Letter of Transmittal

Professor Weatbrook,
Throughout this semester there has been a theme through all of the projects, one which is the
point of higher education; learning. This course has encouraged growth, particularly as a writer. I
have noticed myself learning more about writing as the semester went on. I began the semester
assuming it would be similar to other English classes but, it introduced some concepts that I had
not mastered yet. One major idea that I learned through completing assignments was editing. I
usually would write something all at once, turn it in, and get an A. In this class, even though I did
still get some high marks for a first draft, I was forced to revisit my work over and over and I
found that I did need and want to make changes to improve it.
My narrative was a story about a dog titled Peanut Butter. The intended audience for this piece
was dog people, like me. I found that it was pretty well received among my peers but that at parts
they seemed confused. I attended a lab session where some inconsistencies were pointed out. The
majority of editing on this piece was to make the language uniform, as if the entire story were
being told by a dog. I even changed the title to something a dog would come up with. I found as I
went back through this narrative that it could be very confusing to navigate as not everything fit
the same voice. It was simple, I had to change a few adjectives and nouns and the story flowed
better.
The rhetorical analysis was the assignment I struggled the most with. The intended audience for
it was educated, left-leaning adults. Prior to this class I had not even heard of the concept of
rhetoric. As I wrote it I struggled with introducing ideas in an effective way. I found myself
simply summarizing the article rather than really analyzing it. I had to take extra time to search
outside of canvas to find examples to guide me, and after I read many of my peers analysis.
Through simply reading examples I became more familiar with the concept. Most of the editing
on this piece was grammar and creating more well-established topic sentences.
The annotated bibliography and opinion summary were my favorites from this semester. The
intended audience was individuals who are effected by homework in any way. This means
students, teachers, parents, friends of parents, and so on. Because we were able to choose our
own topic I found myself really enjoying the research process in a way I had not in previous
classes. My biggest struggle with this project was formatting. There are many rules to follow
with MLA and I am never sure that I got everything right.
This class has been more beneficial than any other English class I have participated in. After so
long of repeating the same assignments it was nice to learn new things and refine old skills. I
definitely learned a lot through these assignments that will help me to continue being a better
writer and a more critical reader. I am better able to notice mistakes that I have made and, more
importantly, I now know how to fix many of those mistakes.
Sarah Davis

Sarah Davis

Peanut Butter

The sun isnt up yet, but I am. I open my eyes to the dark room and step off of my fluffy
pillow-bed. I take one giant leap up to my humans bed. I feel the warmth of her face on my cold
wet nose and smell the musty scent of gingivitis on her breath. 3 2 1 She turns to face me.
Her eyes are still closed. Already? I hear her grumble. I poke her again with my skinny white
snout and give a little whimper to let her know that she has not fed me yet.
She rises begrudgingly, squinting her puffy eyes against the light she just flipped on.
Shes moving so slow, I decide to give her some encouragement. I bark the shrill high pitched
bark of an excited pup. Hush, she sighs. Let me put my contacts in I know that first word
means that she heard my bark. She continues down the hallway and into the room with the large
water bowl. She closes the barrier. I have no other option but to sit just an inch away from the
barrier and whine until she opens it again. I am starving. It seems like forever since my last meal.
Finally she opens the door again, a rush of sharp mint hits my nose. Her eyes are wide
open. Yes! This is the moment I have been waiting for. As she makes her way over to the tiled
room with high platforms I begin spinning and jumping from excitement. I will not starve! I hear
the clink of the kibble being poured into my shiny silver bowl as the stale smell of breakfast
alerts my senses. This is the best moment of my entire life. She turns around, bowl in hand, and
points directly at my face. Sit, she commands softly. My stumpy tail hits the ground
immediately. This is a strange ritual that seems to calm her enough to set the food down, I must
intimidate her in my full stature. The bowl is placed in front of my paws and I anxiously shove
my entire muzzle into the dry delicious pellets.

