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?