Writing Assignments

Essay 1: Summary and Response (2-3 pages), due at the beginning of class on Oct. 2

In The Disappearance of Childhood, Neil Postman argues for his view of the state of childhood in contemporary American culture. Briefly summarize Postman's argument, and then respond to it from your own perspective. To what extent do you agree or disagree with his claims, and what evidence can you offer – from your reading, observations, or personal experience – to support your response?

Essay 2: Interpretation and Analysis (4-5 pages)

2A – rough draft, submitted electronically to your assigned SA by 5:00 p.m. on Oct. 13

2B – final version, due at the beginning of class on Oct. 21

Herman Melville's Billy Budd raises a number of issues relating to guilt, innocence, truth, justice, sacrifice, redemption, and a host of other concerns. Focus on one particular issue or question that the novel addresses, formulate a clear interpretive claim that expresses your understanding of Melville's perspective on the issue at hand, analyze the ways in which Melville's text is illuminated by your interpretative stance, and support your discussion with concrete evidence.

Since this is a relatively short essay, you are urged to select a very specific focus for your discussion, and to maintain that focus sharply throughout the paper. Whatever focus you choose, you should keep in mind that we are dealing with a well-crafted work of art; Melville made many considered choices about how to tell his tale, and our task is to think about why he made the choices he did and how his choices affect our experience of the narrative. Your essay should concentrate on Melville's authorship of the novella: what is conveyed through the narrative choices he has made? Your interpretive claim should be clearly established within the first couple of paragraphs, and you should be able to explain why the focus you have chosen is a significant aspect of the novel as a whole. Textual evidence must be included to support your discussion, and any direct quotations or specific examples from the text should include parenthetical page number citations from the University of Chicago edition.

You will be required to submit a rough draft of the essay to one of the class's Student Assistants, who will provide written comments and suggestions; you will then be expected to revise your draft for final submission and grading.

Essay 3: Analysis, Synthesis, and Evaluation (4-6 pages)

3A – proposal, due Oct. 30

3B – rough draft, due Nov. 3

3C – final version, due Nov. 13

In his 1831 letter concerning his son's upbringing, Francis Wayland presents a program that is placed within a particular religious context. In a coherently-organized essay governed by a central analytical or evaluative claim, examine Wayland's presentation as it relates to Locke's and Rousseau's approaches to child development. Your primary attention should be devoted to Wayland's text, but you are expected to place it in the context of these other two seminal works in the philosophy of child-rearing. In the course of your essay you should incorporate some discussion of at least two other course readings in addition to the primary texts by Locke and Rousseau, using them to support or in some way illuminate your analysis.

Remember that your own claim regarding Wayland's argument should constitute the primary focus of your essay, and that the body of your essay should work to support this claim as convincingly as possible.

Questions you might want to consider as you develop your essay include: How do Wayland's religious convictions, and the consequent assumptions he makes about human nature in general and childhood in particular, govern his claims regarding the proper means of raising children? How does Wayland's perspective relate to the divergent perspectives provided by Locke and Rousseau? To what extent could Wayland be seen as agreeing or disagreeing with the fundamental assumptions made by either of these other two authors, and to what extent are his specific recommendations for dealing with children congruent with or in opposition to theirs? Do you find Wayland's position regarding "correction" of children and submission of their wills to be convincingly presented? Why or why not? What techniques does he use to support his argument, and how do these techniques compare to Locke's or Rousseau's? What audience might Wayland be addressing, and how might that govern his approach? Is Wayland's argument ultimately any more or less convincing than Locke's or Rousseau's? Why or why not? Of course, you do not need to respond to all of these specific questions in your essay; they are merely intended to stimulate your thinking.

This assignment will proceed through three stages:

A. Proposal: no more than one page, laying out your claim and explaining how you see Wayland's approach fitting into the context of our other readings – to be presented for discussion by a small group of your classmates on Thursday, Oct. 30

B. Rough draft of paper, minimum of 4 pages – to be submitted electronically to your assigned SA by 5:00 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 3

C. Final version – to be submitted at the beginning of class on Thursday, Nov. 13

Essay 4: Research and Response (6-8 pages)

4A – proposal, due Nov. 20

4B – rough draft, due Nov. 25

4C – final version, due Dec. 4

For this paper, you are asked to select any topic relating to the themes of innocence and/or childhood and to explore your chosen topic through a source-based discussion. The more specifically focused your topic is, the more clearly and coherently you will be able to develop your discussion.

Your exploration should be guided by your own response to the topic: you will need to take a position of some kind (i.e., you will need to make a clear and well-formulated claim) and to make a convincing argument in support of your position. You need not present a stark agree-or-disagree claim; in fact, successful arguments usually feature more nuanced interpretations or analyses of the topic at hand.

To support and illuminate your discussion, you are required to use a minimum of five outside sources beyond the materials we have read for our class. One of the five must be an interview (either in person or via email), one must be a book, and the other three may include journal articles, news accounts, legitimate websites, or any other authoritative source materials. You may, of course, use more than five sources; there is no upper limit on the number. All sources must be cited according to standard MLA format, and your paper must include an MLA-style bibliography.

This assignment will proceed through three stages:

A. Proposal: statement of topic, proposed thesis, rough outline, and tentative list of five sources – to be presented for discussion by a small group of your classmates on Thursday, Nov. 20

B. Rough draft of paper, minimum of 6 pages, plus bibliography – to be submitted to your assigned SA at the beginning of class on Tuesday, Nov. 25

C. Final version – to be submitted at the beginning of class on Thursday, Dec. 4