As I am crunching I see her fill my cylindrical chew toy with the savory magic that is
peanut butter. I finish quickly and trot over to her, making sure to lick the crumbs off of my
whiskers as I go. I can smell the peanut butter strongly now and I sit down at her feet. She steps
away from the toy, leaving it placed on the highest up platform. She returns to the bedroom and I
follow close behind. She changes her make-shift fur quickly and rushes out of the room to pick
up her bag. I am on her heels every step of the way until she reaches the tall, white, metallicsmelling barrier. Ill be back later, buddy, she says hurriedly. Be good. She gives me a pat on
my head and heads out to go for a ride without me. I am worried for her and wait by the door
to see if she will return. Why has she left? She does this often. Are the rides as fun without me?
She does not seem to enjoy them as much as me. I suppose that she will repeat that pattern that
seems to occur most days and leave my post at the barrier to pursue the peanut butter that she
left on the higher-up platform.
I run back to the tiled room, my nails clicking on the hardwood as I go. I stop under the
platform where my toy is. She forgot to put it on the ground for me. The delicious smell is so
strong I stand on my hind legs and hop as high as I can. I am so close, I can almost taste it. But I
find after a few jumps that I cannot reach it. I settle back down and begin to pace, whimpering as
I think of a better way to get that peanut butter into my mouth. Then I see it. The human sit
place! The sit place leads to the wooden platform WHICH THEN is jumping distance from the
higher platform that has my toy on it.
I put my front paws on the chair and kick my body onto it. I easily hop onto the wooden
platform and turn to face the higher platform. It is a bit of a gap but I am confident that I can
make it. I crouch down with my front legs, effectively sticking my butt into the air. I measure the

distance. I take a few steps to the edge and leap with all of my might, making it to the shiny
surface with a thud.
I can see my toy now. It is within reach. I bend down and pick it up. My work has paid
off! I then jump clumsily onto the tiles, slipping onto my belly as I land. I stand, chew toy in
mouth, and trot back to my pillow bed. I turn a few circles, dig at the bed to make it at least 15%
softer, then settle down and place the toy in front of me. The savory taste of peanut butter fills
my mouth as I lick it clean out of my toy. It sticks to the roof of my mouth, but I dont care. I
keep digging with my tongue into the toy for more. Soon, the toy is empty and I am stuffed. I
rest my head onto my bed and doze off.
Suddenly, I hear the creek of the front barrier and spring out of my bed immediately.
Shes home! I rush through the house and skid to a halt in front of her feet. I jump around as she
bends over to greet me. Hey buddy! her tone indicates that she is also excited to see me, even
if she took a long ride without me. She scratches my face. How you doin, huh?

Sarah Davis

Return to Hope
Rhetorical Analysis: The Optimism of Uncertainty

Many people had a sense of pessimism about the world due to the war on terrorism and
other events. The news seemed only to exploit the pains of the world leading the people looking
on to feel helpless and hopeless. The Optimism of Uncertainty by Howard Zinn was published in
The Nation on September 2, 2004. Howard Zinn was a historian by profession but was also a
playwright and social activist. He lived from 1922 to 2010. This article was published three years
after the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the twin towers.
The article begins by pointing out that it seems to be impossible to be happy as well as
involved in politics and understanding world events. It goes on to talk about the fact that the
most common theme of history is that history is unpredictable. Zinn points out many points in
history that exhibit this unpredictability such as: the Czar of Russia being overthrown, the NaziSoviet pact, and the defeat of the German army in World War II. He goes on to point out even
more examples like the Chinese communist revolution. After addressing the many examples of
historys surprises, Zinn states that these surprises happened because the people never gave up
the struggle for justice. He speaks about the many people who inspire hopefulness by their
actions and own optimism. He states that this optimism, or hope, is what is necessary to create
these historic surprises. He states strongly that if we only see the worst it destroys our capacity
to do something.
In the article The Optimism of Uncertainty, Howard Zinn effectively makes use of
historical examples, appeals to hope, and references to personal experience in his pursuit to
persuade his audience to maintain optimism while still being involved in world events.

