other times.

Options:
1) Construct an argument between at least three different viewpoints in answer of the question, "Why do we work?" (You may use this question, word for word, as your "intro question" without fear of plagiarism.) You are not restricted to views expressed in our readings, but you must quote at least two of the articles we've read on work, and you must incorporate a bare minimum of three quotations into your discussion.

2) Argue for or against Marie Winn's contention that changes in children's habits of play are an unfortunate and damaging development in recent decades. A minimum of at least four quotations from Winn's article, "The End of Play," is required.

3) Argue for or against Pete Hamill's assertion that "Winning isn't 'the only thing'" in sports and/or in other aspects of life. Incorporate at least four quotes from Hamill's article and/or the Bennis article, "It's Time to Hang Up the Sports Clichés."

4) Construct an argument on the issue of whether or not it's appropriate to apply sports metaphors to life more generally. Quote from the Hamill and/or Bennis articles at least three times in your discussion.

Hint: The most important sentence in your essay will be the "intro question," because it sets up the lines of argument that the rest of the essay will address. I encourage you to run your intro question by me before writing past the introductory paragraph. Once you have a question in mind, feel free to see me during office hours, send email, or call me at home to make sure you start off on the right track. I cannot respond to whole drafts through email, but I will be happy to respond to your specific questions about any particular aspect of the essay.

Works Cited info: For each of the "handouts" articles, find the bibliographic information needed for works cited entries on the referring page you followed from the schedule of readings and assignments at chipspage.com. Page numbers are listed on the articles themselves.

Tips:
Every body paragraph's topic sentence should answer the intro question directly.
Sweat the details: use the GR, N, SS, and QD "handouts" and proofread closely.
Do seek my help outside of class.

Essay 2

Read the assignment carefully before starting your essay.

Address the topic below in argumentative essay of 1200-1500 words following the persuasive format.

For details on the physical formatting of your paper on paper—margins, headers, spacing, etc.—follow the simple stuff. For guidelines on quotation and documentation, see the quotes and documentation handout, paying special attention to the mechanics of citing poetry as outlined in QD4.

Note: You must turn in your paper both in hard copy and in electronic format (either on floppy disk or as an email attachment). Failure to meet this requirement will incur a five-point penalty in your grade.

The topic:
There are stereotypes and cultural expectations applied to each of the sexes which influence how we act as individual men and women. Consciously or unconsciously, we adhere to these stereotypes and expectations or react against them.

For women, these stereotypes and expectations include the notions that women are intellectually inferior to men; that women should be attractive; that women belong in the home, not in the workplace; that strong, independent women are "bitchy"; that women who acknowledge and act upon their natural sexual desires are morally "loose"; that women are supposed to be "ladylike"—passive, submissive, demure, cooperative, nurturing, polite, etc. For men, the stereotypes and expectations include the ideas that men are tough and unemotional; that "given the chance, all men would be whores"; that "real men" must be independent and aggressive; that men are not "real men" if they don't have latent cravings for violence and if they don't love football, power tools, and cars with big engines. In short, the stereotypes generally say that women should be selfless, pretty, and dainty, and that men should be "macho."

These cultural myths, expectations, and stereotypes are but a few of the many through which our American culture imposes its ideals of masculinity and femininity upon us as individuals. You should also consider other significant gender expectations placed upon men and women in American society.

Your task is to elaborate what you see as the greatest obstacles stereotypes and cultural expectations pose for each of the sexes (This means you deal with both sexes.). The central question you must argue is who suffers more, men or women, from the cultural expectations these stereotypes impose upon them: in other words, who has it worse? Men or women?

For each obstacle, you will need to 1) explain what the stereotype or cultural expectation is, and 2) show how the stereotype or cultural expectation poses obstacles or problems for the individual.

You must quote at least four poems that illustrate either the stereotypes or expectations you discuss or the obstacles that these cultural expectations bring about. You may also quote the articles we've read on gender issues, but these quotes will be above and beyond the four poems required. You are not restricted to the poetry on our syllabus: you may cite other poems or song lyrics of your choosing, but you must turn in copies of additional poems and/or lyrics along with the final draft of your paper.

