Objective: Select an article or video from the Common Reading Program Library Guide related to Bryan Stevenson’s TEDTalk, “We Need to Talk about an Injustice,” and craft a response that summarizes, analyzes, and engages your chosen piece.
- Choice of Subject: Choose an article or video from the Common Reading Library Guide related to Bryan Stevenson’s TEDTalk. This resource has been curated by Eastern Campus Librarian, John Rasel, who vetted each source for relevance and quality. No other sources are permitted. You must respond to one primary text, but you may choose a second and perhaps third source, but these must also come from the CRP LibGuide.
- Your Response: Stevenson explores racial and class inequities withing the criminal justice system. These are sensitive issues that require careful analysis of text and keen audience awareness. With regards to your chosen text, you may agree, disagree, or partially agree but with some difference. Regardless of approach, you must respond with sensitivity and tact. Consider your rhetorical situation, characterize your author’s point of view accurately, and respond.
- Engagement with Your Text: Do more than simply riff on an idea. Engage your source throughout. For example, if you respond to Stevenson (that’s fair game), then you shouldn’t just respond to the generalized concept of mass incarceration or the war on drugs. In this case, you would engage Stevenson’s ideas on these concepts, a crucial distinction for this project.
- Length and Format: Your essay should be 4 pages long (approximately 1000-1250 words), formatted according to MLA style guidelines.
- Structure of the Essay:
- Introduction: Introduce your chosen subject and provide context. First, engage your audience, and then introduce your chosen object with a very brief synopsis of your chosen text. End with a thesis statement that succinctly characterizes your response to the text or some aspect of the text.
- Summary: Provide concise summary of the content, ensuring that readers who are unfamiliar with the subject can understand your response. Assume your readers are not familiar with this text.
- Body Paragraphs: Develop your response to the text. Each paragraph should start with a clear topic sentence, followed by evidence and analysis. Remember to relate each point back to your thesis, and you must engage your primary source throughout.
- Conclusion: Summarize your main points and restate your thesis, offering any final thoughts or reflections on the subject.
- AI Interaction: You may consult ChatGPT or another AI platform for help with the overall organization of your essay and feedback on your draft. However, you cannot include any AI-generated sentences in your drafts, journal prompts, or discussion boards. I aim to assess your critical and creative thinking as well as your proficiency with essay organization and development. Our focus is on the process, so if asking the machine questions helps, then ask away. Just don’t let it do your work or rob you of learning opportunities.