Until we can understand the assumptions in which we are drenched we cannot know ourselves.
– Adrienne Rich
Purpose:
This assignment will introduce you to the writing process with a particular emphasis on invention strategies and the development of a specific thesis statement. Thus, we’ll be studying heuristic techniques which can be used to generate ideas. We’ll examine the qualities of well-conceived thesis statements, and we’ll identify the key components of a good college-level essay. Additionally, we’ll begin to consider what it means to move away from formulaic structures and toward more organic organizing principles for our writing. As this essay does not require research or argumentation, you can focus on the primary mechanics of sound writing: style and structure.
Topic:
In order to understand why we believe what we believe, we have to analyze our own system of values. Where does our code of ethics come from, and who and what has shaped it? Consider, for example, how many of our guiding principles are inherited by family, peers, mentors, and community. However, if everything we believe is handed to us by the people who have influenced us the most, can we claim to be independent thinkers?
It’s not just dissemination of ideas or beliefs, either. It’s often events that shape who we are. How are your politics informed by your experiences? By the experiences of those you are most close to?
These questions are meant to guide you into this topic such that you’ll compose a personal essay that will serve as a meta-reckoning with your own story and how it has shaped the politics of your personality.
Naturally, you’ll first need to define “ethics,” both denotatively and connotatively, and you will need to scrutinize the circles of influence that affect your beliefs. With an essay such as this—one which is hybrid in terms of being a personal essay but also a political one—you’ll need to consider how to structure it in terms of chronology, showing and telling, and editorializing one’s own history.
To do all this, you will need to write a thesis-driven, 4-6 page essay that answers the following question:
Prompt: How and to what extent are your ethics informed by your personal history?
Things to keep in mind:
· Many, many issues fit under the umbrella of ethics to the point that the umbrella in question becomes too unwieldy to hold. This necessitates a narrowing of your topic—an umbrella under the umbrella under the umbrella. Don’t try to explain your entire belief system; select a sub-set of it.
· Note the “God Terms:” “How and to what extent” is asking you to determine reason and degree. “your ethics” requires you to define and classify. “informed by” is asking you to analyze provenance. “your personal history” is asking you to chronicle. Considering this, it may be useful to approach the prompt backwards or to examine the nexus where personal history overlaps with specific aspects of your code of ethics.
· Introductions are not just introducing the topic; they’re meant to capture the reader’s interest. With this in mind, consider jettisoning formulaic openings. You have the opportunity to work with story and the power of the personal narrative. Use this to your advantage.
· Given what you have learned about the rhetorical triangle, determine how you will establish ethos, logos, and pathos in this essay. Remember that, in many ways, these concepts can overlap, meaning that there is play between and among these three concepts. Overdoing pathos negatively affects ethos. Relying solely on logos disregards pathos and can diminish ethos. Expecting ethos to entirely carry the show only works for readers wholly impressed by credentials.