Vous êtes sur la page 1sur 2

ENGL 114A Graded Essay 2 Assignment Earlier in the semester, Progression 1s essay dealt with political relationships and

how best to achieve a more perfect union between diverse cultures, balancing individual and group rights. Now, for Progression 2s essay, we shift focus to interpersonal gender relationshipsthe socalled Battle of the Sexes and how best to achieve a more perfect union between women and men in our society. As before, this essays objective is for you to formally enter and engage with some of the contentious arguments surrounding important contemporary issues that have a significant impact on modern gender relationships. During this Progression, you have not only read written texts but have also closely examined various visual/auditory texts including still photographs, student dramatic presentations, live-action films, music videos, and reality-based encounters with real people outside of class. As in the earlier essay, you will now critically think about the larger Big Idea implications behind these texts, and then formulate and present your own specific claims regarding these Big Ideas in an evidence-based argument essay format. Lets recap what we have covered, to jump-start your essays possible topics. You were first presented with Simone de Beauvoirs influential Moodle article that assessed the historical reasons behind the conflicts between men and women, based upon the Big Idea of unequal gender rights and an imbalance of power between the sexes. You next examined the Big Ideas behind the notion of gender identity and how women and men compare to each otherwhether they are more alike than different (gender similarities hypothesis), or if they are different, in what waysreading about the genders physical, intellectual, emotional, communicational, and sexual capabilities, as well as their capacity for violent behaviors. While examining these gender identity issues, you also heard about American women fighting for gender equality in the areas of sports and the military. We next turned our attention to the Big Ideas behind romantic relationships and how best to achieve a more perfect, long-lasting union between loving partners, examining how sexuality, inner values, and the option for plural, polyamorous bonding can affect romance. You had the chance to collect evidence from the films Crazy, Stupid, Love and Jerry Maguire, as well as to observe and interview romantic couples in real life. Finally, we returned to an examination of Progression 1s Big Idea dilemma of balancing individual rights with the larger groups rights, as we debated a womans civil rights to a legalized abortion against the states right to protect unborn human life. It certainly has been an entertaining as well as enlightening exploration of the legendary Battle of the Sexes and the fight to achieve gender equality and strong loving relationships. Specifically, your task is to: (1) Choose one of the above issues we have explored regarding gender relationships, either in the public or private romantic areas, and write about the Big Idea or larger social implications behind the event, issue, or behaviorshow this Big Idea affects human rights and interpersonal relationships between men and women, and will lead to a more tolerant and well-adjusted society overcoming conflicts between the sexes. (2) Use at least four of the source texts we discussed in class or were placed on Moodle (one of the source texts MUST be from one of the films, either Crazy, Stupid, Love or Jerry Maguire. (If you draw evidence from both films, you get credit for 2 sources.) You may also use evidence taken from your ethnography observation/interview as one source, but if you use your ethnography as evidence, you still need to use at least two sources from the articles posted on Moodle for the Progression 2 assignments. (Dont need to use Persepolis). How do these source evidence prior discussions support your argument/stand on the Big Idea? What do you have to say in response to these other source texts? Write good quote sandwiches when you use evidence from the source texts to support your arguments.

(3) Make connections to your own personal experiences (or the experiences of people you know), plus your own acquired knowledge. Use both these real life example connections, as well as the source texts mentioned above, to help support your claims. (4) In the conclusion, you want to demonstrate your sensitive awareness of the difficult complexity of the Big Idea issue. However, make an attempt to come up with your own unique alternative synthesis or solution to the challenging dilemma behind this Big Idea, and try to persuade us to accept your thesis, using various rhetorical appeals to logic, ethos, pathos, or shared values. Length: 4 to 5 double spaced typed pages for hard copy hand in on Tuesday Oct. 22. Essay also needs a Works Cited page in correct MLA format. Check Purdue OWL website for correct format. Helpful Writing Hints: First, make sure you hook the readers attention by presenting the context behind the Big Idea and its significance for society; this may be done in various ways, perhaps even using a short anecdote or hypothetical situation. Somewhere in your introductory section, you should summarize briefly which contemporary issue (discussed in class) forms the foundation for your Big Idea. Your intro section should also briefly indicate, using the They Say template for introducing debates, that there is a contentious, difficult pro and con debate going on surrounding this issue/event and the Big Idea behind it (with source quotes to prove this). Assume your reader is an intelligent member of the academic community but will not be aware of the debates behind this issue. Then, after laying out the important context behind your Big Idea and event, somewhere in your early intro paragraphs you need to make a strong, clear thesis statement in which you will state YOUR stand/claim/argument on the Big Idea issue surrounding the issue. Next, your body middle section will help support your thesis. Dont forget to plant the naysayer and politely address some counter arguments that might be raised against your thesis stance, although you will still show how YOUR claim is a more enlightened position. In the conclusion, address the so what positive social implications behind your thesis and the social benefits that will result if we accept and follow your claims. Possible Big Idea Issues covered in Class What makes a modern romantic relationship strong and long lasting? What is the nature of female and male gendered identity? (Are men and women more alike than different? If different, in what ways are they different, and how does this difference affect the power relationships between the genders?) What is the nature of the ideal power relationship between women and men? To what extent does this power relationship affect our view of gender equality/inequality? Will polyamorous relationships benefit society and should they be given legal marital status? Issues related to Abortion Rights and how these affect the balancing of individual female rights with states rights

Vous aimerez peut-être aussi