Essay #2

In a 4-5 page, double-spaced essay, please answer one of the following prompts:

1) The Stepford Wives is a satirical novel from the 1970s that explores the ways in which gender roles and societal expectations dehumanize / objectify women. While the novel is somewhat retro and we have made inroads as a society since it was first published, what are some ways in which the restrictive gender roles and expectations for women in the novel still apply today? (You may also choose to discuss some of the ways in which women have taken on new expectations or burdens since this novel was published; for example, women in heterosexual marriages tend to work both outside the home and manage more of the household tasks these days).

*Please note that you are required to connect each of your ideas to specific examples from the book throughout your entire essay. The book is your number one source.

2) Discuss the dystopian control mechanisms (see earlier post about these) at play in Farenheit 451 and/or The Hunger Games (the novel, not film). Discuss how these control mechanisms enforce the power structure of these societies.

*Please note that for this essay prompt you may not simply list these control mechanisms and give a simplistic analysis of them, but you need to discuss in detail how these enforce the power structure of these societies and work to keep it in place. Surveillance will be a key element to analyze--how does it operate in the novel to keep people in check? Why is it so effective?

*Please note that you may discuss either Farenheit 451, or The Hunger Games, or both. As we are just beginning to read The Hunger Games, if you choose to write about it, you will need to read ahead during the break. It is a very fast read.

*You may also choose to write about the Black Mirror episode Nosedive and one of the novels, provided you spend at least half the paper discussing the novel. Any papers submitted that do not discuss at least one of the novels for at least half of the paper will receive a zero.


*Detailed instructions on your outside sources for this paper are below. However, please make sure that you research dystopian literature and/or the novels specifically for this prompt. Do not do research into contemporary totalitarian regimes or other "extra-textual" sources for this specific prompt.

• Introduce the story title, author, and year of publication in your opening sentence or two. In other words, include a sentence beginning "Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale (1986)..." early in your essay. Provide a brief plot overview keyed to the specific issues that you will discuss.  Your opening paragraph (or at the very least second paragraph) should end with a specific thesis statement that explains or identifies the purpose of the essay, what will be proved, and how it will be proved through identification of topics to be discussed.

• Begin body paragraphs with topic statements, statements of opinions about story facts (interpretations), and NOT with the next item in the story sequence or with a wordy delay phrase like "Another way that the concept that I am discussing is shown in the way that the story was written is..."

• Italicize the titles of novels and place quotation marks around the titles of stories.

• When you summarize plot, use present tense.

• Introduce your quotations, establishing the speaker and context, and document properly using the MLA format.
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• Make sure to support your argument by presenting and discussing key passages in the novel. You should do this throughout the essay, by including paraphrases and quotations in each body paragraph. 

• After presenting a quotation, be sure to discuss its significance or to explain how the quotation furthers your argument, unless the quote is simply illustrating a point made in the material immediately preceding the quote.

• Never end a paragraph or an essay with a block quote, or any undiscussed quotation. 

• Make sure that your paper is, at minimum, four FULL pages. That means you go all the way to the bottom of that fourth page. I mark down significantly for short papers; this class has a certain page count requirement by law for accreditation, but beyond that, the questions that are posed in the prompt require ample analysis, and evidence from the book (support). In other words, the questions the prompt asks should require the full page count to answer fully and deeply. Always think of how you might go deeper into a question, how you might make your connections more complete and complex.

•  You will need to include at least three outside, scholarly library-based sources in your paper, beyond simply including the novels themselves. Depending on which prompt you choose, these might be scholarly writing on the novel (for the dystopian prompt), or factual research into relevant fields such as sociology, women's studies, gender studies, economics, etc (for The Stepford Wives prompt). Make sure your research fits tightly with the main idea of your paper. Give yourself enough time to find good research via the library's databases; don't try and cram something into your essay at the last minute. 
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• Make sure to include a Works Cited page with your sources. This includes the novel(s) and your 3 library sources. The Works Cited page, while its own page entirely (do not include it as part of your other pages) does not count toward the 4-5 page minimum page requirement.