Choose any aspect of current U.S. culture which has existed for at least fifty years. We’ll discuss suitable subjects in class. Once you’ve discovered your topic, begin making yourself an expert on it. In class, we’ll discuss research techniques you can use to discover newspaper, magazine, and scholarly sources. Direct your research towards discovering and understanding how your topic has changed over time.
The essay’s goal is to understand how changes related to your topic reflect trends in society in general. Your essay should not only demonstrate that changes have occurred, but, more importantly, make some claim about changes’ relationship to society overall. In other words, what do the changes mean? Sure, many young people today get tattoos, but so what? Tattoos are now largely acceptable in certain socioeconomic groups which in the past would not have condemned the practice. True again, but what can we learn about ourselves by making this observation?
As you develop your thesis, think about different types of claims: Is your trend a good thing? A bad thing? Is it the result of particular events? Will it have unexpected consequences? Should society make certain policy decisions related to your trend? Remember, also, that your essay’s claim should be arguable.
Your essay should demonstrate effective research using credible print sources, and/or sources located by using the library’s electronic databases. You may not use sources from the World Wide Web without instructor approval (we’ll discuss this in class). Sources should be documented in MLA style.
The final draft of this essay is due at the time of the final exam. Please ask questions in class or post them in the comments section below.
I was wondering if I could do the essay on how disabilities have became more "acceptable" to society in the past fifty years?
ReplyDeleteYes, that's a great topic, Amanda. You should have no trouble finding plenty of information. Many scholarly journals publish articles (try searching "disability studies) on this topic. You might look in medicine or sociology to start. You should also be able to find plenty of information in popular sources. Try the New York Times. The U.S. government will have posted a lot of information too. Try searching "Americans with Disabilities Act."
ReplyDeleteTwo issues to think about:
1. Be sure your essay does more than argue that society has changed. Of course it has. You want to try to say something more significant ABOUT the change.
2. Try to focus on a specific aspect of the change. A suitable topic might be something like, "representations of people with disabilities in mainstream movies." Research for an essay like that would probably involve watching some films from, say, the 1940's and comparing them to films today.
Thanks for your question. If you or anyone else has further questions, we'll talk in class on friday.