English 100: University Writing
Essay 3
Essay 3 (with an annotated Works Cited list and a first draft) is worth 20 percent of your final grade. It should serve as a vehicle for exploring/responding to/arguing about a text (or as of a text) from the in-class material or course reading pack. The essay, which should approximately 1,500 WORDS in length, will require you to demonstrate your ability 1) to ask compelling questions in order to explore/respond to/argue about a topic, not only at the what- level, but also at the how- and why-levels; 2) to express your findings using clear, concise,grammatically accurate writing; 3) to conduct research and summarise, analyse, synthesize, and evaluate (SASE) ideas from at least THREE sources (primary and secondary); 4) to cite the sources both in-text and in a Works Cited list as outlined by the MLA Documentation guidelines; and 4) to implement the various elements and formatting rules of the research-supported,
academic essay. Note that Wikipedia and other unverifiable online sources won’t be accepted as
a reliable source of information.
Topics;
1 Explore the aims, methods and/or impacts of Stephen Brunt’s video essay about the 2010 Winter Olympic Games.
2 Argue for or against the narrator’s assertion that “what mattered was the excuse to wave the flag and sing the anthem and shout it out loud” in Stephen Brunt’s video essay about the 2010 Winter Olympic Games.
3 Explore the relationship(s) between the iconic photographs Tank Man and Falling Man.
4 Explore the function(s) of identity/anonymity in Tank Man and/or Falling Man.
5 Argue for or against Wikileaks’ mission statement and/or methodology.
6 Argue for or against TIME magazine’s naming of Wildleaks founder Julian Assange as runner-up for Person of the Year in 2010.
Explore the role of violence in Shooting an Elephant by George Orwell.
8 Respond critically (SASE) to the narrator’s assertion that imperialism is an “evil thing” in Shooting an Elephant by George Orwell.
9 Respond critically (SASE) to the central message in Unchopping a Tree by W.S. Merwin.
10 Explore the aims, methods and/or impacts of tone in Unchopping a Tree by W.S. Merwin.
11 Explore the evolution/devolution of the protagonist in Bullet in the Brain by Tobias Wolff.
12 Respond critically (SASE) to the central message in Bullet in the Brain by Tobias Wolff.
13 Argue for or against the narrator’s argument in Why Study/Teach English? by Brian Bauld.
14 Argue for or against the narrator’s assertion that “[l]iterature gives us the chance to awaken the humanity in us” in Why Study/Teach English? by Brian Bauld.
15 Respond critically (SASE) to the narrator’s argument in A Modest Proposal by Jonathan Swift.
16 Present your own “modest proposal” outlining a solution to a current societal problem using
A Modest Proposal by Jonathan Swift as an argumentative model. Note that due to the nature
of this topic, you may choose not to refer directly to A Modest Proposal in your essay (in
which case the connection will be implied in the structure).
