Question Description
THERE IS NO MINIMUM WRITING REQUIREMENTS BUT PLEASE MAKE IT MINIMUM 2 PAGES, HOPEFULLY LONGER
We used two different texts for this class: a book and a documentary series (of which we watched 4 of the 6 episodes). What do you think of them? Do you think they are good texts for this class? If so, why? If not, why not?
Prompts:
1) Ilan Ziv’s 6-part documentary series Capitalism is an appropriate text for English 110 at SBCC.
2) Douglas Rushkoff’s Team Human is an appropriate text for English 110 at SBCC.
Instructions:
Choose ONE of the prompts above and write an essay that directly to the prompt. Whichever you choose, you need to decide whether you agree or disagree and explain why you agree or disagree.
Use the Writing Process (see my Week 2 zoom presentation on the topic) to generate ideas, to create a rough draft, and to edit your rough draft/s, the goal being the development of the best final draft possible (which NEVER comes with merely sitting down and typing out an essay of the top of one’s head).
Your thesis should clearly state whether you agree or disagree with the prompt you choose and should appear at the end of the introduction.
In the introduction, after providing a hook to grab the readers attention, summarize the text. (You cannot assume that your audience has seen the documentaries you have or read the book you have.)
Begin each body paragraph with a topic sentence that includes a point or reason that supports your thesis. (These points/reasons should answer the question WHY you agree or disagree.) Also, thoroughly explain your points/reasons and provide examples, statistics, personal experience, hypothetical scenarios, and/or expert testimony to support them.
Use at least one quote in each body paragraph. Your quotes can come from the text you’re writing on or from outside sources (magazines, books, the internet, etc.). Remember to explain your quotesyou can never assume that the reader will understand a quote in the same way you do, so explain how they support the point you are trying to make in any given situation or paragraph. Also, cite your quotes, providing the page number in parenthesis at the end of the quote.
Make sure to include a counterargument. This can either be included in one of your paragraphs or make up its own paragraph if your discussion of the counterargument is sufficiently developed.
Make sure to use plenty of transitional words and phrases in every paragraph–as many as seem necessary to guide your reader easily from one idea, quote, example to the next. Use transitional sentences to move fluidly from one paragraph to the next. Also, use pointing words properly.
Make sure to answer the questions So what? and Who cares? somewhere in your essay–perhaps answer one in the introduction and the other in the conclusion.
Include at least one example of metacommentary somewhere in your essay–most likely in the body.
Try to end your essay with a Zinger or Whammy–a sentence that really leaves the reader with something to think about.
Refer to the Essay tips and Persuasive Essay (go to “Course Resources” in “Welcome” section of Modules) handouts for ideas that may help you develop your introduction, body, and conclusion.
Include a Works Cited page.
Essay length: There is no minimum page length for this final writing assignment. You just need to write the best essay you can and include all of the strategies we’ve learned in this course (the ones listed above in the bullet points).
This essay is worth 100 points.
