Author and Title: Elizabeth Cady Stanton / Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions
Theme: Gender inequality and the continued fight for women’s rights
Main Points:
- The historical exclusion of women from political rights and its impact on contemporary gender inequality
- The legal oppression of women in marriage and property rights and its relevance in modern society
- The continued challenge of patriarchal structures and gendered power dynamics in both past and present society
Thesis Statement: Elizabeth Cady Stanton’s “Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions” helps readers grasp the roots of gender inequality and exposes the ongoing challenges women still encounter today in their desire for political, legal, and social equality.
Topic sentence 1: Women have historically been excluded from politics, and today, they still face challenges of underrepresentation and inequality in government and policymaking.
Topic Sentence 2: Stanton’s critique of unfair laws affecting women’s rights in marriage and property ownership remains relevant as women continue to fight for equality and protection against discrimination.
Topic Sentence 3: The power struggles in marriage that Stanton discussed remain relevant today, as traditional gender roles still impact relationships and put pressure on women.
Library Database
Research
Source 1: Bill of Rights Institute. “Alice Paul Women’s Suffrage.” Bill of Rights Institute, Accessed 3 Apr. 2025.
In-text Citation: (Alice Paul Women’s suffrage)
Source 2: Center for American Women and Politics. “Women in Congress 2021”. Rutgers University, 2021
Instructions: This essay should be argument-driven, and it should analyze why one of our assigned texts from this unit is important in helping readers from the 21st century understand our current world better.
OR
Write an argument-driven essay identifying and analyzing the parallel(s) between the one of the writers’ challenges (choose a text from the course) and its relationship to concerns of today, for example: the concept of diversity, an individual’s rights and/or social responsibilities, a people’s ability to revolt, good vs. evil, or another specified issue within American society (and the world at large).
Audience: Academic scholars, teachers, students—join the literary conversation.
Voice: Formal, academic
- – Avoid first/second person pronouns
- – Make arguments instead of announcements
- – Avoid rhetorical questions
- – Utilize a strong thesis statement
- – Follow basic essay structure (introduction, body paragraphs, conclusion) that employeffective topic/concluding sentences, transitions, word choice, etc.
Argument: Form your claim/main points and articulate this focus with a strong thesis statement. Use this formula:
-
– TEXT by author can help 21st century reader understand ___________ (modern day issue).
- – Example: The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne can help 21st century readers understand how female sexuality has been regulated in the past and expand the conversation about how sexuality is still being censored today.
- – Example: “Reading One Man’s Initiation: 1917 can help 21st century readers understand that the First World War fractured Americans’ views of the world and thus impacted the fragmented nature of Modernist literature.”
- – Avoid (!): “In this paper, I’m going to discuss…”
Sources:
- – Primary: The text you chose from our reading list this semester.
- – Secondary: Research – You much include (quote/paraphrase/cite) 4 outside sources. These must be credible/reliable. Think: Librarian visit day in Comp. I (e.g. online databases). Two of these sources must be peer-reviewed journals/articles.
- – Total: 5 sources on the Works Cited page
- – Use Purdue OWL MLA as your citing guide
- – CSCC library database access here
Required Formatting:
– MLA heading (top left side of first page: your name, instructor’s name, course title, due date) o Last name and page numbers (top right header)
– Double spaced
– Times New Roman – 12 pt. font
– One-inch margins
– Word count in parentheses at the end of essay – Ex: (2,392)
– Don’t forget your Works Cited page