Choose one of the three prompts below to answer. Answers should take the form of a short essay, at least 750 words; you should have a clear thesis statement no later than the end of your second paragraph, and then provide examples from at least two primary source texts to support that thesis.

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Monsters and Society

Choose one of the three prompts below to answer. Answers should take the form of a short essay, at least 750 words (roughly 3 pages, though longer is fine!); you should have a clear thesis statement (what is your overall answer to the question?) no later than the end of your second paragraph, and then provide examples from at least two primary source texts to support that thesis. You do not need direct quotes, but your answers should demonstrate your knowledge of the texts, use specific examples/scenes/evidence for support, and make a clear argument.

You should use at least one primary source text from after the midterm (so: Frankenstein, “Bisclavret,” “Familiar,” “Robin Hood & Guy of Gisborne,” the War Poets (Owen, Sassoon, Tolkien), and X-Men). The other primary source (or two) may come from after or from before the midterm (Titus Andronicus, Buffy the Vampire Slayer) or from an outside source, perhaps another film or television show or novel or video game—but be sure you can give specific examples/evidence!

Prompt #1: Monsters and Society.

Elizabeth Young suggests that the Frankenstein story can function as a metaphor: symbolically representing any creation of a monster that then grows out of control, and becomes potentially dangerous, because the creator did not take proper care of it. Monsters, according to this argument, help draw attention to larger social and cultural concerns—that is, monsters aren’t simply single individual beings, but represent larger social problems, like Young’s three examples of the culturally created monsters of slavery, or the United States helping to put political dictators into power, or genetically modified foods. (Frankenstein, for instance, is in part about the monstrosity of a parent abandoning a child, and also about the monstrous potential of new scientific discoveries. Another example might involve how the War Poets of World War One use gruesome and vivid language to depict war itself, and/or a failure of leadership, as a type of monster.) Using at least two primary source texts for support, discuss the ways in which monsters can represent larger cultural fears and concerns. What kinds of monsters do we see in the texts you’ve chosen, how are they described, and what larger social problems and fears do they represent? You should have a clear thesis, no later than your second paragraph, that provides your overall answer to the prompt question, then use your body paragraphs for evidence and support from the texts you’ve chosen. I do not expect you to have memorized exact quotes or page numbers, given the time limit; I do expect you to have a good general knowledge of plot points and important characters and concepts, so that you can give examples.

Now that you’ve had a strong dose of style and tone advice, use these points to help you critique what your report authors do. Are they overly technical? Are they precise? Do they write impenetrable sentences or vary sentence length? Does their selection of terms suggest any bias?

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Memo: document critique

Write a memo critiquing the following report:
(critique the organization, tone, and design of one of the formal report)

Come Heat and High Water: Climate Risk in the Southeastern U.S. and Texas

Instructions:
For today’s assignment, the take-away from this chapter is that the organization of the document you critique is intentional. The authors structured it in the way they did because of their audiences, their information, and their purposes. Pay attention to what is emphasized via the organization and how it is done.

Note if some potential sections seem missing. Have they been dropped because they are not relevant? Have they been folded into other sections to help readers follow key points? Or have they been dropped entirely, perhaps for the authors to downplay something they don’t want to discuss?

Study these pages and topics:
1. Ambiguous pronoun references (200)
2. Active and passive voice (203-05)
3. Overstuffed sentences (206)
4. Weak verbs (209-10)
5. Jargon (218-19)
6. Analogies (222)
7. Biased language (227-29)

Now that you’ve had a strong dose of style and tone advice, use these points to help you critique what your report authors do. Are they overly technical? Are they precise? Do they write impenetrable sentences or vary sentence length? Does their selection of terms suggest any bias?

Note what the authors do well and do poorly. These are the items you will want to discuss in your memo.

Write a 4-5 page essay on transitions, Rhetorical analysis of transitions, just about transitioning and how why what it is we are using the little seagull handbook.

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Transitions

Have to write a 4-5 page essay on transitions, Rhetorical analysis of transitions, just about transitioning and how why what it is we are using the little seagull handbook.

