The works assigned in this module explore topics related to families, such as:

father/son relationships
physical abuse
a childs need for parental approval
the role of mothers
heritage
Respond to one of the following prompts:

Option 1:

Select one or two works from this module and write an essay that explains how the author develops a theme about a family-related topic. You may choose from the list above or another topic that interests you, but the subject must relate to families.

You might, for example, select a text that contain images of physical abuse; however, your essay will do more than explain the presence of these images. Instead, your goal is to explain what the author is saying about physical abuse in a family; point to specific elements of fiction, such as the connotations of the words, tone of the work, setting, characters, etc. to show how he or she develops this theme in the work.

Your essay must use information from at least one secondary source from the library’s databases (preferably Literature Resource Center) to develop the analysis and support the thesis.

Option 2:

Write an essay in which you examine a specific problem faced by families (or individual family members – sons, for example) and present an argument about how to approach, solve, or prevent this issue. You may choose from the list above or you may choose something else that interests you, but the subject must relate to families.

The essay must use information from at least two scholarly sources to develop the subject and support your argument. Use at least one article from the librarys databases by entering your search terms in the search bar on the librarys website; narrow the results to articles published in the last 10 years. The other source may come from a scholarly internet source, a TED Talk, or a podcast.

Use one work of literature in the introduction to provide context for the subject. Your essay might, for example, advocate for more education for mothers by presenting research on how a womans feelings about her pregnancy affect the childs development. Your introduction could use Plaths poem to introduce this subject, the body of the essay must explain the issue as it occurs in today’s world with support from the two scholarly sources.

Requirements:

Write an essay of at least 800 words in response to one of the above prompts. This includes the first word of the essay to the last word of the essay; the essay title, heading, and Works Cited page are not included in the word count.
Follow the MLA Format instructions from Module 0.
Use information from at least two sources as indicated above.
Use in-text, parenthetical citations in MLA format each time you paraphrase, summarize, or quote directly from a source.
Include a corresponding MLA-formatted Works Cited page.
Use third-person academic voice for all essays in this course. Do NOT use first person (I, me, my, us, our, we) or second person (you, your).
Use the literary present tense (say “the author writes about her life” not “the author wrote about her life”).
Save and submit your work as either Microsoft Word (.doc or .docx) or a Rich Text Document (.rtf).
The Originality Report generated by Turn It In must not exceed 25%. Submit work early to review the report and contact your instructor with questions.
Essays that do not meet the requirements of the assignment will not receive a passing grade.

Module Works
Everyday Use by Walker
Barn Burning by Faulkner
Sticks by Saunders
My Papas Waltz by Roethke
Metaphors by Plath
The Tradition by Brown
Hero
As A Human Being