Meg Pennington
English 100
Essay #2
Fall 2015
A Closer Look at the Concept of Education
Assignment: As you are probably aware, this assignment is an extension of the first paper. Whereas Doris Lessing analyzes the concept of personal identity, and S.I. Hayakawa focuses on the concept of creativity, the authors of the core (required) pieces that you will utilize in this paper (Benlow, Pepellashi, and Bruno) discuss the concept of education. Approach this assignment as a problem analysis, problem solution paper. In your thesis, present the overarching problem (the issue/paradox), and throughout your paper, utilize relevant material from the readings that will enable you to present and analyze causes/influences and the subsequent, problematic consequences/outcomes. And in your conclusion, provide viable solutions to the various problems that you have illustrated throughout your essay.
Required Sources:
Note that you must use these sources.
Simon Benlow’s “‘Have It Your Way’: Consumerism Invades Education” (140-41)
Petra Pepellashi’s “What Is Education?” (143-46)
Daniel Bruno’s “Entitlement Education” (266-69)
Optional Sources:
John Mauk and John Metz’s “Introduction to Chapter Five: ‘Analyzing Concepts’” (136-37)
S.I. Hayakawa’s “What It Means to Be Creative” (138-39)
Doris Lessing’s “Group Minds” (644-45)
Paul Roberts’ “How to Say Nothing in 500 Words” (374-78)
Susan Jacoby’s “When Bright Girls Decide That Math Is a ‘Waste of Time’” (628-30)
Michael Moore’s “Why Doesn’t GM Sell Crack?” (410-11)
Ways to Proceed (and Criteria for Evaluation):
1. Properly format your document.
2. Present an evocative title that alludes to your thesis.
3. In your introduction, effectively clarify the topic in a manner that cohesively leads to your thesis, wherein you clearly establish the overarching problem (the focal issue/paradox of your essay).
4. Maintain focus on your thesis and your purpose throughout your paper. Your purpose is to enlighten your readers’ understanding of the concept of education.
5. Organize your material logically, effectively, cohesively, and emphatically.
6. Establish unity and cohesion within and between paragraphs.
7. Establish unified, cohesive, and complete (SEIS) paragraphs.
8. In each of your body paragraphs, establish a clear, significant, controlling topic sentence that serves to bolster your thesis. Make sure your topic sentences present your points, not your sources’.
9. Utilize relevant source material to clarify and substantiate your points.
10. Logically and cohesively incorporate source material into your paragraphs and into a sentence.
11. Properly introduce and cite your source material, both parenthetically (in your essay) as well as on a Works Cited page.
12. Effectively articulate and develop the complexity of your sources’ concepts. Note that your readers have never read these pieces.
13. Provide the necessary, relevant context to clarify and develop your sources’ ideas.
14. Offer historical information to establish the inception of our current public education system. Clearly illustrate our founding fathers’ and Thomas Jefferson’s vision of the purpose education as it pertained to the responsibilities of citizens living in a democratic nation. Effectively explain why and when we adapted the Prussian model of education, and clearly illustrate the characteristics of the Prussian model.
15. Bring your discussion to the present.
16. Convey the commonly held notion(s) of education today and the problems therein.
17. Clearly present the cultural influences that contribute to these problems.
18. Effectively explain the impact of consumerism in our culture, and subsequently, in education.
19. Effectively illustrate the characteristics of a customer, and convey the pitfalls of students approaching education with a customer mentality.
20. Effectively clarify the progression of this problem, from the lower levels of education (K-12), to college, and to the workplace and adult life.
21. Generate clear, significant synthesis and analysis (effectively addressing the “So what?,” “Why does this matter?,” and “Who cares?” factors) throughout your paper and in your conclusion to highlight the relevance of your thesis and your supporting material and to generate public resonance.
22. In your conclusion, clearly and effectively present viable solutions to the specific problems you have presented throughout your paper.
23. Generate three to four pages of text (okay, possibly five, but at least three full pages).
24. Effectively revise, proofread, and edit your paper.
25. Include a properly formatted Works Cited page.
Thesis and Outline Due for Workshop:
Note that the thesis and full sentence outline, complete with supporting source material, must be typed and printed.
Monday/Wednesday Class:
Tuesday/Thursday Classes:
Drafts Due for Workshop:
Note that the drafts must be revised, proofread and edited, complete (full required page length), typed, and printed.
Monday/Wednesday Class:
Tuesday/Thursday Classes:
Final Draft Due:
Attach your outline, the drafts from the workshops, as well as your letter of evaluation to your final draft.
Monday/Wednesday Class:
Tuesday/Thursday Classes:
For a custom paper on the above topic, place your order now!
What We Offer:
• On-time delivery guarantee
• PhD-level writers
• Automatic plagiarism check
• 100% money-back guarantee
• 100% Privacy and Confidentiality
• High Quality custom-written paper
