Directions
Please submit your writing assignments to me via e-mail. Save your file as a Word, RTF, or PDF file, and attach the file to your message. When sending assignments, your e-mail message should include your name, the class number (English 103), and the name of the assignment which is attached. Use correct MLA format to set up your pages and document your sources; for more information see The Online Writing Lab (OWL) at Purdue University. Make sure that you eliminate spelling, grammar, and other mechanical errors from your writing. Send your e-mail to me at annw708@gmail.com
About the Papers...
You will notice that the Writing Assignments all ask you to address, in more detail, something you've already talked about in a Discussion Question. Feel free to use, for your paper, the information you used in your Discussion Question, if it is applicable.
If you look further down the page at the Final Project, you will notice that it asks you to write, in more detail, about a topic you've already addressed in a DQ and a Writing Assignment. Feel free to use, for your Project, the information you used in your Discussion Question and your Writing Assignment, if it is applicable.
About Wikipedia, SparkNotes, and Databases
DO NOT cite Wikipedia in academic essays. Since it is not edited by reputable experts, it often has errors and isn't reliable. It's okay to use it as a starting point for your own research, but go on and find other sources to verify the information, and cite those in your essay.
Also avoid SparkNotes, ENotes and similar sites. Teachers hate them since they provide only the most superficial analyses. Avoid citing them in academic papers; instead, go find analyses from more reputable academic sources: university and scholarly websites, peer-reviewed journals in library databases, and books. Don't be scared by that word "databases." The databases are just collected electronic versions of articles published in print magazines, journals, and newspapers. They also sometimes contain e-books. You can search them and find tons of good material. There's more about how to use the databases on the Writing Tips page.
Writing Assignment 1
Choose ONLY ONE of the following topics and write a complete, considered answer. Be sure to support your statements with evidence from the text, and be sure to document correctly. Required length: 2-5 pages (500-1250 words). Use correct MLA format and citation techniques in your essay and your Works Cited list. There's information on how to create the Works Cited entries here and information about how to use in-text citations correctly here.
If the information you gathered to do one of the discussion questions will help you in this paper, you may use it. You may also use the source you consulted for the Discussion Question.
This assignment is due by midnight on the night of Friday, March 10.
1. Choose ONE influential music album. Explain why it was important and how its influence affected other artists.
2. Look at the list given in "The 50 Albums That Changed Music." What albums would you add or take off the list? Why?
3. What ONE item needs to be invented for the good of the world? Explain.
4. Look at the list given in "Most Influential Fiction of the 20th Century." What books would you add or take off the list? Why?
5. Choose ONE item (painting, song, novel, graphic novel, comic book, sculpture, bridge, house, car, tractor, etc.). Explain how merit is determined in relation to the work you chose: who makes such decisions? what standards to they use to measure the value of a work in this genre? How much of such a judgment is objective, and how much is subjective? How does your item measure up?
6. Argue for or against eliminating grades in elementary schools. (Alternately, argue for or against eliminating grade levels in elementary schools.) Give at least 3 reasons to support your argument, and be sure each reason is supported by at least one piece of evidence. You are only required to give your side of the argument.
For help writing this assignment, go to Writing Tips; for more specific help, feel free to e-mail me with questions.
Writing Assignment 2
Choose ONLY ONE of the following topics and write a complete, considered answer. Be sure to support your statements with evidence from the text, and be sure to document correctly. Required length: 2-5 pages (500-1250 words). Use correct MLA format and citation techniques in your essay and your Works Cited list.
This assignment is due Friday, Apr. 14.
1. Argue in favor of the conspiracy theory you chose for Discussion Question 5. Give at least 3 reasons to support your argument, and be sure each reason is supported by at least one piece of evidence. (If you want to write on this topic but did not choose a conspiracy theory for DQ 5, you can, but check your thesis statement with me first.)
2. Choose one television show that is/was important. Explain why it was important and how its influence affected other artists.
3. Choose one scientific theory that was believed for many years to be right, but then was proven wrong. Give the main evidence that was used to support the original theory, and then the evidence that proved the theory wrong.
4. Give one theory of the function of dreams and then explain all of the evidence that supports it.
5. Write an argument either supporting or refuting the simulation game theory. Give at least 3 reasons to support your argument, and be sure each reason is supported by at least one piece of evidence. You are only required to give your side of the argument.
6. Write an argument either supporting or refuting the multiverse theory. Give at least 3 reasons to support your argument, and be sure each reason is supported by at least one piece of evidence. You are only required to give your side of the argument.
7. Give three interpretations of the same historical event. Explain clearly each interpretation, and give the evidence supporting each interpretation.