Using newspaper databases (available through the KSU Library), look up national newspaper coverage of the release of the report. Did any national newspapers cover the report’s release and comment on it? What did news articles say about its importance? What did they say about the interests of the authors and the context of the report?

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Rhetorical Analysis Worksheet

Basic Information

  1. Title of report and name of author (author organization, team, or board).
  2. When was the report published or released?
  3. What purposes or points of view are expressed in the report title?

 

Audience Identification and Analysis

  1. Who is the primary audience? How do you know? Is it a technical, executive, or lay audience?
  2. Who is the secondary audience? How do you know? Is it a technical, executive, or lay audience?
  3. Is there a tertiary audience? If so, who is it and how do you know? Is it a technical, executive, or lay audience?

 

Document Context

  1. Explain the circumstances that led to the report. Why was this report needed? Was the report commissioned?

Note: To answer these questions, read the front matter of the report. Also consider visiting the organization’s Web site for more information about the context that led to the report’s research and production.

 

Perspective and Purposes of the Author Organization and Individual Authors

  1. Research the author organization for the report. Look in the report and look at the organization’s Web site. What is the organization? Describe its mission, and briefly note its history. Which individuals seem to have actually written the report? How can you tell? What are their qualifications and likely points of view? Evaluate their level of expertise. Do they seem qualified to serve as credible authors? Do they seem likely to be biased in their views of the issues discussed in the report?

 

Rhetorical Features of the Report Document

  1. Can you see the mission of the organization reflected in the report’s text? Look carefully at the front matter, executive summary (or its equivalent or substitute), and conclusions (or findings).
  2. Study the report’s organization and design. What do they suggest about the overall purpose of the report (informative, instructive, persuasive) and the point of view of the authors and author organization?
  3. Consider the use of visual information (photographs, graphs, tables, maps, etc.). What approach do the authors take towards the use of visual information in trying to appeal to the primary and secondary audiences? What is the effect of the use of visual information?
  4. Do the report’s authors have to cope with any constraints in writing and producing this report? These constraints are discussed in our textbook on pages 42-46.
  5. Speculate on how the author, audiences, purposes, and context constrain the content of the report.
    1. What are the authors able to say or do; conversely what are they unable (or unwilling) to say or do?
    2. How can the authors appeal to the target audiences? Can they meet the needs of all of them simultaneously?
    3. What purposes are available and unavailable for this report? Which purposes do the report’s audiences expect the author to fulfill?

 

Report’s Reception in the National Press

  1. Using newspaper databases (available through the KSU Library), look up national newspaper coverage of the release of the report. Did any national newspapers cover the report’s release and comment on it? What did news articles say about its importance? What did they say about the interests of the authors and the context of the report?
  2. Also look at the Web site for the author organization and search for any fact sheets or press releases that accompanied the release of the report. These may suggest the key findings of the report more concisely than the report’s executive summary. Also, these press materials may indicate point of view and bias on the author organization’s part. What do you learn from reviewing these documents?

 

Final comment

  1. What is your informed view of the quality, completeness, fairness, and objectivity of the report?

In a well-organized essay, explain the significance of dark or night. Consider elements such as point of view, imagery, and symbolism.

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Poem: Darkness and night

The poem below deals with darkness and night. Read the poem carefully. Then, in a well-organized essay, explain the significance of dark or night. In your essay, consider elements such as point of view, imagery, and symbolism.

Acquainted with the Night

I have been one acquainted with the night.
I have walked out in rain — and back in rain.
I have out walked the furthest city light.

I have looked down the saddest city lane.
I have passed by the watchman on his beat
And dropped my eyes, unwilling to explain.

I have stood still and stopped the sound of feet
When far away an interrupted cry
Came over houses from another street,

But not to call me back or say good-bye;
And further still at an unearthly height,
A luminary clock against the sky

Proclaimed the time was neither wrong nor right.
I have been one acquainted with the night.