Zinn makes use of historical examples to back up his claim that hope will win out. He
dives into this method by stating that although it seems logical to assume that the world will
continue on a bleak path it is more logical to have hope that it wont. The use of historical
examples shows that something good has happened especially when it had been unexpected. He
points out most in depth the bizarre shifts of World War II. These specific examples appeals to
the audiences logic in that it shows that these good things are not impossible because they have
happened before. He uses examples of very bleak times to help the audience relate that those bad
times do not last forever. It is also expressed that in post-World War II hope is not only logical
but necessary to create better times. He uses the example of the Soviet Unions failure to have
its way with Afghanistan. The biggest statement with this example is that it took nearly ten
years of ugly intervention. Which showed that a long period of discourse can be stamped out.
People often understand that if something has happened before it is possible to happen again.
Hope is appealed to often. It is a very powerful, very human emotion that many people
have a desire to maintain. Those who read this article are likely to be people who are feeling
discouraged due to the seemingly never-ending spiral of negative events. This discouragement
leads to pessimism and so, the loss of hope. Zinn states very clearly near the end of the article
that we need hope. He speaks of hope as if it is a necessary attribute of living and, with it, we
can fulfill the things that we are hoping for. This appeal is based on the idea that human beings
have a desire to hope for things that they consider to be good. It also reiterates that hope is
necessary and should not be stamped out.
Zinn does not believe that this thought processes comes from nativity. To acknowledge
this viewpoint he goes on to say that to be hopeful in bad times is not just foolishly romantic.
To this audience, it may seem that hope is indeed foolishly romantic. The audience of The Nation

is unapologetically liberal, educated, and likely to be middle-upper class. These people have
invested time into gaining knowledge about world events and have found that it seems as if the
world is going down in flames and there is no point to continue to be involved. Zinn recognizes
that they may feel that optimism is crazy, and uses his experience in the world to counter that
idea. He speaks of young people who he has encountered. These people give him hope. He is
well versed in what is happening around the world, but he is hopeful. His experience as a social
activist has opened the path for him to meet more individuals who give him hope. Even more
people, he states, are out there with open minds waiting to change the world. The fact that those
people exist, which he says he knows they do, supply the hope he maintains. These personal
experiences tell the audience that Zinns optimism is not due to irrational ideals but that it is from
his own knowledge about the good people who populate the earth.
Overall, this article is very effective in its use of historical examples, hope, and Zinns
personal experiences to persuade a pessimistic audience that hope is possible and necessary for
the continuation of good in the world. The use of historical examples was very effective as
people often trust history to be an accurate representation of life. The notion of hope aided in the
persuasion towards optimism well. Zinns personal experiences helped stamp out skepticism
about his claim that hopefulness was not foolish. An audience who approached the article ready
to give up on seeking out information about the world may come away feeling pangs of
optimism and the drive to hope for good again.

Sarah Davis

Annotated Bibliography

As people look back on their educational experience they find at least one common factor that
stretches across national boundaries; homework. Homework has been a part of the educational
system for a very long time. There has been a cycle of discussion about its usefulness, some
years the discussion has been mostly pro-homework and others it has predominantly been antihomework. As the cycle continues many look into the usefulness of homework and through this
research we come to the question: Should there be homework?

Anonymous. Personal interview. 21 Apr. 2016.

I asked a good friend of mine who is a 1st grade teacher to be in an interview. In the interview I
asked her a few questions on her opinion of homework. She advocates for homework currently
and her initial comment on the topic was theres a reason for it. She explained that homework
has its place in reinforcing ideas from the classroom (particularly math), involving parents so
they have an idea of what their child is learning, and teaching personal responsibility. With no
teacher looking over their shoulder to make sure they are doing the work, the kids have to learn
to complete it on their own and reap the rewards or consequences. She does mention, however,
that homework should be catered to the age. A first grader should not have to spend multiple
hours to complete their homework.
This was an interesting research process as it agreed with Grahams article on what teachers
think of homework but hearing it firsthand added some real life emotion. This is a hot topic that
is very close to home. It is sometimes easy to distance ones self from the subject, but changing
something as central as homework effects many people. Also, because she is actively
participating in the topic she has fresh and real perspective on how it seems to help or hurt her
students. Data is important, but it is also good to find information from the front-line so to say.

Armes, Cory. "The Great Homework Debate: Is Homework Helpful or Harmful?" Scilearn.
Scientific Learning Corporation, 13 Sept. 2011. Web. 23 Mar. 2016.
Cory Armes is a teacher who took the task to analyze the homework debate while offering her
own perspective on homework. She first states the reasoning behind the for homework side of
the debate. For elementary school students she uses the argument of habit-forming. For older
students she uses the data that proves the 10-minute rule (10 multiplied by the grade number is
the amount of minutes a student should spend on homework) is effective on contributing to
academic achievement. For the against argument she notes the data that homework has no
correlation with academic success in elementary students. She also mentions Kohns view that
there is no proof that it is actually homework helping secondary students, perhaps the more
dedicated students who would do better anyways are the ones who complete homework. She
finishes the post by saying that more education for teachers on HOW to assign homework that
works and a middle ground on the amount assigned would be best.

