Category: English and Literature

Uncover or Reveal  a Force Behind a Change or Shift (Cause and Effect) Research

What NEW ANGLE do you add to make an ARGUMENT?

(1) have something specific to say (rather than something general); (2) give the appearance of an “ARGUMENT rather than simply transmit information.

What are the unknown or poorly understood forces behind a shift, change, or measurable distinction? For this essay, you will uncover the interdisciplinary causes, or triggers behind a shift that has already happened or a measurable distinction that is worth exploring. 6 outside sources + 2 (or more) Required Readings (will be uploaded below = 8 sources. The Professor likes us to snip and bleed (ideas) of the readings into our essay.

REMEMBER,ESSAY 2 IS JUST A CAUSE AND EFFECT ESSAY.I say Force instead of Cause because I want you to think of WIDESCALE triggers that despite their enormous scope or sweep yet go UNNOTICED or unobserved by most thinkers/readers/ or experts on the subject. If you continue to practice delivering NEW perspectives or angles on topics, you are more likely to (1) have something specific to say (rather than something general); (2) give the appearance of an argument rather than simply transmit information.

Here are some quick SHIFT/ FORCE examples I have heard over the years on the news or in scholarly articles:

1. SHIFT: THE MASSES START READING:
WHY?WHATS THE FORCE?

Narrower focus: What causes the rise of the novel in the 18th century? Is popular reading among the masses really just a result of the development of the printing press (common ground), or is there another way to identify the force behind the rise of popular or mass literacy?

Answer: Force: The democraticization of empiricism, says J. Paul Hunter, a professor at University of Chicago, is what births the novel in the 18th century. In Before Novels, Hunter says that the 17th century Age of Wonder ushered in the sense that the world is a readable place, for even illiterate people suddenly felt that they had the power or right to interpret natural phenomenon. WHY?Another force made that shift happen: The explosion of pamphlets and tracts that explained weird and natural events circulated widely, and this democratizing force SHIFTED the grounds and power of interpretation from the sole purview of scientists and the Church to regular people. According to Hunter, this newfound sense that the world is readable or open to interpretation made people/ the masses feel that the world was filled with news and new things. Its no wonder, then, that in this same era we see the rise of the newspaper.

2. SHIFT: the RISE of the COFFEEHOUSE in England: WHY? FORCE: the rise of the newspaperSee above argument from Hunter and connect it to another author who writes about how coffeehouses were where readers of early newspapers gathered to talk about what they read. These people would be basking in the same democratizing force that Hunter describes.A wikipedia entry reverses the Force and says that the coffeehouse helped to develop the newspaper.

3. SHIFT: Fairgrounds in England close down in 17th Century . WHY?FORCE: emerging in this climate of mass literacy is the fear that the lower classes would not be easily controlled if they are moving in the marketplace with equal power to interpret the sights and world there. Acrobats performed in the marketplace and fairs, and with multiple classes merging freely there, we see this cultural anxiety towards the seemingly sexualized women performers as well as towards the mixed classes in the marketplace, so circus rises as its own cultural institution as fairgrounds shut down, and the ring keeps the spectators seated and under control. This is also my theory on the rise of the ultimate couch potato, as I argue in my dissertation. Anyone using this must cite my work on the birth of the modern circus in Severing Skin from Cultural Kin: The Gothic Mode of Circus in Culture, Texts, and Film, as nowhere else is this argued.

So here was my intro paragraph ( how the professor wants the Introduction paragraph to be organized) However, the professor comment about it, is after the intro paragraph

[I. COMMON GROUND] When it comes to drinking alcoholic beverages, there are plenty of choices you can choose from, you could choose from a classy glass of wine, a civilized vodka and cranberry juice, a fancy cocktail, or least consumed by the majority of the population beer. The status of beer often thought of as trashy and low-priced. It doesnt have much respect when you use it to play beer bong and think that you will have fun with terrible tasting beer that costs less than a dollar a can. [II. DESTABILIZING CONDITION: a shift] However, craft beer itself has rebranded the beer industry as a whole, making it accessible to a variety of consumers, creating different flavors and creative ways of brewing. Craft beer breweries have become a culture where engineers produce original, special beers that are high quality and unique that satisfy a specific need for their customers. [III. COSTS] Due to the rise of microbreweries, consumption had undergone a notable shift during a time when American corporate breweries consumption had declined significantly. Crafted breweries are locations where people gather, drink beer, and come together to talk. But also contribute to economic growth in many cities and small towns. [IV: THESIS: SOLUTION the Problem or LESSON here] All of these craft breweries share one thing: they market their beer in town to local bars, restaurants, and to their customers base. By selling beer to their communities, they start to get involved with the people and impact them that is personable and intimate. In the end , the craft beer culture is driven by customer demand and distinguishing beer.

