Seeing, Re-Seeing, Correcting Misperceptions
The essays we have read this unit all address the phenomenon of perception-each author challenges a prevalent cultural misperception, drawing from personal perspective in order to persuade the reader to thinkdifferently about difference.
For this essay, you will undertake a similar project. Through your personal narrative, you will investigate some misunderstood or misperceived facet of American culture (technology, entertainment, consumerism, etc.) or life (family, illness, disability or any kind of difference, etc.) in order to persuade your readers to think differently.
In this unit's discussion, we examined the various strategies used by authors to persuade their audiences. We noted that these authors did not simply assert a thesis and then defend or "prove" it; rather, the authors invited us to explore and think further about a topic.
However, as readers we weren't taken on an unfocused or disorganized journey:
- The focus (or what we might understand as the "thesis") of each essay was clear and woven throughout the essay.
- The focus was well supported through appeals to logic, emotion, and through the writer's expertise on the topic.
- The essays were organized in persuasive ways.
- The writers carefully crafted their language and tone to appeal to the audience.
Keep these qualities in mind as you compose your essay-it is no coincidence that focus, development, rhetorical strategies, and conventions serve as the grading criteria for EN105 essays.
Length: Approximately 1,000 words (about 4 pages, double-spaced, 1 inch margins, Times New Roman font).
Style/Format: This, as all essays in EN105, will be formatted according to MLA (Modern Language Association) guidelines for scholarship in the humanities:
- 12 point, Times New Roman font, double-spaced.
- 1-inch margins top, bottom, and sides.
- Although no cover page is needed, you should include your name, my name, the course number/title, and date at the upper left-hand corner of the manuscript.
- To view a sample MLA-formatted paper, see p. 252 in Easy Writer.
File format: Please submit your essay in Rich Text Format (RTF). This is available in most word processing programs; it will ensure maximum document accessibility for all operating platforms.
Titles: Include a descriptive title at the beginning of your essay that tips your readers off to your thesis. Do not format your title with quotation marks, boldface, underlining or italics. Quotation marks or underlining are only appropriate if the title borrows words from another source.
Deadline: Submit your final draft essay no later than midnight CST on Sunday at the end of this unit.
Use of essays for future courses: Please understand that your essay may be used-anonymously-as a sample for future EN105 students and instructors unless you expressly request that it not be used. Your work, of course, will only be used for educational purposes.
Grading: See the "Grading and Assessment" content item under Course Information.