I really like the conclusion that there should be more opportunities for teachers to learn what
kinds of homework assignments are actually effective. Nobody is born being able to assign
perfect homework that is nothing close to busywork. I find that I am agreeing with a middle
ground on amount for secondary students, and little to no homework for students in elementary
school. Armes knows that busywork is ineffective but still wants to find a way to keep the tool of
homework in the toolbox of teachers.

Fuglei, Monica. "The Homework Debate: The Case Against Homework." Concordia Portland
Online. Concordia Online Education, 7 Jan. 2016. Web. 23 Apr. 2016.
Busy work is what Fuglei focuses on in this article. She talks about how homework has proven to
be effective in high school students but younger students do not reap the benefits of it. After the
data is established she goes on to talk about the difference between homework that is busy
work and that which gives a heightened understanding and capability with the current lesson
being worked on. The problem with homework in the situations that Fuglei is referring to is that
homework is default where no homework is not ordinary. Sometimes teachers will assign
homework just because they assign homework (which will likely be busywork) instead of having
an end goal of a heightened understanding and capability in the subject. Anti-homework voices
stated that homework, especially busywork, did much more harm than good in that it takes away
from family and recreational time.
I found this article to be really telling, homework can be effective but not all homework is
created equal. Sometimes teachers pass out a photo-copied worksheet just to have something that
they passed out for homework. These types of homework that are only based on completion and
not followed up on do not help and just cause stress. This stress can lead to sleep deprivation,
and loss of family/support time. These losses can actually be detrimental to the students
academic success. This article leads me the conclusion that many people are more anti-busywork
than anti-homework. This side believes that the default should be no homework so that when
homework is assigned it has to actually be helpful or necessary to the success in the topic.

Graham, Edward. "Should Schools Be Done With Homework? - NEA Today." NEA Today.
National Education Association, 13 May 2014. Web. 07 Apr. 2016.
In this article Graham goes to the teachers of elementary-aged kids. It seemed like Graham took
a neutral stance on the subject while many of the teachers adamantly wanted to keep homework.
Many teachers reasoning was that it is helpful to reinforce subjects taught in class and to keep
parents involved. However, the article says that there is no correlation between homework and
success in grades. Students who have a half hour of homework did about the same academically
as those who had more. Graham believes that the culture of homework may be a large factor in
why teachers push so hard to keep it. It is also noted that standardized testing has compromised
so much of teachers teaching time that they have no other option than to lump things into
homework just to get their curriculum covered. There are more things going on than just

homework v no homework. One teacher took a different perspective, though, and stated that
having the students do worksheets and the like is like forcing them to take a second shift in their
academic life.
In this article we see that homework, though it has shown in the last article to have little merit in
and of itself, is a way of life. The part that really sticks out is that students with far less
homework to do perform about the same academically. Surprise, academic success is based on
the individual. Unfortunately many teachers are so hard-pressed to fulfil an intense curriculum
and get the kids to pass tests that it is difficult for them to eliminate a tool used to keep up with
the required curriculum. In order to change homework, say the teachers, other aspects must also
change to accommodate the homework dilemma.

LeTendre, Gerald K. "Homework Could Have an Impact on Kids' Health. Should Schools Ban
It?" The Conversation. Pennsylvania State University, 1 Sept. 2015. Web. 07 Apr. 2016.
LeTendre writes about what effects homework has on young childrens academic success. He
took studies from the TIMSS which calculated the amount of homework kids did in 59 countries.
Overall the results of TIMSS were that the amount of homework done by students had little to no
positive effect on academic success. He noted that there are often other factors at play, where
correlation does not equal causation. The United States falls in the middle of the amount of
homework done. It is noted, though, that children can show negative effects academically from
homework if the homework caused conflict in their home. Too much homework coupled with
other academic stresses also has shown to cause sleep disruption. After researching the topic
LeTendre suggests that we make a change to homework, not eliminate it. In reality, he wants
lower class sizes and less regulations on teachers. He wants homework to be tailored to the
individual rather than assigning the entire class the same thing.
This article gave good insight to the actual statistical data surrounding homework and academic
success. It gives real life insight to numbers in the TIMSS. Seeing a student diligently working
hard after-hours on homework is often viewed as that student will get good grades. However,
overall the TIMSS data showed that doing homework does not necessarily make the student
smarter. There are more factors at play, a dedicated student completes their homework and they
succeed but they succeed not thanks to homework but thanks to their dedication.

