English Question
Page count: 4-5 pages. (If 4 pages, then a FULL 4 pages). This page count does not include a works cited page. Any bibliography pages will be in addition to the 4-5 pages of writing.
Small object, big subject
This four-page essay asks students to address the role of an item’s materiality. Select an item currently in pervasive use by Americans (or by a particular culture that you know well) and argue how the item comments on cultural values.
Note: You can ask me if you are uncertain about your item being a good choice.
The assignment requires students to argue how the item selected serves as a commentary on cultural values. For example, if a student who elects to ruminate and write about the many varieties of sugar substitutes might address why there is a market for not one but multiple products.
To do so effectively, students will need to research the item or product. Such research is not meant to be exhaustive. Students will also want to include some discussion about the warrants or cultural assumptions the object makes. This is not a sentimental rendering of a beloved possession. After free-writing or mind-mapping about your small object, make a decision about the way the small object resonates for you and what larger significance that object could have for others.
Audience and Purpose:
Your audience: someone who owns the object you are discussing, but has never critically thought about its use in American (or other) culture, metaphorical meaning, etc.
Your purpose: To both inform and persuade.
To inform the reader on the history of the object, its use in American society, its metaphorical meaning, and anything else you find pertinent.
To persuade your reader to see this object from your point of view and to accept your argument for its deeper meaning.
Research:
This essay requires students to do some research on the history of their object, on the use of their object, and anything else pertinent to the essay; thus, cite one source they used while researching and writing the essay. To cite means to include an in-text citation when one quotes, paraphrases, or summaries from a source.
In the article, the author states that “the world is a dark place” (Duemmler 39).
Full citation for works cited page:
For books: Last Name, First Name. Title of Book. City of Publication, Publisher, Publication Date.
Book example: Duemmler, Kristina. The Book on Writing. Charlotte, Warren Publishing, 2020.
For Websites: Last Name, First name. “Title of Page.” Title of webstie, URL. Accessed date.
Website example: Lundman, Susan. “How to Make Vegetarian Chili.” eHow, www.ehow.com/how_10727_make-vegetarian-chili.html. Accessed 6 July 2015.
For articles from scholarly journals: Author(s). “Title of Article.” Title of Journal, Volume, Issue, Year, pages. Article Example: Duvall, John N. “The (Super)Marketplace of Images: Television as Unmediated Mediation in DeLillo’s White Noise.” Arizona Quarterly, vol. 50, no. 3, 1994, pp. 127-53.
Organization:
Divide your essay into four sections and title them according to the way you are seeing or visualizing the small object. For example, an essay about a can of Red Bull might contain four sections about (i) its history, (ii) its effect on the body, (iii) the American consumer as its target audience, and (iv) concluding remarks on the nature of its use. A writer might title these sections as follows:
Energy in a Can
Raging Bull
III. Red, Silver and Blue
Plain Bull
When you are trying to decide what type of sections to write, be sure to construct one on the object’s history (historical uses, when it was created, why it was created, etc.). You also will want to describe the impact of the object (think chemical, biological, electrical, social, political, economic, spiritual, metaphysical, etc.) before you assess its metaphoric impact. Metaphoric meaning can mean many things.
For this essay, focus on how this object speaks broadly about human nature, American culture, or the world. You could also turn the object into a symbol (metaphor) for some deeper meaning. It is legitimate to include your own personal experience of and/or encounters with the small object. You get to choose the subject of your fourth section. It can be on anything you want.
Extra Credit Opportunity: A student who includes five sections (not including the introduction nor conclusion) in his/her essay, will receive 20 points of extra credit. The section must be longer than ten sentences. If you have any doubts about how to proceed, return to your readings. You can also meet with me to discuss your plans. It is also appropriate to use your classmates to bounce ideas off of. You can also review the prezi on “Planning a small object/BIG SUBECT essay.”
Note: See the last page for the grading rubric. To be successful, it is imperative that you check your essay with the rubric before submitting it. Make sure each part of the rubric has been addressed in your essay to the best of your ability.
