Humanities II Honors
Humanities II Honors
Unit 2 Essay: Gender Roles and Stereotypes
Society prescribes certain behaviors and characteristics of men and women. These expectations can cause many to feel ostracized from the world. What are these expectations? What actions, traits, attitudes, and thoughts does society promulgate regarding our cultures’ gender expectations? How do these gender roles and stereotypes present issues and problems as a result of people who fail to meet these expectations?
Write a well-planned (brainstormed and outlined) essay in which you describe and explain what gender stereotypes exist in American culture and the potential problems that many will face as a result of failing to meet these standards. Describe in detail what the ideal American man or woman is in our society’s view as well as circumstances that influence it. Where do we get these ideas? What happens to those that refuse to adopt these roles? Use facts, observations, statistics, anecdotes, history, news reports, and personal experience for evidence (Concrete Detail). Do not copy and paste from the internet, rather incorporate data/statistics/quotations from authorial figures, etc into the essay.
Your paper should be 3-5 double-spaced pages in 12pt font (Times or Arial). Papers that attempt to misrepresent length and breadth as well as originality will be deducted points or refused points.
All papers must:
- Attach both a brainstorming sheet (cluster chart, word web, t-chart, venn diagram) and outline
- Be proofread carefully
- Exhibit proper MLA format (Header in upper left hand corner and last name/page # in header
- Be typed, double-spaced in 12 pt font (Times or Arial only) with 1” margins
- Present few, if any, dead verbs
The best papers will:
- Contain a well-developed Thesis Statement that explicitly describes the direction of the paper
- Take a stance on the position of Gender Roles
- Be organized in a way that presents various aspects of the topic clearly
- Contain an appropriate, academic tone throughout
- Provide relevant, persuasive evidence
- Explain how the evidence proves the thesis
- Contain good sentence variation and word-choice
- Be free of spelling, grammatical, and punctuation errors
- Maintain proper MLA format throughout.
The paper is due in class on Tuesday, October 7th 2008 and turned in to Turnitin.com by 5:00 that evening. It is worth 50 points in the writing category.
To format your essay:
Set the font to 12 point font in either Arial or Times New Roman and the margins to 1” square (all around). Failure to do this will reduce your score by at least 20% to zero credit.
Add a header: click on VIEW, HEADER AND FOOTER, and type your last name and click on the # sign in the toolbar. Then, click on the right align button so that your header looks like the example on the blog.
Do not add an extra space between paragraphs, extra tabs, or extra spacing between the letters. This misrepresents the length of your paper and you will lose many points.
Use no, absolutely no, I statements, very few “to be” verbs, or passive language.
The best evidence will come in the form of statistics, data, quotations from reputable sources. Hearsay, general truths, generalized facts will reduce your score greatly. See owl.english.purdue.edu for MLA formatting requirements.
Gender Roles Essay
100-90%89-80%79-70%69-60% 59-0%
Organization_____ / 10 / Essay shows good organization with each point developing the argument from the last. Transitions flow seamlessly from one idea to the next / Essay shows some organization with some of the topics seeming out of place or disjointed. Transitions are present though somewhat weak. / Essay’s organization shows come planning, but topics are organized at separate ideas. Transitions are attempted, but do not assist in fluidity. / Organization is weak, presenting each topic as a separate idea. Transitions are irregularly attempted. / Paper lacks organization, often leaving out topic sentences. There is no attempt at transitioning.
Argument
_____ / 20 / Essay presents a strong stance that is clearly stated by the thesis and developed though the argument. Student considers the topic maturely. / Essay presents a detectable argument but the student irregularly argues the point, at times waffling on the position. Student explains the topic but leaves some parts of the topic unmentioned. / Essay presents an unclear or vague argument, though a basic statement is made. The paper often seems to drift from the main idea. Or use unacademic language. / Essay is vague or unclear on the whole. An attempt is made to argue, but the argument is largely unproven, unclear, or weak. / Essay lacks all clarity and purpose. Argument may be inappropriate or largely inefficient or too short.
Evidence & Commentary
_____ / 10 / Commentary thoroughly explains evidence and both connect strongly to the thesis. Explanation is clear, developed, sophisticated. / Commentary mostly explains the evidence though detracts from the thesis at times. Explanations may be slightly unclear at times, but on the whole represents intelligent thoughts. / Commentary is vague and unclear; much of it comes in simple sentences. Commentary basically explains evidence though the deeper issues are ignored. / Commentary suffers from a lack of direction (unrelated to thesis) and fails to say argue meaningfully; much of it is superficial. / Commentary is oversimplified or does not address the larger issues, lacking a meaningful approach to the topic.
Mechanics
_____/10 / There are very few errors (less than 2) in spelling, grammar, punctuation, or MLA style. Quotations are well blended into the essay. / There are few errors (2-5) in spelling, grammar, punctuation, or MLA style, though editing is apparent. Quotations are well blended into the essay, though context may be a bit limited or unclear. / There are some errors though they do not hinder the comprehension of the essay. Evidence provides does not exhibit proper flow, though an attempt is made. / There are many errors and comprehending the essay suffers. Evidence is limited to vague references rather than supportive facts/data/statistics/quotes, etc. / There are so many errors that understanding the essay is difficult or unintelligible. There is no real evidence at all, but rather rants rather than argues.
Missing Rubric penalty: 10%
Essays that fail to meet proper formatting requirements will need to be redone. This includes, but is not limited to, missing/handwritten header, page numbering, and font type and size.