Pre-writing Portfolio 2

Overview

This assignment asks you to do the same thing I asked for in Pre-writing Portfolio 1.

Last time, I noticed some uncertainty over the difference between the 400-word personal essay (which, like every essay, needs a thesis) and the thesis statement for the academic paper we were getting ready to write.  So I'll clarify the three separate parts, and their purposes, and then follow up with details.

• Short personal essay
  This component helps me assess the connections you can make between all the readings we've read as part of Unit 2.
  
• Thesis statement for Paper 2
  This component lets me assess your readiness to start writing the upcoming academic paper (which will focus on just a few of the readings in Unit 2)
  
• Works Cited list
  This component lets me assess your ability to follow the conventions of MLA style (all the readings from Unit 2). 

The Details

1. A short personal essay (400 words) that demonstrates your ability to connect all the readings we've done in Unit 2 (the unit on gender) in Rereading America.
   
1. I want to see evidence that you have read, understood, and connected all six of the readings. (You are also welcome to include something from the visual portfolio, if you wish.)
2. I am looking for very brief quotations (avoid including the full title of the articles in the body of your paper -- all that information will be in your works cited list)
3. I am looking for breadth.  Can you identify patterns, see tensions and/or harmonies?
1. I am not looking for any particular pattern. (You don't have to group/organize/categories these ideas the same way I would.
2. There is no "right answer" -- but there are "well-supported thesis statements" (yes!) and "unsupported opinions" (whoops!) and "non-controversial observations" (oops!)
   
2. A preliminary thesis statement for Essay 2
1. Essay 2 is a 3-4 page academic essay that responds to the Unit 2 readings.  (The only thing different from Essay 1 is the topic.)
2. For this assignment, choose one or two (or, at most, three) readings, and compose a preliminary thesis statement that arises from the readings. (Essay 2 should not try to cover all six readings. Two or three is plenty; one may even be enough.)
   
3. Rather than summarizing, your thesis should offer a non-obvious interpretation of some idea you found in the reading(s).
4. Remember to focus on the reading(s), not on a general source such as what "some people may think."  (Offer an original, informed opinion about the reading(s). Let everything else flow from the original way you interpret what you read.)
   
5. In the thesis statement, name the authors that drive your argument. (You may quote from the authors, if you wish. But whether you quote them or not, do name them.)
6. Finding a good thesis statement is not easy. I know I have to scratch out my attempts and try again many times, so feel free to experiment here.  It's much easier to change your approach at this early stage, and much harder to change after you've produced several pages of writing.
   
1. Malcolm X says prison gave him the freedom to educate himself.
   While a rational reader might agree or disagree with Malcolm X, the above statement is a non-controversial summary of Malcolm X's opinion.  How can we shift the focus from summarizing the author's idea, to interpreting it?  What does it MEAN, why does it MATTER, what do we DO, now that we have zoomed in on a particular author's claim?
1. Because Malcolm X says only in prison did he have the freedom to educate himself, we should look with suspicion on Moore's complaints that students are treated like prisoners, because A, B, and C..
2. Although Malcolm X says only in prison did he have the freedom to educate himself, we should seriously consider Moore's complaints about prison-like schools, because X, Y, and Z.
3.  A complete Works Cited list for all the sources your paper uses.