Final exam essays and prompt

Final Exam Essays

Up Against Wal-Mart by Karen Olsson

Watching TV Makes You Smarter by Steven Johnson

The Growing Backlash Against Overparenting by Nancy Gibbs

Is There Hope for the American Marriage? by Caitlin Flanagan

Ban on Fast Food TV Advertising

The Antidepressant Generation by Doris Iarovici

Final Exam Prompt

For this exam, you need to write an essay about the article you have chosen to work with. To do this, you need to read the article, formulate an argument, and be prepared to use examples from the text to support your claim. Make sure to use all the skills we have worked on this semester: your essay should have a solid intro and thesis, some summary and evaluation of the article, quotes and examples to support your argument, and a good conclusion that restates your main point. You may agree with the article, disagree with the article, or both agree and disagree with the article. There is no minimum page requirement, but it should be apparent from the length of your essay that you have written for most of the exam period.

Your essay should include:

➮ An intro and thesis statement that clearly tells the reader the main point of your essay.

➮ A brief summary of the article.

➮ Some evaluation of the article.

➮ Quotes and examples from the article to support your thesis.

➮ A conclusion that restates your main points and ties in to your thesis.

*If you type your essay on a laptop, you may email it to me at emilywhitby1@weber.edu.  Check with me before you leave to make sure I’ve received it.

"And They Lived Happily Ever After ... If They Married" by Carson Tueller

Here's a great illustration to jump start our conversation on Tueller's essay about Disney princesses! Do you agree with Tueller's arguments? Ultimately, do you feel that the stereotypes perpetuated by Disney are damaging to young girls and women? 

"Video Games and Aggression: A Link to Violence?" by Viet Nguyen

According to Nguyen's essay, the main problem with the argument that video games cause violence is that the research is flawed and inconclusive. Do you agree? Can you think of a better way to conduct research on the link between games and violence?

"Video Game Playing: Friend or Foe?" and "Are Virtual Games a Virtual Problem?"

How do these two articles approach the issue of video game playing? What are their similarities and differences? Did Jane McGonigal's Ted Talk make you think about these articles differently?

"How Many Eggs Should We Place in the Student Evaluation Basket?" and "The Fate and Future of Food"

You may discover as you read these essays that the thesis statements don't appear for several paragraphs. Do you see any problem with this? Or is it an effective way to begin an article?

What else could the authors have improved in these essays? What did they do well?

A Few Suggested Articles for Essay #2--More to Come!

Here are just a few persuasive articles, any of which would fit the criteria for the Essay #2 assignment.  The first article is from 1977 and contains one of the examples in our rhetorical appeals handout.  The rest are from the opinion pages of the websites I've suggested. Skim through the articles and see if they spark your interest; if not, let the articles lead you to other articles on their pages. At the end if this post I've also included websites for you to search.

"The Satisfactions of Housewifery and Motherhood" by Terry Martin Hekker

"Why I am Pro-Life" by Thomas L. Friedman

"Mugging Our Descendants" by George F. Will

"It's Time to Allow Doping in Sport" by Ellis Cashmore

"Should Doping Be Allowed?" Room for Debate Forum

"Who Says There Is No Solution to Bullying?" by Becky Cohn-Vargas

"Don't Blame the Eater" by David Zinczenko

"Many Women at Elite Colleges Set Career Path to Motherhood"

"The Scary New Evidence on BPA-Free Plastics"

cnn.com
nytimes.com
washingtonpost.com
motherjones.com
huffingtonpost.com
salon.com
sltrib.com
deseretnews.com
standard.net

A Portfolio of TV Advertisements

Here are the links for the TV advertisements.  Click on the links and watch each ad, and keep in mind the 15 Advertising Appeals as you watch them.  Which appeals are used? Are the ads effective? Why or why not?

Volkswagon: Snowplow
Union Carbide: Chick
Alka Seltzer: Spicy Meatball
Quaker Oats: Mikey
Coca-Cola: Mean Joe Green
Federal Express: Fast Talker
Pepsi Cola: Archaeology
Levi's: Launderette
Jeep: Snow Covered
Energizer: Darth Vader
Got Milk?: Aaron Burr
The Gap: Pardon Our Dust
Honda: Physics
Sony Bravia: Bunnies
Dove: Onslaught
Tide to Go: Interview
Planters Peanuts: Perfume