War Synthesis Essay
Essay
due: No later than 4/16/2012
Write a paper that synthesizes classroom sources and your
own knowledge, experiences, and research to answer the question “What, if anything,
is worth fighting for?” Remember that definition is an important element of argument.
Remember that a synthesis paragraph begins with your own opinion/topic
sentence, which is supported by quotations from two different sources. Not all
of your body paragraphs need to be synthesis paragraphs.
Minimums:
1) Three
synthesis paragraphs.
2) Three sources from the classroom.
-
“The Declaration of Independence,” by Thomas
Jefferson (from 50 Essays, 2nd
Edition)
-
Octavian
Nothing, by M.T. Anderson (you can find the necessary bibliographical info
for your Works Cited on Wikipedia)
-
“The Gettysburg Address,” by Abraham Lincoln
(from 50 Essays, 1st Edition)
-
Henry V,
Part I, by William Shakespeare (http://www.bartleby.com/70/2931.html)
-
“The Prince,” by Niccolo Machiavelli (from 50 Essays, 1st Edition)
-
Johnny Got
His Gun, by Dalton Trumbo
- " Remarks by the President at the Acceptance of the Nobel Peace Prize," by Barack Obama ( http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/remarks-president-acceptance-nobel-peace-prize)
- " Remarks by the President at the Acceptance of the Nobel Peace Prize," by Barack Obama ( http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/remarks-president-acceptance-nobel-peace-prize)
3) Additional sources from your own research, including one
source from Gale. Be sure your
internet sources are reliable. You will need to work hard to establish these
sources. You may consider:
-
Historical conflicts, large and small
-
Contemporary conflicts, such as wars in Africa
and the Middle East
-
Contemporary and classical literature
-
Readings from Everything’s an Argument
-
Modern films
-
Popular songs
-
Personal experience
-
Something interesting that I haven’t thought of
yet
4) An element of visual rhetoric. This could be an editorial
cartoon or an image. Your image should be included in the body of the paper. You
should explain how this image helps you argue that there is or isn’t a just
war. Be sure to cite the source of your image.
5) Evidence against your thesis, soundly refuted by your
laser sharp logic.
6) A properly formatted Works Cited page. If your internet
sources aren’t from Gale, you’ll need
to include the link. For your convenience, I’ve googled “How to Cite a Song”
for you:
Songwriter's last
name, first name. "Title of
Song." Lyrics. Title
of Album. Name of Publishing
Company, Year Recorded. Format.
De Sela, Lhasa.
"La Frontera."
Lyrics. The Living Road. Netwerk, 2004. CD.
If the song is being sung by someone other than the
songwriter, here is how that would look:
Dylan,
Bob. "Like a Rolling
Stone." Lyrics. Perf. The
Drive-By Truckers. Highway 61
Revisited. Uncut/Ignite!, 2005. mp3.
If we're allowed to decide what fighting means in the context of the paper, does it necessarily need to be about war?
ReplyDeleteGood question. Your classroom texts are war centered. I'm not sure how you can include three classroom sources and ignore the concept of war. However, I'm open to (eager for?) innovative approaches. Pitch me your thesis and we'll see how we can make it work.
ReplyDeleteIf we are using a picture in one of our synthesis paragraphs, does that take the place of one of the quotes?
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely Nothing :) Just thought I should remind you Mr. Kline!
ReplyDeletePS: I hope no one is trying to recreate my Bieber Speech haha
-Sincerely Jordan Nordlum!
Can we use first person in a synthesis essay? I can't remember.
ReplyDeleteYep.
ReplyDeleteShould we print the picture in color or leave it in black and white?
ReplyDeleteBlack and white is fine, though color adds to the power of some images.
DeleteWorks Cited Questions:
ReplyDeletePage numbers for Octavian Nothing? Should we just say 1-592? Because the packet you gave us is all over the place and not paginated in places.
Second, I'm citing Obama's speech as a government website, because that's where the link you gave us takes us, but in class you said to just site it as a website. Is this correct? Also, we shouldn't put Obama as the author, because the speech is ghost-written, yeah?
United States. Office of the Press Secretary. Remarks by the President at the Acceptance of the Nobel Peace Prize. Washignton, D.C: WhiteHouse.Gov, 2009. Web. .
For *Octavian,* you don't put pages numbers on the Works Cited entry. For your parentheticals, many of the numbers are paginated. For the unpaginated numbers, you'd probably want to come talk to me sooner than now.
DeleteFor Obama, you can cite it as above, though I prefer it as a traditional website (MLA says you can do it either way). To my (limited) knowledge, Obama is given authorial credit, though he probably worked with a team of writers.
Who's our audience?
ReplyDelete