Levy, Laurie. "The Great Homework Debate." BAMradio. N.p., 20 Feb. 2016. Web. 23 Mar.
2016.
This is not actually an article but a blog post about homework from a mother and grandmothers
perspective. She begins by explaining what brought up the great homework debate in her
neighborhood. This was a homework packet that was assigned over winter break. Parents were
furious. As Levy read through the conversation on a community board she was brought back to
her time as an elementary student. At the time, there was no homework assigned until the 3rd
grade. And even then it was limited. She notes that many parents believe that children working

hard are learning more. This is not always the case. She shares some examples of two different
approaches elementary teachers took to homework. One teacher assigned a five-paragraph paper
with an introduction, body, and conclusion. At this time, Levy says, the students had barely
learned how to form complete sentences. She saw in her daughter that this had a very negative
effect on her esteem of education. The other teacher assigned 30 minutes of reading every night
and a list of spelling words to learn for the week. This teacher still helped to teach responsibility
but gave do-able assignments so the students could actually do things by themselves and learn
the way they learned. Levy mentions that the ladder teacher was well experienced and that she
wished more teachers would adopt this way of assigning homework.
Though this post was not a peer-reviewed article I particularly enjoyed a well-versed
mother/grandmothers perspective on the homework debate. Many claims to advocate for
homework in elementary school say that it helps teach responsibility, aids in solidifying subjects,
and even creates a higher opinion of learning. Levy is saying that the way homework is going it
is doing the exact opposite of those things. If students are given a lot of homework that is too
difficult for them to complete on their own, they will just rely on parents and not form that
responsibility. If the subject of the homework has not been worked on in class, students will just
end up confused at home with no one to answer their questions. If students spend a
disproportionate amount of time on homework, odds are that they are going to start resenting
school. Levy does not necessarily want to eliminate homework, but wants it to serve its purpose
more effectively.

Marzano, Robert J., and Debra J. Pickering. "Special Topic / The Case For and Against
Homework." Educational Leadership (2007): n. pag. Print.
This article takes both sides of the debate and analyzes them. It begins with the for homework
argument. The argument for homework is a simple display of data from the past 60 years that as
students get older homework improves academic achievement more and more. It does, however,
restate that students in grades K-4 have no correlation with homework and academic
achievement. Even though there is no substantial data to support homework, those for homework
still support it in those grade levels. The argument is that it will form habits and foster positive
feelings. It then explains the against homework side. The against homework side sites
problems such as family squabbles, and limited free time and or family time for students
(especially those who are lower in socio-economic class).
This article does a good job of fleshing out the main points on both sides. When it comes to the
younger students even the for homework side sees that there is no data to support assigning
younger students homework. If the only purpose of homework in those younger years is to form
habits and foster positivity towards homework then a lot of elementary teachers are doing it
wrong. Near the end of the article it states that much of the research on homework has proven
that it is beneficial to most students grades 5 and up, but that it should ultimately but up to the
discretion of the teacher (who is an educated professional) how much homework to assign. I
agree with this sentiment when it comes to students of upper grade levels. In lower grade level

teachers there should be certain standards set so that homework in these early years does not
have an adverse effect on the enjoyment of learning.

Strauss, Valerie. "As Homework Grows, So Do Arguments Against It." Washington Post. The
Washington Post, 12 Sept. 2006. Web. 23 Apr. 2016.
Strauss opens by making strong statements against homework, especially in younger generations.
She moves to explain the various views of different teachers and students. Most of which want a
middle ground in highschool. The biggest problem there, says Strauss, is that administrators lay
down requirements that can limit the choice of the teacher on assigning certain amounts of
homework. There seemed to be a consensus in the article from all sources that reading is far
more beneficial than busywork. Students, teachers, parents, and researchers all see more
benefits to simple reading than worksheets. It is not always easy to give a simple reading
assignment for the subject of math, but for other topics and younger students many agree that
reading is the best avenue for homework.
Strauss shows in this article that she has a very strong opinion against homework. She sees
studies that show that students (especially elementary aged) reap no benefits to homework. This
is a strong argument on the anti side of the argument. Though, she does site that some homework
may be beneficial to older students. Wanting all homework eliminated is probably not the
answer, though.

