Class,
Reminder: Our Final Exam period is Monday, May 4 at 12:45. I will be collecting your final essay drafts and giving you feedback forms to fill out, in addition to tying up any loose ends that may need to be addressed.
Prof. W.
Journals
Just a reminder to bring your journals to class on Monday, the 27th.
Essay drafts are due Wednesday, the 29th.
Choose Your Own Topic
Everyone,
As discussed in class on Friday, the topic for our final essay will be free choice. This means we’ll have to work extra hard on making sure we are writing the kind of argumentative prose we have been doing all along. Thus, your homework is:
1. Read Chapter 7 of They Say, I Say (“So What? Who Cares?”)
2. E-mail me a short paragraph which describes what topic you are considering for your essay AND tells me how you will use the advice from Chapter 7 for this topic.
I’m still collecting materials from Essay 5. Please e-mail me your essays (-5 points for each day late) and bring in your journal, with research sheet, to hand in to me on Monday (unless you already have).
Reminder: Our final meeting is Monday, May 4 from 12:45 to 2:45. We will fill out course evaluation forms and shed rivers of tears because class is over.
Essay 5: Polygamies
This essay, while focusing on the broad topic of polygamy, is different than all the other assignments so far because I’m asking you to think more about what argument to make.
Your brainstorming and research phases of this assignment, in addition to the group discussions and workshops, are meant to help you narrow down what your argument is going to be.
1. Brainstorm: What is all this polygamy stuff about, anyway? Think this topic through in your journal for a page or two. Maybe you’ll arrive at a general position (for or against polygamy in general).
2. Research: Ok, so there’s not just one kind of polygamy. There’s polygyny (multiple wives), polyandry (multiple husbands), and group marriage (yup, multiple wives and husbands!). Also, within each of these three categories, there’s different things going on. The Fundamentalist Mormon Church in Utah is very different than a Saudi Arabian man with more than one wife vs. the Bari people of Venezuela, who believe it takes the “contribution” of more than one man to impregnate a woman, leaving a child with two biological fathers!
3. Essay. Hopefully, the insights, opinions, and research of your classmates (along with your own thought and study) will have led you to a specific argument regarding a particular facet of polygamy.
Example thesis statements:
1. Polygamy should be recognized in America since it’s a valid cultural way to organize families.
2. Polygamy should stay illegal in America since it runs counter to our cultural beliefs about love.
3. Polygamous marriages should be recognized, since making them illegal does more harm than good.
Each of these arguments deals with polygamy but from a different perspective.
Here’s a link to the video we watched on Friday: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-Pm5092a0c
As always, the essay shall consist of:
– 800-900 words
– 12 pt. font
– double-spaced
Due: Friday
Here are more links to articles I found enlightening on this unusual topic:
http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/culture/articles/eav102002.shtml
http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2013/02/when-taking-multiple-husbands-makes-sense/272726/
Journal Assignment: Polygamy
For this assignment, I want you to begin brainstorming and doing research connected to the topic of polygamy as framed by the text (from George Packer’s The Village of Waiting) we read in class on Wednesday.
For the journal/brainstorm portion, any kind of writing (listing, outlining, freewriting, etc.) will do, as long as you are thinking through the topic in an academic way. Why do some cultures practice polygamy while others don’t? Is it okay to be polygamous for economic reasons? What about cultural reasons for/against it? What about the perspective of women who are for or against polygamy?
Do some research to help you learn something about this topic. Ideally, you should find an article by someone written in the form of an argument that is for or against some version of polygamy, but anything that connects the story in the Packer text with your perspective will do.
We’ll be discussing your thoughts and research in class on Friday, so please be prepared to participate.
Also, don’t forget sentences from our grammar text, Woe is I, Chapter 6!
For those of you who were absent on Wednesday, I’ll have a copy of the Packer text on Friday and you can do this assignment over the weekend. However, you’ll still be a part of Friday’s discussion, so some preparatory brainstorming/research would be good!
Happy hunting!
