Below you will find a copy of Out of Class Essay Assignment #1 which was distributed and explained in class yesterday.
ALSO,
just a reminder....
there will be NO CLASS held next week, Week 4. As I explained, I will be out of town during that week.
Please follow the syllabus as you would anyway--
I will post the readings for Packet #2 this week so you will have sufficient time to complete by Week 5.
See you tomorrow!
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English 20, Sections 14 and 15
Fall, 2013
Catherine Fraga, Instructor
Out of Class Essay Assignment #1—200 points
possible
VOICES AGAINST CONFORMITY
• Assigned: Monday, September
16
• Rough Draft Due (OPTIONAL), typed
& double spaced, no later than Wednesday, September 25 via e-mail, by
midnight
• Final Draft Due: Monday,
October 7, typed & double spaced
The most interesting, focused and
articulate essays I receive from students are ones where students select their
own specific topic and are genuinely intrigued by the topic.
Let’s take a closer look at the issue
of conformity/non-conformity.
For this essay, you will research and
write about one person who is/was considered a non-conformist in his/her field
of interest. Consider the possibility that the person deemed a non-conformist
may not, in your opinion, actually BE a non-conformist. So your essay could
support or disprove the label given by the majority of society.
This topic allows for a wealth of
flexibility and choice.
Your focus ideally will be on a
person working in an area (and perhaps a time period in history) that you are
most interested in: photography; art; literature; politics; film; computers;
music; fashion; science; mathematics; education; or ???
To get a better idea of some
possibilities, and for purpose of illustration, let’s look at some examples of topics within in the time period of
the 1950s in America.
Premise: Many in the 1950s worked
diligently for the comfort and conformity displayed on such TV shows as “Father
Knows Best” and “Leave it to Beaver.” But regardless of the affluence of the
new American middle class, there was still poverty, racism and alienation in
America rarely depicted on TV.
Dozens of people rejected societal
norms through their artwork, creativity and lifestyle. They used words, art,
film and music to rebel against the cookie-cutter mentality of the established
power structure and mass-marketed culture.
Many writers during this time period
(referred to as the Beat Generation) adamantly refused to submit to the
conformity of the 1950s. (these writers included Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg,
Diane Di Prima, Sloan Wilson, J.D. Salinger, William Burroughs, and others)
Likewise, many artists during this
time period adamantly refused to submit to the conformity of the 1950s. (these
artists included Willem De Kooning, Hans Hoffman, Mark Rothko, Jackson Pollock,
Clement Greenberg, and others)
Also, according to an Internet
article on Conformity in U.S. History: “While the 1950s silver screen lit up
mostly with the typical Hollywood fare of Westerns and romances, a handful of
films shocked audiences by uncovering the dark side of America’s youth.”
Many filmmakers of this time period
adamantly refused to submit to the conformity of the 1950s. (these films
include The Wild One; Blackboard Jungle; Rebel without a Cause,
etc)
No matter what non conformist you
select to research, your essay must contain the following:
· your working definition of a non-conformist (in order to frame and
set up your argument)
· a brief history
of the country’s mood during this time period;
· background
and details about the non-conformist you will focus on, in particular, those
that help support your premise;
· how his/her
work challenged the status quo;
· the impact
of his/her work on others in the same field and on society;
· and the
repercussions and influence felt today or
what you predict WILL be the repercussions in the future.
Your essay will be both informative
and analytical: your thesis will “prove” the person’s influence, or not, on
people’s lives, then and now.
Things to Consider:
This is NOT an essay in which you
write an in depth analysis of the literature, film, music, fashion, etc. of the
time period you are focused on. To do that, you would need to carefully read,
view, or listen to the work or material at great length.
Instead, you are conducting research
to discover the mood of the country and the status quo during a particular time
period——why and how a person’s work was considered non conformist—and how their
work influenced those living then…and now. Of course, do not feel as if you
must select a person NOT living now in the 21st century. That
certainly is an option.
Your thesis might read something like
this:
Although 1950s America appeared to be
almost unrealistically content, many visual artists at this time, particularly
Jackson Pollack, successfully combated the blissful charade by using innovative
methods and themes in his work.
A BRIEF LIST OF TOPIC
SUGGESTIONS:
Mahatma Ghandi
George
Carlin
Martin Luther King,
Jr.
John Cassavetes
Eminem
Yves St.
Laurent
Georgia O’Keefe
Abby Hoffman
Galileo Galilei
John Lennon
Emma
Goldman
David Mamet
Janis
Joplin
Jim Morrison
Johnny
Cash
Ralph Nader
Steve
Jobs
Joan of Arc
Nelson
Mandela
Che Guevara
Karl
Marx
Bill Gates
Dr. Jack
Kevorkian
James
Dean
Quentin
Crisp
Henry David
Thoreau
Ayn
Rand
Elvis
Presley
Carl
Jung
Carl Sagan
Alexandr Solzhenitsyn
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