WA3 definition, analysis & argument essay: Being peace

For this final major writing assignment for the semester, you are going to rely heavily on our second reading, Great Peacemakers.  You are going to write an argument essay about what it means to live, be, and teach peace in the world, along w/ how ordinary folks like UTM college students, staff, and professors can work for peace right in their own communities.

Choosing 4 of the individuals profiled in the book (only 2 who can come from the same section), you are going to put what they’ve experienced, learned, and believe into a single idea you want to convey to your own readers about peace.

You will add 3-5 (no more) appropriate and well-chosen sources of your own that are not in the book to help you build your analysis, illustrate or explain your definition, support your argument. 1 of those additional sources must come from the Peace Reading Guides sources on B’board.

For example, perhaps there’s someone else you feel you just MUST add to your essay who’s not discussed in the book, so you’ll look for sources about that individual.  OR perhaps you want to include information from the peace organization inkshed to show the kinds of actual work an advocacy or service organization does for peace on a daily basis that you want to illustrate.  OR maybe, if you did the Nobel Prize inkshed, there’s informa-tion you found that will also be relevant to your discussion here.  OR maybe there are peace efforts in the news right now that help you build your discussion relative to the selections you’ve chosen from the book.  OR maybe you’ll look for more information about these individuals (so you might end up actually adding more than 2 sources, if you decide you want to find out a bit more about all 4 people you selected).

If it fits into the essay you end up writing, and supports the idea you are developing in your essay, you may also add Malala into your essay if you wish (not required).  OR if any of your sources from your news inkshed fit into your discussion, you may choose one of those as one of your non-book sources if you wish (not required).

What kinds of points to address in your essay (this is a brainstorm list, not a required content list; you might find 2 of these bullets enough to build your whole essay; or 1 bullet may give you ideas for going in an entirely different direction in your essay; or you start w/ the general idea of 2-3 bullets, but you rework them somehow):

• How do these individuals you’ve chosen define “peace”?
• How does each individual add a new or completely opposite point about peace by what they say or how they live(d)/have lived?
• What appear to be the main experiences (or kinds of experiences—struggle, surviving war, coming from poverty, being influenced by others, getting an education, etc.) that impacted their development as “peacemakers”?
• What are some of the main points we can/should learn, and maybe also put into practice ourselves, from these individuals together?
• What are some of the experiences/attitudes/actions for peace that your selected individuals share in common, that maybe offer a lesson for us?
• How does their joint message relate to us in our communities, in our world today w/ all that’s going on around us?
• How does their joint message relate to us individually in our daily lives/choices/atti-tudes/actions? In how we treat/think about others?
• What do the individuals you selected, individually & together, reveal, as you see it, as “the most effective way[s] to create lasting peace? Why?” (Beller & Chase 171, #6)

Audience: Humans…tired humans who live in a world of hate, distrust, cruelty, destruction, intolerance, inequality, violence…humans who want a better world for their kids/grand kids…humans who maybe are trying to hope for the best but are finding hope/faith in short supply b/c it seems the ugliness of the world is winning…humans who probably have not read Great Peacemakers, I am Malala, or any of your sources…humans in need of some inspiration and good news for once…

Parameters for WA#3:

• 5-6 1/2 typed pages + bibliography, correct MLA paper format
• Correct MLA in-text citations and bibliography format
• Engaging Title that reflects your main message about peace from our book
• 4 individuals from the book (from at least 3 different sections); 3-5 non-book sources

Note:  You will only cite Great Peacemakers ONCE in your bibliography; the whole book

is written by Beller & Chase, not by the individuals you write about.  So follow exactly the format for citing a “book w/ two authors” for the bibliography.  That means you’ll have a bibliography that has a total of 4 to 6 sources cited, depending on how many non-book sources you select.

• 1-2 quotes of each peacemaker, each w/ good introductory phrases.
• At least 2 paraphrases from the chapters on each selected peacemaker w/ good introductory phrases
• Quotes & paraphrases from all of your others sources (unless all you are getting from a source is an important or relevant statistic or historical fact)
• A clear thesis statement—the main point you wish to make from the individuals you selected. Remember, this is an argument essay, so your thesis is the main argument you are defending throughout your essay.
• Also remember, you’re analyzing what these individuals have to say about peace, so your essay will have compare/contrast—how the individuals are alike or have a similar message; how the individuals are different or add something new to what the others say; your essay will also show synthesis—what, taken together, is a message we can take from these selected individuals. These are the main skills you’re practicing in this essay.
• Well-organized essay; well-organized paragraphs (each w/ a clear topic of its own) w/ a flow of thought that is easy to follow. If you need to, create a topic sentence for each paragraph to help you ensure every sentence in the paragraph flows from that topic.
• At least 2 sentences correctly using a semi-colon; at least 1 sentence correctly using a dash.
• A short 3-5 item bulleted list, smoothly included in your essay, is recommended
• Thoughtful, appropriate, correctly used vocabulary.
• Correct Standard English sentence structure, punctuation, grammar, spelling.
• Few-no typos, indicating careful proofreading.
• At least 2 WC visits w/ WA#3 TYPED drafts, 2 different weeks.
• Participation w/ TYPED copies of your draft in PR
• Turn in printouts of all non-book sources
• Paper submitted in 2-pocket folder w/ all PR and WC drafts