First Essay: 

Entering the Conversation 

 

  • Length:  about 1000 words (3-4 pages).  (There is no penalty for going over this length, but a much shorter essay may result in a failing grade.)

  • Prewriting due September 8--e-mail a copy to me and to each of your dialogue group members; essay due September 15

  • Before you start:  review these evaluation criteria.

  • Also:  take a look at these guidelines for using "I" in academic writing.

 

Purpose

 

 

Source

 

Choose one of the following texts as your primary source (all available on SOCS): 

Charlotte Bunch, "Not by Degrees:  Feminist Theory and Education" (1979)

Audre Lorde, "Poetry Is Not a Luxury" (1977) from Sister/Outsider:  Essays and Speeches (1984)

Maria Lugones and Elizabeth V. Spelman, "Have We Got a Theory for You! Feminist Theory, Cultural Imperialism and the Demand for 'The Woman's Voice'" (1983)

bell hooks, "Theory as Liberatory Practice" from Teaching to Transgress (1994)

STARTING QUESTION

 

How does your source address the following general statement (drawn from the introduction to the course)?

Feminist theories provide intellectual tools for building knowledge about gendered oppression and developing strategies for resistance and change.

Treat this statement as a "bare bones" preliminary thesis.  You will develop and enrich your own more specific thesis through the prewriting and feedback process.

 

Prewriting (due September 8)

 

The prewriting has three stages.  Plan to spend 15-30 minutes on each stage.

 

1.  Engage with the text.  Concentrate first on making sure you have a clear understanding of the source and clarifying phrases or words you're not sure about.  Then identify passages that seems to you particularly striking—whether because they're central to the author’s argument, because they offer a fresh approach or new complexities, because they're especially difficult to understand, or because they have wide implications beyond the scope of the reading itself. 

Raise questions, make speculations.  How does this reading compare to other readings you’ve encountered that address these concepts? 

 

2.  Apply the concepts.  Consider a current event, a work of popular culture, or an experience in your own life.  How would you approach "building knowledge" or "developing strategies" of response to the example you chose based on the author's thinking? 

 

3.  Find your preliminary thesis.  Review your pre-writing, return to the starting question posed above, and consider:  What am I really saying?  What do I want to argue? 

 

FEEDBACK GROUPS

 

In class, we’ll organize dialogue groups which will meet during the fourth hour to talk about the prewritings.  Send copies of your prewriting to your group members in advance of your meeting.  The group members’ main tasks will be to support each other in identifying, clarifying, highlighting, and enriching one another's thesis and central argument. 

 

As you meet, consider questions like the following for each group member's pre-writing:

Which parts of the essay do you find most engaging, and why? 

What question does the essay seem to be answering?  Does your perception of the central question match the author's intention--and, if not, why not?

Are there ideas you're not sure you understand yet?  Why?  Ask the author how she/he might develop or support those ideas.

What major themes do you see in the prewriting, and how are they connected?

How has the author brought her own voice and her own thinking to the assignment?  Do you see opportunities for her to do more of this?

What's the thesis at this stage?  What is the author arguing for? against?  How might the author make the thesis more concrete, more specific?  What parts of the prewriting best support this central idea?

THE FINAL ESSAY

 

As you develop your final essay, consider the feedback you’ve received.  Incorporate any of it that seems valuable in reinforcing your argument and focusing your thesis.  Since academic integrity requires that we acknowledge the contributions of anyone whose thinking has helped advance our own, write an endnote recognizing any feedback that was helpful.