For help writing this assignment, go to Writing Tips; for more specific help, feel free to e-mail me with questions.
Writing Assignment 3
Choose ONLY ONE of the following topics and write a complete, considered answer. Be sure to support your statements with evidence from the text, and be sure to document correctly. Required length: 2-5 pages (500-1250 words). Use correct MLA format and citation techniques in your essay and your Works Cited list.
This assignment is due Friday, May 5.
1. Malcolm Gladwell predicts that there will no football will be played in 25 years. Write an argument either supporting or refuting this assertion. Give at least 3 reasons to support your argument, and be sure each reason is supported by at least one piece of evidence. You are only required to give your side of the argument.
2. Klosterman explores the idea that videogaming might replace other sports in the future. Give 2 reasons why they might. Give 2 reasons why they might not. Support each reason with evidence.
3. In what ways is emotional intelligence more important than intellectual intelligence? Give 2 examples. In what ways is it less important? Give 2 examples.
4. What is the value of Artificial Intelligence? Give 3 reasons, with evidence, why it is beneficial. Give 3 reasons, with evidence, why it is not.
For help writing this assignment, go to Writing Tips; for more specific help, feel free to e-mail me with questions.
Final Project
Choose ONLY ONE of the following topics and write a complete, considered answer. Be sure to support your statements with evidence from the text, and be sure to document correctly. Required length: 4-6 pages (1000-1500 words). Use correct MLA format and citation techniques in your essay and your Works Cited list.
Rather than a traditional paper, you may present your project as a PowerPoint or website or video, if you prefer. This is certainly allowed, but not required. If you choose this method, you must still have the same amount of material (1000-1500 words) and you must have a Works Cited page which lists your sources.
1. The Conspiracy Theory
Look at some recent historical event (within the past fifty years or so) that may not have happened the way we have been taught to believe, the way it was reported. This topic requires you to research and support one event, one popular conspiracy theory.
"Conspiracy Theory" refers to some incident that was reported to have happened one way but actually happened another, and the truth about the situation has been intentionally covered up.
The word conspiracy, literally "to breathe with," refers to the people who plotted and planned and manipulated and covered up. For example, it's speculated that Marilyn Monroe did not actually die from a suicidal or accidental drug overdose; many theorize that John and Robert Kennedy had her murdered, though they did not actually commit the murder themselves. The trick is to discover how and why they would do such a thing. There are actually several different theories that appear in books, movies, magazines, and websites.
Conspiracies are committed by people, and the people cover up the truth for a reason. It's up to you to do the research to find out just what happened, who was responsible for it, and what the reason was.
- Your paper must support a conspiracy theory; do not state, "Some claim that..." (that is not taking a side); you must actually accuse someone of a conspiracy.
- Your paper must settle on just one theory; do not state, "There are several theories about..."; you have to pick just one, make the accusation, support it.
- The body of the paper must be at least 4 pages but not more than 6--that is, 1000-1500 words--in standard MLA format; you will also have a Works Cited page, which will be an additional page.
- You must use at least five sources; at least one of those sources must be a print source (i.e., a book, a newspaper article, an article from a periodical, an article stored on a database). You must quote from and document all sources.
- Use specific information and direct quotes from those sources in your paper, to support your ideas. Be sure to give in-text citations to make it clear which information comes from which source. (This part is important--you will lose points if the citations are missing or if the format is incorrect. Ask if you need help.)
- Be sure that the conspiracy theory is relatively recent; theories about Shakespeare and Abraham Lincoln, for example, are too old.
- Be sure you narrow the paper so that you are looking at one incident; writing about The Illuminati would take you (literally) thousands of pages; just focus on one meeting on Jekyll Island or one secret session of Congress; write about one incident.
- Your thesis must contain what the conspiracy (allegedly) was, who conspired, why they would do such a thing.
- Your thesis needs specific names of individual people and must give specific reasons; "The government conspired to have John F. Kennedy assassinated" will not work; "Lyndon Johnson and J. Edgar Hoover had John F. Kennedy assassinated because Johnson wanted to be President, and Hoover was being investigated by the Kennedy cabinet" will work.
- Adding to the statement above, "the government," "the army," "NASA," "the CIA," and so on, are NOT names of individual people. You need to name at least two actual people; if you can't find who conspired, then change your topic.
- Keep in mind that your paper must support a recent popular conspiracy theory. Since these are often considered sort of nutty, they sometimes get confused with papers about odd phenomena (Bigfoot, the Bermuda Triangle, the Mayan Calendar, and so on). Those are different topics; you are not writing about weird phenomena.
As always, feel free to ask if you have questions or need clarification.
2. The Culture Capsule
When the Voyager was sent into space in 1976, it included a Golden Record with voices and music from many cultures.
Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to create a "culture capsule" to be sent into space on the next exploratory spacecraft.
This "culture capsule" will contain artifacts that represent life on Earth, so that, if they are found, they will give the beings who find them an idea of what life is like on our planet.
- Your capsule is a box about the size of a household refrigerator: 36 inches wide, 70 inches tall, 35 inches deep. All of your artifacts must fit into this box.
- You may NOT include living creatures of any kind. This isn't Noah's Ark.
- Each item must be accompanied by a description, explaining its function to whoever finds it.
- Each item must be accompanied by statement explaining what it represents and why it is important enough to be included.
- The body of the paper must be at least 4 pages but not more than 6--that is, 1000-1500 words--in standard MLA format; you will also have a Works Cited page, which will be an additional page.
- You must use at least five sources; at least one of those sources must be a print source (i.e., a book, a newspaper article, an article from a periodical, an article stored on a database). You must quote from and document all sources.
- Use specific information and direct quotes from those sources in your paper, to support your ideas. Be sure to give in-text citations to make it clear which information comes from which source. (This part is important--you will lose points if the citations are missing or if the format is incorrect. Ask if you need help.)
As always, feel free to ask if you have questions or need clarification.
3. The Crystal Ball
As we all know, it's folly to try to predict the future. But just for fun, let's do it anyway.
Your assignment for this topic is choose one very small, very specific slice of life and predict what you think will happen in that area in the future.
For example: what will football look like in 50 years? Baseball? Soccer? What will television or the movies or music or concerts or video games look like in 50 years? What will some aspect of technology--artificial intelligence, or household products, or transportation--look like? What will elementary school or middle school or high school look like?
- Be sure to narrow down your topic to something very specific--you need to be able to cover it in detail in 4-6 pages. Please check with me if you need help with this.
- The body of the paper must be at least 4 pages but not more than 6--that is, 1000-1500 words--in standard MLA format; you will also have a Works Cited page, which will be an additional page.
- You must use at least five sources; at least one of those sources must be a print source (i.e., a book, a newspaper article, an article from a periodical, an article stored on a database). You must quote from and document all sources.
- Use specific information and direct quotes from those sources in your paper, to support your ideas. Be sure to give in-text citations to make it clear which information comes from which source. (This part is important--you will lose points if the citations are missing or if the format is incorrect. Ask if you need help.)
As always, feel free to ask if you have questions or need clarification.
4. Sweet Dreams Are Made of These...
Give your theory of the function of dreams. Create an argument supporting your theory, giving at least 3 reasons with supporting evidence (although if you have more, feel free to use them).
You need not make up a whole new theory of your own; if you have such a theory, that's great. But more likely, one of the existing theories appeals to you, and you can show why you would choose to support that over the others.
- Make sure your thesis is stated clearly and explicitly.
- Give a brief overview of the other theories competing with yours.
- You must use at least five sources; at least one of those sources must be a print source (i.e., a book, a newspaper article, an article from a periodical, an article stored on a database). You must quote from and document all sources.
- Use specific information and direct quotes from those sources in your paper, to support your ideas. Be sure to give in-text citations to make it clear which information comes from which source. (This part is important--you will lose points if the citations are missing or if the format is incorrect. Ask if you need help.)
- Give a Works Cited list for those sources, in correct MLA format. (This part is important--you will lose points if the format is incorrect. Ask if you need help.)
As always, feel free to ask if you have questions or need clarification.
5. Mine's Better Than Yours...Maybe...
Choose ONE specific item: work of art (painting, song, novel, graphic novel, comic book, sculpture, etc.), car, building, bridge, house, tractor, etc. Explain how merit is determined in relation to the item you chose: who makes such decisions? what standards to they use to measure the value of a work in this genre? How much of such a judgment is objective, and how much is subjective? How does your item measure up?
- Be sure to choose ONE item. Do not write about a type of house, for example. Write about one house. It can be a famous house, such as Falling Water. Or it can be your own house (I'm assuming you don't live in Falling Water!).
- Explain how merit is determined in relation to the item you chose. Give specific details and any background information or history necessary.
- Analyze your item in relation to these standards. How does it measure up to the various criteria? Go into detail, explaining why your item would or would not meet the standards for excellence in that field.
- You must use at least five sources; at least one of those sources must be a print source (i.e., a book, a newspaper article, an article from a periodical, an article stored on a database). You must quote from and document all sources.
- Use specific information and direct quotes from those sources in your paper, to support your ideas. Be sure to give in-text citations to make it clear which information comes from which source. (This part is important--you will lose points if the citations are missing or if the format is incorrect. Ask if you need help.)