Essay 4 – Safe Spaces and Naysayers
Class,
Essay 4 is about your opinion on “safe spaces” for college students. I want you to talk about what kind of safe space you think is (or isn’t) appropriate and for what reasons.
Also, please be sure to include a “naysayer” with whom you’ll be disagreeing. I’ll be looking for effective use of this naysayer, as discussed in class on Monday and explained in Chapter 6 of They Say/I Say. You can use any opinion from the article, including the attached comments from other readers.
Also, don’t forget to add Grammar sentences from Chapter 5, if you haven’t already, to your journals. I’ll look at them, along with your sentences from Grammar 6, when I collect your journals next, on April 10th.
The essays will adhere to the usual requirements:
12 pt. font, double-spaced lines, 800-900 words.
Due: Friday (you can e-mail it to me as an attached word document).
Check your email for an extra copy of the essay, if needed.
Homework for Monday -3/30-
All that’s required this weekend is to read Chapter 6 of They Say/I Say (on “Naysayers”) and to bring the text, along with your copy of Shulevitz’s article, to class on Monday.
Try to think about how you can use the ideas in TS/IS for the next essay, which will be in response to Ms. Shulevitz’s disapproving message. That’s what we’ll be working on in class.
Prof. W.
Friday Journal -3/27-
Friends,
I’ll be collecting your journals this Friday. Please include your answer to the question “What does Judith think?” and sample sentences from our Grammar text, chapter 5.
Remember to not only say what you think Judith Shulevitz, the author of the essay, believes regarding safe spaces but to include language from the text to support your opinion.
Hint: It may help to look up the meaning of the word “insular.” Where do you see this word being used in the essay? Does this sound like a good thing to you? What does this have to do with the author’s argument?
Break Time.
Unfortunately, having suddenly fallen ill, I will not be able to hold class on Friday, March 13th. Have a good Spring Break, folks. We’ll get back to writing arguments on the 23rd.
Prof. W.
Essay 3 – On Euphemism
Having spent some time discussing the meaning, use, and effect of euphemistic language and then writing about it in our journals, the purpose of essay 3 is to take all this preparatory work and to mold it into a formal essay which combines your opinion on euphemism with that of either Beinart’s, Carlin’s, or both of them.
The primary thing, as always, is a clear and concise thesis that captures your basic stance while including how your position either agrees, disagrees, or both agrees and disagrees with theirs, as Chapter 4 from They Say/I Say explains. This is a lot to ask of a single sentence!
Here’s what such a sentence by someone who chooses to disagree with Carlin could look like:
While Carlin thinks it’s better to use stronger, more “honest” language, I say it’s a sign of sensitivity when people speak in euphemistic terms, especially for people who suffer from serious conditions like post-traumatic stress disorder.
This essay would spend some time providing a fuller account of Carlin’s argument (along with a key quote or two) in order to frame their own argument for why it’s better to use softer words.
A thesis which wanted to address both Beinart and Carlin could look like this:
Both Beinart and Carlin are against euphemistic language because they see it as essentially lying. I think that this true in some cases, but in other cases we speak in euphemisms in order not to offend.
This argument, which both agrees and disagrees, will explain how Beinart and Carlin see it is lying (again, with quotes!) and maybe give a fresh example which falls into the same category, but would then switch gears to explain (with one or two good examples) cases where the euphemism is being used for the other purpose.
Don’t forget: In your introduction, before you get to your thesis, do your reader a solid by introducing the other voice/s who will be making a guest appearance in your essay. This can be done quickly. Something like “The comedian George Carlin is famous for his many strong opinions…” or “Peter Beinart, a writer for “The Atlantic Magazine” who denounces the use of the word “muscular” when describing U.S. foreign policy…”
Here are links to the source material:
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/02/against-muscular-foreign-policy/386063/
http://www.iceboxman.com/carlin/pael.php The euphemisms piece is at the end, #15.
A video of that part of the performance:
Warning: George Carlin can go pretty far, including talking about rape. Venture beyond the topic of shell shock/PTSD at your own risk!
Format: 12 point font, double-spaced.
Word count: 800-900
Due: Wednesday
scsulanguage 