English

Your assignment is to write a coherent, grammatically
correct argument (1,500-2,000 words minimum) on any one of
the topics that have been provided to you. Your paper should
be

(1) of interest to the academic community, and

(2) can be investigated through library research.

(3) Your paper should reflect independent thinking and
intellectual curiosity, and incorporate details, quotes,
comparisons and deep thought patterns that advances your
claims.

This assignment gives you practice in academic inquiry
formulating a research question, identifying sources,
contextualizing information, synthesizing sources, and
arguing for your perspective.

Rhetorical Situation
You may designate either the academic community (students and
faculty) or a specific group within that conununiry as your targeted
audience. -is you crmsideryour choices. ask two questions: N 710
needs to know about my topic? H 710 might resist or challenge my
argument?
Research Questions and Claims
Asking and answering questions is at the heart of academic
research. While this assignment begins with a question that piques
your curiosity, one of your tasks is to turn your question into a
claim. This claim will be the central claim or thesis of your paper.
Before you start this assignment, review the genres of argument and
determine what your goal will be: will you ofl’er a definition
argument? evaluation argument? a claim of value? a causal
argument? a problem/solution argument?
Your Purpose in Writing
You must decide if your purpose is to inquire or to persuade
Sources. Your paper should incorporate information from a
minimum of 4 sources. 3 of the sources must be academic
sources.
Pithlls to Avoid
You may not use book reviews as sources for this
assignment.

You may not use Wikipedia for this project. It may be a good
place to start looking into your topic, but it is not always
considered a credible source.

Your napsr should

formulate a question that can be turned into an
argumentative paper

take a stance on an issue in a central claim or thesis,
defend that stance, and discuss alternate or opposing points
of view

identify sources your readers will value and consider
authoritative

collect, record, and analyze information

synthesize sources in order to make a persuasive argument,
offering claims, reasons, and evidence in a compelling way
that puts your argument in conversation with other sources
about the same event.

incorporate a visual that advances or contextualizes your
claim (the visual will not count as one of your four sources)

include quotations and examples that support any claims
you make

communicate valid conclusions to your readers

follow MLA format for the heading, pagination, internal
documentation, and works cited.
meat and Ingm
This is your opportunity to put your best writing and critical
thinking skills to work and to build on everything you’ve
learned this semester. Your study of argument has introduced
you to strategies for developing and admncing arguments.
Use your sources ethically; effectively integrate into your
writing the paraphrased and
quoted material you gather from them.

All required sources in this paper must be academic sources.
Library databases are the best place to start: Psychlnfo,
EBSCO, ProQuest, Wilson Omni File, ERIC, Jstor and
LexisNexis. If you use sources aimed at a general audience,
they will be considered additional sources.

1. In her book Refuge, Terry Tempest Williams (1991) writes of her
mother’s illness and death.

Writing Project #4: Defending a Claim and Advancing an
Argument

1 want you to read ‘God Sees the Truth, but Waits,” said

Mother. ”Tolstoy writes about a man, wrongly accused of a murder,
who spends the rest of his life in a prison camp. Twenty-six years
later, as a convict in Siberia, he meets the true murderer and has
an opportunity to free himself, but chooses not to. His longing for
home leaves him and he dies.”

I ask Mother why this story matters to her.

Each of us must face our own Siberia,” she says. “We must come to
peace within our own isolation. No one can rescue us. My cancer is
my Siberia.” (Williams, 1991).

Does the quote above awaken a new understanding of Tolstoy’ story
in our lives. Explain.

2. “One of the most widespread superstitions is that every man has
his own special, definite qualities; that a man is kind, cruel, wise,
stupid, energetic, apathetic, etc. Men are not like that . . . Men are
like rivers; the water is the same in each, and alike in all; but every
river is narrow here, is more rapid there, here slower, there broader,
now clear, now cold, now dull, now warm. It is the same with men.
Every man carries in himself Lhe genus of every human quality and
sometimes one manifests itself, sometimes another, and the man
often becomes unlike himself-while still remaining the same man.”
Tolstoy, Resurrection
In the light of this statement, how would you portray “Father
Sergius”. Does the quote above summarize the essence of men in
general. Explain.
3. Robert Frost’ poem “A Time to Talk” (as included below in its
entirety) connects with the change of heart that comes about in
Vasili Andreevich Brekhunov of Tolstoy’ “Master and Man.”
Explain.

Writing Project #4: Defending a Claim and Advancing an
Argument

WHEN a friend calls to me from the road
-And_sloms_his_horse_tma_meanjnmalk-
WHEN a friend calls to me from the road

And slows his horse to a meaning walk,

I don‘t stand still and look around

On all the hills I haven’t hoed,

And shout from where I am, What is it? 5

No, not as there is a time to talk.

I thrust my hoe in the mellow ground,

Blade-end up and five feet tall,

And plod: I go up to the stone wall

For a friendly visit.
4.According to a popular legend, it is believed that while Augustine
of Hippo was recording his treatise on “The Trinity,” he was found
endlessly walking on the beach, continually thinking about this
concept. Augustine encountered a little lad on the beach who was
engaged in a perplexing routine of a game. The lad ran back and
forth between the ocean and a small hole he had dug in the sand,
filling it with water. Augustine asked him, ”what are you doing?”. to
this, the lad replied, “I’m putting the sea into this hole.” Caught off
guard by his reply, Augustine commented on the absurdity of the
lad’ actions. The lad retorted, ‘I will sooner empty the sea into this
hole that you will manage to understand the mystery of the Trinity
into your head.”
How do you relate this apocryphal story to Tolstoy’ “Three Hermits?”
5. “The insignificant little creature now knew death. As I looked at
the dead moth, this minute wayside triumph of so great a force over
so mean an antagonist filled me with wonder. Just as life had been
strange a few minutes before, so death was now as strange. The
moth having righted himself now lay most decently and
uncomplainingly composed. 0 yes, he seemed to say, death is
stronger than I am.” -Virg’nia Woolf, Death of a Moth.

Writing Project #4: Defending a Claim and Advancing an
Argument

How does Tolstoy showcase death in “The Three Deaths.” J uxtapose
the ideas that these writers expose in their thought patterns.
6. Upon reading Tolstoy’ stories, how would you define happiness.
7. Define an ideal society. Do you think it is possible to create one
in our lifetime?
8. Which in your mind is worse: Physical Poverty or Poverty of the
mind. Explain.
9. Comment on the common theme that is apparent in Tolstoy’s
short stories.
10. Describe the settings, language and symbolism Tolstoy employs
in his works. Can you compare it to the writings of other writers of
classic Literature?

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