Rhetoric of U.S. FeminismsAutumn 2019-2020Final Paper AssignmentDescription Now that you have produced a research proposal and an annotated bibliography, it’s time to compose your final research paper on your selected event, which you will argue advanced a sociopolitical goal of feminism or contributed to a more multicultural American society. For purposes of this assignment,.
Rhetoric of U.S. Feminisms
Autumn 2019-2020
Final Paper Assignment
Description: Now that you have produced a research proposal and an annotated bibliography, it’s time to compose your final research paper on your selected event, which you will argue advanced a sociopolitical goal of feminism or contributed to a more multicultural American society. For purposes of this assignment, we will define multiculturalism as a willingness to be transformed by the multiple distinct but varied subjectivities informed by identity markers such as gender, race, sexual orientation, and socio-economic class, which overlap and intersect in complex and fluid arrangements. In a multicultural world, these distinct but varied voices are authorized to speak and empowered to shift our ontological formations such that we may move past dualistic thinking and, as Gloria Anzaldúa writes “stretch the psyche horizontally and vertically” toward “a more whole perspective, one that includes rather than excludes” (Freedman 388). Each of you has selected an event that you believe has contributed to these goals as articulated by the thinkers we’ve engaged this term. Now is your chance to explain your event’s meaning and argue for its importance.
Your final research paper should include the following parts in no particular order:
- a thesis statement that makes a specific claim about the impact your event had on our goals for a more just, more multicultural America; your thesis should help you fulfill your paper’s rhetorical exigence or primary purpose;
- background information that situates the event in its sociohistorical moment and scales the information given to the audience of readers you have in mind;
- a sustained, audience-aware argument that interprets the meaning of your event from a feminist perspective by relying on relevant scholarship;
- analysis of the rhetoric surrounding your event both from public/popular sources and academic sources;
- where applicable, description and analysis of normalizing/regulatory responses or backlashes to your event by institutions, ideological beliefs, or groups of citizens who push back against any advancements triggered by your event;
- optional: you may include a section that describes the need for additional work in the area advanced by your event.
Form: Papers should be approximately 2,250 words not including your works cited page. In addition to formatting your works cited page per MLA formatting, please also use that same format throughout your paper. Using MLA rules to guide you, be sure that all quoted material is fluidly integrated into the text, preceded by introduction and followed with parenthetical citations. While you will need to include other voices in your paper, do not subordinate your voice to those quoted in your paper. Use a confident, direct, and specific voice throughout your paper—avoid vague and wordy constructions—and remember to keep a specific audience in mind as you write.
