Writing Project #2

English 111 Dr. Dickson Fall 2009

 

Description: Write a 5-page essay (double-spaced, typed, font 11 or 12, regular margins) that responds to ONE of the following prompts:

 

How does our technological, consumer society create a spiritual crisis for some people today and what have been some effective and some ineffective responses for dealing with that crisis?

 

How does social injustice (gender inequality, the growing gulf between rich and poor, or the lingering effects of slavery) create a spiritual crisis for some people today and what have been some effective and some ineffective responses for dealing with that crisis?

 

Your essay’s purpose is to use the essays in CTA, MTM, the course packet, and the class blog* to come to terms with the “rhetoric of spiritual crisis” and to evaluate a few strategies people have used for dealing with that crisis. In other words, this essay asks you to ponder:

 

why aren’t Americans, who have so much, happier? [First Prompt]

 

why does the suffering of others somehow compel some people to act in ways that counteract egoism/self-interest/complacency/hedonism? [Second Prompt]

 

This, like any other, essay is more about inquiry and thinking than making a single point. So, in the course of writing this essay, you should have the opportunity to really think about whether or not the authors describing the problems with overconsumption or social injustice really have a valid point

 

Format: Your essay does not need to be a “thesis-driven” essay. Like any piece of writing, you need to orient your reader and keep a focus. Your transitions and topic sentences have to all “tie” back into the central topic. You can’t “ramble.” But you can orient your reader without stating a three point thesis in the first paragraph. Some people use questions. Some people use the tactic of an implicit focus. For instance: Some people think vegetarianism is just about not eating meat. (This sentence implies what is to come: a new or expanded definition of vegetarianism).

 

Due Dates:

 

See syllabus (but Monday the first installment is due: brainstorm IN WRITING for 2 ½ hours on the prompt you choose)

 

*http://amoebicintel.wordpress.com/

 

 

Suggested Invention Process:

 

 

  1. Decode the prompt  

 

  (….for instance, in the bold text on page 1 I see the following requirements: define spiritual crisis….establish factually that it happens (for some)….explain/analyze/ evaluate strategies that people have for dealing with this crisis….Note: why do you think I put the verbs in italics?)

 

 

 

  1. What’s an obvious answer to the prompt? What is probably often overlooked?

 

 

 

 

 

  1. Consult the resources---what’s there to help you understand key terms in the prompt? Paraphrase important passages. Find essential quotations that you might want to explain/explore.

 

 

 

 

  1. What’s an obvious answer to the prompt? What is probably often overlooked?

 

 

 

 

  1. Talk to friends/family about the prompt.

 

 

 

 

  1. When ready to move from INVENTION to DRAFTING, try this technique: place your key paraphrased material and/or quotes from your sources on index cards and begin playing around with possible sequence of them---which one helps you introduce the general topic*, which one helps you establish an obvious answer, which one helps you contemplate a better, surprising answer?

 

 

*the topic you first talk about could be spiritual crisis (that goes for both prompts). Or: it could be consumer society (in first prompt) and social injustice (in second prompt).