Works Cited info: For the electronic "handouts" articles, find the bibliographic information needed for works cited entries on the referring page you followed from the schedule of readings and assignments at chipspage.com. Page numbers are listed on the articles themselves. The poems handed out in hard copy are taken from The Norton Introduction to Poetry. 7th edition. Ed. by J. Paul Hunter. New York: Norton, 1999. Page numbers:

"Barbie Doll" 33-34
"Mirror" 87
"Siren Song" 107
"Marks" 168-69
"A Red, Red Rose" 171-72
"The Laundromat" 448
"What's That Smell in the Kitchen?" 437

"Needs" 75
"Hard Rock Returns. . . ." 38
"We Real Cool" 82
"Disabled" 435-36
"What the Motorcycle Said" 199-200
"The Flea" 97-98

Essay 3

Choose one of the following options and respond in an argumentative essay of 1200-1500 words (in the body of the essay, excluding headers, name, date, title, works cited entries, etc.). Raise a central question at the end of your introduction that the rest of the paper strives to answer in the persuasive format.

For details of the physical formatting of your paper on paper—margins, headers, titles, etc.—see the simple stuff page. For guidelines on quotation and documentation, see the quotes and documentation page. All options require that you offer quotes from the readings to illustrate or substantiate your claims, so a works cited page is required.

I encourage you to seek my help with your paper outside of class, of course. If my office hours don't mesh well with your schedule, let me know, and we'll make arrangements for other times.

Options:
1) In current terminology, what were once called "broken homes" have become "single-parent households" or "blended families." More often than not, children are raised today either by single parents or in families including step-parents; many children have two separate homes, in a sense, according to a court-determined division of custody between biological parents. Develop an argument considering whether the family as a unit is disintegrating, as many politicians and other commentators suggest, or rather is evolving or changing form to meet the great social and economic changes of the last several decades. Cite any of our readings relevant to this topic, totaling at least three quotations minimum.

2) We have seen how arriving at a comprehensive definition of "family" can be difficult in these changing times. Argue against a definition of "family" that you find outdated or too limited (or too broad), and offer your own definition encompassing the significant changes in typical family structure over recent decades. While your definition need not deal only with types of families recognized by law and tradition, you must restrict your definition to groups that include one or more parents or parental surrogates and children—in other words, your soccer team, your street gang, your AA group, etc. are off limits. Quote from the appropriate reading(s) at least three times.

3) Construct an argument debating the issue of whether or not homosexual marriage should be legal throughout the U.S. Quote from any of the pertinent readings at least three times.

Note: Unless you can prove that the religion in question is absolutely, categorically "the one and only true religion," do not bring religion into the discussion as one of your major points of argument. Unless you can prove that the Bible is 100% verifiable fact, do not base any significant points of argument on any specific teachings or passages from the Bible.

4) Develop an argument for either one (not both) of the following two topics arising from Elizabeth Joseph's article, "My Husband's Nine Wives": a) Should polygamy be legal? or b) Is plural marriage (polygamy) more beneficial for women than monogamous marriage? In either case, quote Joseph's article at least three times in your discussion.

Essay 4

Quotations: All options require at least four quotes from the readings to illustrate or substantiate your claims, and a works cited page is required.

Outlines: Before you begin writing the essay, construct a topic sentence outline: begin the outline with the literal question your paper addresses, then give full topic sentences that answer the question directly for each primary point in your paper (i.e. for each body paragraph), just as they will appear in the essay itself, and conclude the outline with the paper's overall thesis, answering the central question directly and combining your essential points from the various topic sentences on your side of the argument.
On the date of peer response, in addition to bringing a complete draft of the paper to class, you will turn in this topic sentence outline for reading quiz credit. For a sample topic sentence outline, see Writing Tip #2 and/or the second sample outline on this paper proposal page.

I encourage you to seek my help with your paper outside of class. If my office hours don't mesh well with your schedule, let me know, and we'll make arrangements for other times.

Options:
1) Argument over the issue of whether the U.S. should adopt Islamic methods of punishment for criminal offenders.

2) Argument over which system of punishment is more barbaric, ours or the Islamic system.

3) Argument on the issue of whether Islamic methods of punishment are more effective in deterring crime.

4) Argument on whether or not government-sanctioned torture should be legalized in certain circumstances (which you must define).

5) Argument on whether Americans are significantly less racially prejudiced than they were a generation or so ago (going back as far as the 1960s).