English 105 Estrada In-Class Essay and Research Paper Assignment

[Admin]

Study for In-Class Essay #1

Your first in-class will be on Thursday, April 29, 2004. It will consist of six questions, all of which are based on our unit on the money and success in Rereading America. You will choose one of these questions and write an essay on it. To prepare, do the following:

1. Reread the seven essays in this unit: "Class in America: Myths and Realities" (331-345), "Stephen Cruz" (348-352), "From Seven Floors Up" (381), "Trung Dung" (310-316), "Serving in Florida" (317-329), "The Black Avenger" (384-392), and "Good Noise: Cora Tucker" (353-363).

2. Think about the following issues:

• What are the similarities and differences between Stephen Cruz, Cora Tucker, and Trung Dung?
• What does the American Dream mean to you? What has shaped your perception of this dream? How have the readings in this unit affected your views?
• What do you think of the idea of class in America? Does Mantsios do a good job dispelling the myths about class in his essay? Why or why not?
• How do Cora Tucker and ken Hamblin see success? How do each of them feel about poverty, obstacles, and welfare?
• Compare the relationship between the homeless man and Olds and Ehrenreich and her co-workers. How are each of their relationships shaped?
• What do you think of this unit of Rereading America? How has reading these essays affected your attitudes toward success and work?

3. Bring one page of handwritten notes, one side of the page only, on the issues above. You will have a choice of topics.

4. Bring Rereading America, paper, pens, dictionaries, and this study guide to class on Thursday.

[Admin]

Research Paper Assignment

TOPICS: For your research paper, you may choose your own topic. However, your topic must relate to one of the units we have covered: Education, Money and Success, or Gender. Here are some possible topics:

• Money and Success: the American Dream, the homeless, the minimum wage, the working poor, class in America, minorities or immigrants: how are they treated in America?
• Gender: gender role socialization, feminism, violence against women or men, date rape, the way boys and girls are taught in school, dating on the Internet, gay/lesbian marriage, sexual harrassment, female genital mutilation

You will be writing an argumentative essay, which means that you must actually prove something, not merely record facts. Make sure to form a strong thesis statement that conveys your opinion of your subject.
NOTE: You may not write on the following topics: abortion, capital punishment, affirmative action, animal rights, gun control, or legalizing marijuana.

REQUIREMENTS FOR THE FINAL PAPER:

1. The research paper worksheet
2. Five (5) bibliography cards
3. A complete rough draft and copies for the peer group workshop
4. Paper should be between five to seven (5-7) pages of text, typed and double-spaced (excluding the Works Cited page).
5. You must include a Works Cited page with at least five documented sources, excluding general sources like encyclopedias. Also, your sources must be current; they must have been published within the last ten years. No more than three Internet sources may be used.
6. A brief oral presentation on your paper
7. Copies of all of your research (magazine or journal articles, pages photocopied from books, internet sources) submitted in a manila envelope with your paper.

GRADING: This assignment is worth 20% of your grade, so please treat it with the seriousness that it deserves. Do not let your own writing and ideas become overwhelmed by your sources. Although you will be referring to outside sources, I am ultimately interested in your ideas and how you incorporate your sources into your essay. As always, no late work will be accepted, and plagiarism will result in a failing grade.

You should get started on this project AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. Come and see me if you have questions.

[Admin]

TOPICS FOR ESSAY #1

Choose one of the following topics from the unit Learning power: The Myth of Education and Empowerment in Rereading America and write a clear and coherent essay. Make sure to use textual evidence (quotes or paraphrase) to support your ideas.

1. Compare the "lessons" taught in the Matt Groening cartoons (pictured on pages 172 and 181) with those described by John Taylor Gatto in "The Seven Lessons Schoolteacher." To what extent is Gatto's indictment of education simply a matter of perspective?

2. Watch on videotape or DVD any one of the many films that have been made about charismatic teachers (for example, Dangerous Minds, Stand and Deliver, Dead Poets Society, Renaissance Man, Music of the Heart, Mr. Holland's Opus, The Emperor's Club and Mona Lisa Smile) and compare Hollywood's depiction of a dynamic teacher to Rose's portrayal of Jack Macfarland in "I Just Wanna Be Average." What do such charismatic teachers offer their students both personally and intellectually? Do you see any disadvantages to classes being taught by teachers like these?

3. To what extent does Moore's assessment of education in "Idiot Nation" support or challenge John Taylor Gatto's critique of "The Seven Lesson Schoolteacher?" Which of these two views of teaching and teachers do you find more persuasive? Why? Explain.

4. Richard Rodriguez insists that his story is also everyone's story. Take an episode from your life, one that seems way similar to one of the episodes in "The Achievement of Desire," and cast it into a shorter version of Rodriguez's essay. Your job here is to look at your experience in Rodriguez's terms, which means thinking the way he does, noticing what he would notice, interpreting details in similar fashion, using key terms, seeing through his point of view; it could also mean imitating his style of writing, doing whatever it is you see him doing characteristically while he writes.
Note: This assignment can also be used to read against Rodriguez's essay. Rodriguez insists on the universality of his experience leaving home and community and joining the larger public life. You could highlight the differences between your experience and his. You should beging by imitating Rodriguez's method; you do not have to arrive at his conclusions, however.

5. What do you think the Progressive Education that Francesa Delbanco describes in "The Progressive Basics?" What are its strengths and weaknesses? Would this type of education have worked for you ? What features of Prospect and Putney Schools, if any, would you like to see in all American classrooms? Would you agree that public schools simply do not have the resources to encourage genuine "independent thinking?"

[Admin]

Topics for Essay #2 - Rough Draft due 5/13 and Final Draft due 5/18

Choose one of the following topics from the unit "True Women and Real Men: Myths of Gender in Rereading America" and write a detailed and persuasive essay. Please use textual evidence (quotes/paraphrase) to support your ideas and document these quotes properly by using MLA format.

1. Survey the ads in two magazines- one designed to appeal to a predominantly female audience and one aimed at a largely male audience. You should include a minimum of four ads: two from the women's magazine and two from the men's magazine. Do a close reading and interpretation of all of your ads. What differences, if any, do you see in the kinds of images and appeals advertisers use in the two magazines? How often do you see the kinds of "pornographic ads" Kilbourne discusses? Please staple your ads (or copies of your ads) to the back of your essay.

2. Vasquez writes that the "institutional and ideological reinforcements of homophobia are myriad and deeply woven into our culuture" (495). Over a period of days, keep track of all references to gays, lesbians, or homosexuality in casual conversation, news reports, television programs, and other media. To what extent do you agree with Vasquez that homophobia is deeply ingrained in our culture?

3. Sensational daytime talke shows and other "reality-based" programs in which participants essentially live their lives on camera have gained tremendous popularity in recent years. What is the appeal of such shows for audiences? Why are participants willing or even eager to share intimate and sometimes humiliating details of their lives with a television audience? Use specific quotes and examples from Faludi's essay and from the shows to support your ideas.
Hint: Try to focus on either talk shows or reality shows.

4. To what extent does Boatwright's experience support Carmen Vasquez's assertion that "the straigtjacket of gender roles suffocates many lesbians, gay men, and bisexuals, forcing them into closets without an exit and threatening our very existence when we tear the closet open" (493)? What resources finally enable Boatwright to survive and thrive despite the open hostility of her family and community?