Format: Basic MLA
This essay will be a 7-8 page research paper. Make sure your paper is double-spaced with one-inch margins and includes appropriate title, header, and pagination. Be sure to include a Works Cited page.
Topic: Rebels, Iconoclasts, Activists, Heroes, Societal Outcasts
You will choose a historical or contemporary person to research and analyze in a thoughtful, cohesive and detailed profile. This person should be a rebel, outcast, extreme adventurer, or social or environmental activist, someone who created his or her own identity and acted as a nonconformist in some way to take a stand and make some kind of difference. While considering your subject and doing your research and writing, you will address such questions as:
How and why did this person step out of the bounds of traditional society? What risks did they take; what challenges did they face?What was this person hoping to accomplish? In your estimation, were they successful?How did/does society respond to this person? What were the repercussions of this person’s choices, both privately and publicly?What’s the bigger picture? Consider, in a broader sense, the implications of social nonconformity.
You will advance a theory (thesis) about your chosen subject’s life work and effect on society. Your paper will include both biographical elements (research, report) and analytical elements (argument and support).
As you write this assignment, remember to fully consider your rhetorical situation:
your audience: instructor, classmates, our discussions, your own role.purpose: our purpose in this endeavor is to share knowledge and to advance a coherent and explicit idea on subjects we find interesting.your stance: what is your attitude toward the topic? What rhetorical choices can you make to best convey this attitude?context: join a conversation about your subject properly incorporating and citing sources. Furthermore, how is this relevant to our class, our lives?medium/design: remember to use MLA format, and incorporate visuals if necessary.
Sources: You must include a total of at least four sources with at least one full length book. Although you may certainly include ideas from Into the Wild and The Man Who Quit Money, these will not count as your research book. You must include at least two print sources (online versions of printed periodicals or journals are okay). Please try to quote each of your sources in relevant ways, and provide proper citation for all quotes used, being sure to analyze each quote that you choose to include with special attention as to how it relates to your subject and your thesis. Be sure to include an MLA formatted Works Cited page that includes all sources you reference.
Meaningful engagement with your chosen sources is vital, as it forms the basis of your research and knowledge. Incorporate the They Say, I Say style and templates as much as possible in order to format your essay like a conversation between scholars on your particular subject.
If you choose a contemporary subject, you may encounter a lack of printed research material. You may find it helpful, then, to research the history of this person’s causes or endeavors, to provide lots of context and to show how and why his or her life work matters. Primary sources, such as memoirs, autobiographies and articles, will prove invaluable.
Just remember, as you research and begin to write, that your paper has a specific purpose and focus, that of nonconformity to society’s norms, and that will help you craft and carefully hone the scope of your research
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