- Give a Works Cited list for those sources, in correct MLA format. (This part is important--you will lose points if the format is incorrect. Ask if you need help.)
As always, feel free to ask if you have questions or need clarification.
6. Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story
Give three interpretations of the same historical event. Explain clearly each interpretation, and give the evidence supporting each interpretation. Then give your own interpretation. Explain why you see the events in this way, and support your interpretation with specific evidence. If you don't have your own interpretation, but agree with one of the existing interpretations, explain why you support that one over the others.
- You must use at least five sources; at least one of those sources must be a print source (i.e., a book, a newspaper article, an article from a periodical, an article stored on a database). You must quote from and document all sources.
- Use specific information and direct quotes from those sources in your paper, to support your ideas. Be sure to give in-text citations to make it clear which information comes from which source. (This part is important--you will lose points if the citations are missing or if the format is incorrect. Ask if you need help.)
- Give a Works Cited list for those sources, in correct MLA format. (This part is important--you will lose points if the format is incorrect. Ask if you need help.)
As always, feel free to ask if you have questions or need clarification.
7. Oops!
Choose one scientific theory that was believed for many years to be right, but then was proven wrong. Give the main evidence that was used to support the original theory, and then the evidence that proved the theory wrong. Show how the new theory came to be accepted; tell the story behind the change in belief.
- You must use at least five sources; at least one of those sources must be a print source (i.e., a book, a newspaper article, an article from a periodical, an article stored on a database). You must quote from and document all sources.
- Use specific information and direct quotes from those sources in your paper, to support your ideas. Be sure to give in-text citations to make it clear which information comes from which source. (This part is important--you will lose points if the citations are missing or if the format is incorrect. Ask if you need help.)
- Give a Works Cited list for those sources, in correct MLA format. (This part is important--you will lose points if the format is incorrect. Ask if you need help.)
As always, feel free to ask if you have questions or need clarification.
8. Emo vs. IQ
Klosterman says that, in the future, emotional intelligence may come to be more important than intellectual intelligence? Do you agree? Explain.
- State your thesis clearly and explicitly.
- Give at least 3 reasons, with evidence, to support your thesis. (If you have more reasons, feel free to give them.)
- You must use at least five sources; at least one of those sources must be a print source (i.e., a book, a newspaper article, an article from a periodical, an article stored on a database). You must quote from and document all sources.
- Use specific information and direct quotes from those sources in your paper, to support your ideas. Be sure to give in-text citations to make it clear which information comes from which source. (This part is important--you will lose points if the citations are missing or if the format is incorrect. Ask if you need help.)
- Give a Works Cited list for those sources, in correct MLA format. (This part is important--you will lose points if the format is incorrect. Ask if you need help.)
As always, feel free to ask if you have questions or need clarification.
9. It's Just a Game
Write an argument either supporting or refuting the simulation game theory.
- Give at least 3 reasons to support your argument, and be sure each reason is supported by at least one piece of evidence. (If you have more reasons, feel free to give them.
- Give a refutation: what is the other side of the argument? Why is it wrong? Be sure to use evidence in this section as well.
- You must use at least five sources; at least one of those sources must be a print source (i.e., a book, a newspaper article, an article from a periodical, an article stored on a database). You must quote from and document all sources.
- Use specific information and direct quotes from those sources in your paper, to support your ideas. Be sure to give in-text citations to make it clear which information comes from which source. (This part is important--you will lose points if the citations are missing or if the format is incorrect. Ask if you need help.)
- Give a Works Cited list for those sources, in correct MLA format. (This part is important--you will lose points if the format is incorrect. Ask if you need help.)
As always, feel free to ask if you have questions or need clarification.
10. Choices, Choices
Write an argument either supporting or refuting the multiverse theory.
- Give at least 3 reasons to support your argument, and be sure each reason is supported by at least one piece of evidence. (If you have more reasons, feel free to give them.
- Give a refutation: what is the other side of the argument? Why is it wrong? Be sure to use evidence in this section as well.
- You must use at least five sources; at least one of those sources must be a print source (i.e., a book, a newspaper article, an article from a periodical, an article stored on a database). You must quote from and document all sources.
- Use specific information and direct quotes from those sources in your paper, to support your ideas. Be sure to give in-text citations to make it clear which information comes from which source. (This part is important--you will lose points if the citations are missing or if the format is incorrect. Ask if you need help.)
- Give a Works Cited list for those sources, in correct MLA format. (This part is important--you will lose points if the format is incorrect. Ask if you need help.)
As always, feel free to ask if you have questions or need clarification.
This assignment is due by midnight on the night ofTuesday, May 30th.
NO LATE PROJECTS WILL BE ACCEPTED!!!