"Change" Synthesis Essay Assignment

Change Synthesis Essay

Due Tuesday, February 21

Question: What have we learned since The Great Depression?

Select an issue Steinbeck addresses in The Grapes of Wrath – attitudes towards immigration / migrant labor or the poor, the impact of industrialization / technology on society, the banking system, or any other of the many topics Steinbeck covers – and explore how American attitudes and behaviors have changed (or failed to change) over time. Using several of the pieces we have read in this unit, as well as your own personal experiences, reading, and research, evaluate the transformation of society over time. Support your thesis with direct quotations from multiple texts, properly formatted in MLA style.

Typed. Double Spaced. Twelve point. No blank lines between paragraphs, except to indicate a major shift in tone or setting. Four – six pages. Don’t forget a title.

Required:

·      Three rhetorical strategies from The Virtual Salt, underlined and labeled. Push yourself to use the more complex strategies. Do the strategies have a clear, potent rhetorical effect?

·      A minimum of three college level sources - including at least one form Gale - plus The Grapes of Wrath. (That's four sources, if you're keeping score at home.) Everything's an Argument is a college level source.

·      A minimum of two “synthesis” paragraphs.

·      Properly formatted Works Cited Page.

Suggested: Consider the tone you want to set from the outset. Narrative openings emphasize pathos. Openings filled with stats and facts emphasize logos. What is the most effective tone for you to employ?

Suggested: Consider closing your essay with a plan of action. Where do we go from here?

Audience: 1) “Society.”  2) Yourself.

Purpose: 1) To identify changes in American attitudes over time. 2) To evaluate America’s reaction to the problems posed by The Great Depression. In your opinion, are we making progress?

How to approach this paper:

·      Identify an issue.

·      Establish conditions in society at the time Steinbeck was writing; establish contemporary conditions.

·      Develop an opinion on whether we’ve improved / progressed as a society.

·      Gather evidence (from our texts and from research) to support your opinion. This is an argument; therefore, personal experience is valid evidence and first person is an acceptable POV.

·      Consider counter arguments.

·      Create clear, defensible topic sentences.

·      Draft paragraphs with two quotations to support your topic sentences.

·      Draft paragraphs with an eye towards ethos, pathos, and logos.

·      Proofread to ensure your quotations are properly formatted and cited. For this essay, “you will need to include the author’s name in your parenthetical citation” (Kline 1).

·      Create your Works Cited page.