Professors COMMENT

Be sure to not just deliver information/ research. What NEW ANGLE do you add to make an ARGUMENT?

MUST USE TWO OF THESE ASSIGNED READINGS (PLUS AT LEAST SIX OUTSIDE SOURCES):  can find these under BLUE BOOK or online
A World Not Neatly Divided
Why the Rich Are Getting Richer and the Poor, Poorer + Reichs documentary
The Arab World
The Last Americans: Environmental Collapse and the End of Civilization
Some Reflections on American Manners
Globalization: The Super Story
How a New Jobless Era Will Transform America
Bacons The Four Idols
Diamonds Collapse
The Political Metaphysics of Stupidity
The Coddling of the American Mind
The Circle of Governments  Excerpt from Hillbilly Elegy
Does the Internet Make You Smarter or Dumber?
We are the 99.9 Percent
What College Means to the Other America   
Forty Acres and a Gap in Wealth

TOPIC:
In  either  implicit  or  explicit  ways,  many,  if  not  all,  of  our  the  above  assigned  authors  show  that  behind  their  chosen particular and noticeable changes or cultural phenomenon is a force or impulse that even we reflective members of society have not yet fully observed, noticed, or considered. As these authors uncover that driving force of change, they are, in effect, arguing for a fresh or controversial perspective on their topic. In other words, they may mean to push the readers buttons or unsettle complacency about a particular issue. For example, to explain his debatable claim that democracy will never last for more than a generation, Machiavelli notes what very human and natural impulses drive the changes in types of governments. Gates and Baldwin both talk about controversial but enduring race issues, narrowing down this broad topic to suit their own purposes in writing: Baldwin argues that the American vision of the world is in itself shaped by the battle waged by [white] Americans  to  maintain  between  themselves  and  black  men  a  human  separation  which  could  not  be  bridged.  Like  Toni Morrison, who once said that you cant talk about anything in America without talking about race, Baldwin claims that white Americans construction of race is the driving force behind  the very way the nation looks at the world. When he characterizes this force as pathological in its insane attempts to maintain a mythical separation that is mere illusion, he paints America as driven by irrational passions, as does Gates, when he compares Americas thirst for sports entertainment to a Roman blood bath,  saying,  until  training  a  young  blacks  mind  becomes  as  important  as  training  his  or  her  body,  we  will  continue  to perpetuate a system akin to that of the Roman gladiators, sacrificing a class of people for the entertainment of the mob. To uncover the enduring historical forces that continue to threaten individuals or the nation, Gates and Baldwin freely use  a  variety  of  developmental  techniques  to  flesh  out  their  argument  and  support  their  position;  these  techniques  include: personal  narrative,  exemplification,  compare  and  contrast,  analogies,  cause  and  effect,  quotations,  paraphrase,  and  so  on.  As you discover and draft your chosen topic, feel free to employ a variety of methods to support and develop your position as you too uncover a driving force or impulse behind your chosen topic.

Essay should be at least 750 words and any quotes or paraphrased content from the readings (or outside research, if you choose to use it), must be properly cited in text and in a reference list at the end of your document.

Both E. B White’s memories in “Once more to the Lake”  the short essay and joan Didions mermories in “on keeping a notebook” narratives focus on memories. Compare and contrast their approach. Consider, as you compare them, how they use the elements of writing (tone, structure, theme, point of view) and rhetorical mode to make their point.

2) Write a research-based, argumentative essay in which you argue the idea that Everyone has an equal chance to succeed. Success in the United States requires no more than hard work, sacrifice, and perseverance is a myth. In your argument explain what factors of environment impact a person’s opportunity for success and whether hard work (or working harder) alone is enough overcome those impacts of environment (consider Barbara Ehrenreich’s arguments in “Serving in Florida”). Use Barbara Ehrenreich’s “Serving in Florida”  as one of your sources. Use three additional sources*, which you cite directly, for a minimum total of four academic sources supporting your argument. You may use one of the other assigned essays from the Money/Success module as one of your three additional sources.

Expose means to uncover or lay something bare, or to discover something in a way that others know what it is. Expository is derived from exposition, which is a noun of expose. An expository essay is a genre of writing which tends to explain, illustrate, clarify, or explicate something in a way that it becomes clear for readers. Therefore, it could be an investigation, evaluation, or even argumentation about an idea for clarification.