essay

 
Essay 1: Exposition
Length: 700 words minimum
Point Value: 200
Peer Review Date: Feb. 6   
Due Date:  Feb. 11                  
Assignment Objectives
Students’ essays should 1) have a thesis statement that directly makes a claim about what the text they are analyzing communicates and why, 2) use specific, detailed examples from the text to support that claim and the reasons why, and 3) summarize, paraphrase, and quote from the text adequately to complete the task.
Rationale
This essay will ask you to choose a single text from a provided list and write an exposition of it. Exposition is the act of explaining what a text says and how it says it, and how it attempts to persuade or influence its readers, viewers, or participants. Practicing this kind of assignment can help you understand how texts of all varieties attempt to persuade you, from scholarly articles to advertisements to posts on social media.
Assignment
Write an essay that presents your explanation of how the text you have chosen works to influence its readers. Make sure to focus more on how the piece works than on summarizing what it says. You may choose any one of the following texts:

“White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack” by Peggy McIntosh
“The Importance of Danny Green” by Micah Wimmer
“A Neuroscientist Uncovers a Dark Secret” by Barbara Bradley Hagerty
“Black Panther Is Not the Movie We Deserve” by Christopher Lebron 
“For 50 Years, Nuclear Bomb Lost in Watery Grave” by Liane Hansen and Guy Raz
“Consider the Lobster” by David Foster Wallace
“The Amazon Cannot Be Recovered Once It’s Gone” by Robinson Meyer
“The Sad, Beautiful Fact That We’re All Going to Miss Almost Everything” by Linda Holmes
“How David Stern Navigated Race In the NBA” by Harvey Araton
“10 Reasons Why Slavery Should Not Be Abolished” by Robert Higgs
“Making the Vaccine Decision” by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
“Queen and Slim Is Not For Black People” by Court Danee
“8 Reasons Why Marijuana Should Be Legalized” by Tom Head
“More Effective Treatment Strategies Possible for Black Adolescents Dealing with Depression Says Rutgers–Camden Research” by Tom McLaughlin
“Perseverance Is a Major Key to a Life of Success,” Mohammed Bilal Shahid 
“Seahawks Josh Gordon Is Suspended Indefinitely” by Ken Belson

Rhetorical Situation
Assume the audience for this essay is academic—your professor and peers in the classroom.
Do I need a works cited page?
Yes. Because you will be quoting, paraphrase, and summarizing from a source, you will need to parenthetically cite it when you use it in your essay and include an MLA works cited page with an entry for source. Please ask if you have questions regarding citation, and remember that all essays will go through the Turnitin Originality Check in the D2L Dropbox.