Robert Frost

What is a panopticon and what is panopticonism? What is “Newspeak” and what are its principles, and what is its ultimate function or purpose? Why is this word, “Newspeak” used to describe this type of speech? What are the significances of this name?

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The Principles of Newspeak

Questions:

The political regime of Orwell’s 1984 is often described as “totalitarian”. What is the nature of a totalitarian regime(look it up and see materials provided)? Provide examples of the world of 1984 which illustrate it as totalitarian.

What is a panopticon and what is panopticonism?

What is “Newspeak” and what are its principles, and what is its ultimate function or purpose?  Why is this word, “Newspeak” used to describe this type of speech? What are the significances of this name? Provide 2 examples.

What is Doublethink? Give an example from the text and explain it.

Drawing on our own current cultural and/or political environment provide three of your own examples of “Newspeak” from it and explain them. What do you think they say about our society?

Identify, analyze, and explain the significance of a thematic connection between all three texts. What are the authors saying about the theme, and how is it demonstrated in the text? What can we take away from this?

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For this assignment, read Gods of Jade and Shadow, and watch the films Hunt for the Wilderpeople and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Using ALL three of the assigned works–Gods of Jade and Shadow, Hunt for the Wilderpeople, and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon–identify, analyze, and explain the significance of a thematic connection between all three texts.

What are the authors saying about the theme, and how is it demonstrated in the text? What can we take away from this?

Write an essay on Great Expectations. Analyze some concept of the novel you chose. It can be symbols, characters, the author’s use of females, etc.

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Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

1. The essay will need to be at least 1,500 words and include at least 3 outside sources, plus the book itself as a source.

2. Analyze some concept of the novel you chose. It can be symbols, characters, the author’s use of females, etc… You can argue almost anything about the novel and the elements of fiction. Your paper should be an argumentative one.

3. Your thesis should be your paper’s central argument. It needs to go at the end of your introduction. It should NOT use first person.

4. For source support you need to use the text itself, plus at least 3 outside sources:

The novel you read.
At least one outside source should be from a journal article. We used the databases in Unit 2, so if you need help with using them again please revisit that Library page here. If you read a novel that may not have any journal articles on, then please look for a journal article that supports the essay in another way–for example, an article about literary characters or literary plots.

The other two sources should be books, journal articles, or websites written by professionals, literary critics, such as a professor; no Sparknotes, etc… There are many wonderful books on this novel (online and in the library), and there are many wonderful articles on Google Scholar (Links to an external site.).
5. Each body paragraph should have support from the text you are discussing and/or the outside source along with CITATIONS IN MLA FORMAT. You also will need a WORKS CITED IN MLA FORMAT at the end of the paper.

6. If you need help, you can approach your peers or family members for a peer edit. We prefer, however, that you use the free in-person or online Writing Success Center (Links to an external site.).

7. Run spelling/grammar check and read through your paper several times for errors.

Discuss the current opportunities or lack of well-being through the aging process and then project older adult well-being 30 years in future considering policy, technology and life-space.

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Gerontology

Policy, aging affects all – how do you want to see your future? Imagine that it is 30-40 years in the future, and you are facing your aging process – what will that look like? Reflecting on Chapters 12 and 13 that address the well-being of older adults through policy, technology. Discuss the current opportunities or lack of well-being through the aging process and then project older adult well-being 30 years in future considering policy, technology and life-space. Tie all concepts together in your narrative being helped by Chapters 12 and 13 readings, your life experience, and your research (use 2 outside resources).

How does human compassion inform our understanding of the world? Apply what you have observed about empathy and write a letter to the editor about an issue as though you are one of the characters from the assigned readings.

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Letter to the editor

Keep in mind that compassion and empathy refer to the feelings you get in response to another’s emotions, suffering, or misfortune combined with a desire to help. Use at least two direct quotes to support your claim. As you write, keep in mind the unit’s essential question: How does human compassion inform our understanding of the world?
You will now apply what you have observed about empathy and write a letter to the editor about an issue as though you are one of the characters from the assigned readings.