English 1101 essay assignments, spring 2010

Paper 1

Read every word below carefully, more than once, before starting your essay.

Choose one of the following options and respond in an argumentative essay of 700-1000 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 quotations from the readings, so a works cited page is necessary.

I encourage you to seek my help with your paper outside of class, of course. I cannot respond to whole drafts through email, but I will be glad to go over your paper from start to finish with you in person before your submit it for grading. If my office hours don't mesh well with your schedule, let me know, and we'll make arrangements for other times.

Works cited info: For bibliographic information on any readings handouts, such as "Marriage as a Restricted Club," e.g., see the referring pages from our schedule of readings and assignments (the pages from which you loaded the Adobe .pdf files).

Note that you must submit the final draft in both hard copy (printed on paper) and electronic form (as an email attachment).

Paper proposals: Before you begin writing the essay, construct a topic sentence outline just as we did for the third writing exercise: 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. See sample topic sentence outlines on my writing tips page and on this page.

Options:
1) According to many so-called experts, the American family is falling apart. However, it may be that the family is not disintegrating, but rather is evolving to meet the great social and economic changes of the last several decades. In current terminology, what were once called "broken homes" are now often "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. Argue that the "family" is not disintegrating, but rather is changing to a new and even better form than the traditional family model dependent upon biological parents living together "until death do them part." Hint: emphasize what is most important in all families. Cite any of our readings relevant to this topic, totaling at least three quotations minimum. You may offer quotes in support of the opposing view or in support of your own viewpoint.

2) Construct an argument debating the issue of whether or not same-sex marriage should be legal in all fifty states. 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 in any specific religion as a major factor in the discussion. Unless you can prove that the Bible is 100% verifiable fact, do not base any significant points of argument on any teachings or passages from the Bible.

3) We have seen how arriving at a comprehensive definition of "family" is difficult. 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 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.

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.