After reviewing many articles, data entries, and personal accounts I am able to face the
question: Should there be homework? Through this research I have come to a more middleground approach not unlike Laurie Levy. As society progresses I believe that we should
consistently be reevaluating our way of life in many ways, including the way we educate the next
generation. Homework should be given with a purpose, no busywork. Children in grades K-2
should not receive any homework past a small independent reading assignment, as studies show
that homework does not serve its intended purpose at these ages and homework assigned can
have the same effect as busy work. To answer the question, yes, there should be homework for
students past 3rd grade as long as it is not busywork.

Sarah Davis
Opinion Summary: Should There Be Homework?
The topic that I chose to research was the homework debate. As a student I had always
disliked homework to a healthy extent, but I did see how it had helped me in my classes as a high
school student. I had very briefly heard of some discourse about homework from my own social
circles, but I did not have a well formed opinion on it at all. Until I had seen this topic on the
library list I did not even have a second thought that there was a chance that homework could or
should be eliminated. It was simply a fact of education. It intrigued me as I thought about it, and
I wondered what sort of benefits homework actually had; especially for elementary students. I
started my research with no sure opinion, but with a small leaning that there should probably be
less homework.
As I went through my research process I came across the TIMSS data. The TIMSS was a
study done across the globe to see if homework was actually helping students. I found out that
there was very little correlation between academic success and the amount of homework given.
This means that there was no sure positive OR negative correlations in the 4th and 5th grade
students that were the subjects. This sprung interest, if there doesnt seem to be any positive
results from homework amount then why to students keep receiving homework? This is where I
really solidified my research question: Should there be homework at all?
As I dove deeper into the research question I began to notice the clear sides for and
against homework. Those who are for homework in elementary school, such as my friend who is
a 1st grade teacher, state that even though studies show that there is no quantifiable proof that
homework helps academic achievement it helps to form good study habits and informs the
parents of what their child is learning about and what they might struggle with.

These are good points, however it has been proven that homework can be detrimental to
the child if it starts intruding on sleep and family time. For students who have too much
homework this can also cause a resentment towards education and so contradict the building of
good study skills as a passionate author named Valerie Strauss points out. At this point I was
leaning more on the end of eliminating homework, especially for elementary students.
I then came across some middle-ground articles that made sense to me. One author,
Fuglei, points out that not all homework is created equal. I had found through my own
experience that doing homework helped my understanding of some things. Instead of attacking
homework itself, Fuglei narrowed it down to attacking meaningless assignments or busywork.
This made a lot of sense to me. Sometimes, especially in elementary school, homework is
assigned simply because homework being assigned is the default. Homework, if assigned, should
have a purpose outside of habit-forming. It should help to solidify concepts and create a better
understanding so that the student can better excel. Assigning meaningless worksheets every night
can make a student resent school.
I found myself in this middle ground in the end. I found myself agreeing with Laurie
Levy, that there should be a better balance. Homework in elementary school should not be the
default. If forming habits is what is desired perhaps assign a small reading task rather than busy
work worksheets that cause stress and may contribute to loss of sleep and resentment. In the end
I believe there should be a change: little or no homework in grades K-2, no busywork, and more
effective assignments in grades 3-12.

Works Cited

Anonymous. Personal interview. 21 Apr. 2016.

Fuglei, Monica. "The Homework Debate: The Case Against Homework." Concordia Portland Online.
Concordia Online Education, 7 Jan. 2016. Web. 23 Apr. 2016.
LeTendre, Gerald K. "Homework Could Have an Impact on Kids' Health. Should Schools Ban It?" The
Conversation. Pennsylvania State University, 1 Sept. 2015. Web. 07 Apr. 2016.
Levy, Laurie. "The Great Homework Debate." BAMradio. N.p., 20 Feb. 2016. Web. 23 Mar. 2016.