“The Other” Paper (Brett Seekford)

ENGL110 : Writing Identities (General Section) – Spring 2020--Brett Seekford - See full syllabus here.

BACKGROUND

This paper follows in the vein of the Disruptive Narrative, but this time, you have the opportunity to explore lives and identities outside of your own. In considering people different from us, we are engaging with the philosophical concept of the “Other.” This term was coined by famed philosophers Edmund Husserl and Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel. These men were associated with the field of phenomenology, which studies the way we process and react to things that we encounter in the world. Their conception of the “Other” describes a person or thing that is alien or foreign to a certain person given their unique background and identity.

ASSIGNMENT FRAMEWORK

Following the concept of the “Other,” I therefore want you use this paper to study a phenomenon or issue unique to a community you deem “Other.” In doing so, it should be your goal to uncover issues specific to people of certain identities and form an argument about this form of identification for an audience of people like yourself, who are similarly unfamiliar with these issues.

To successfully complete this assignment, it is again essential that you narrow the scope of your project and adopt a particular focus rather than writing on broad topics. You won’t want to start from the question, “What is it like to be a woman?” Rather, you might study the role of women in the film industry or the historic barriers to the publication of black women’s writing. The range of topics is truly endless, just as it was in your disruptive narratives. Just as was the case with the previous paper: If you can provide justification for studying any community that you want to know more about, use your proposal to defend your choice.

REQUIREMENTS & SOURCE USE

Since your topic will be largely unfamiliar to you, extensive research will be necessary. For this paper, you need at least three scholarly, peer-reviewed academic sources, although you will likely want to incorporate a few more texts as well. In that vein, after you’ve satisfied the scholarly research requirement, feel free to consult an array of nonscholarly sources, ranging from newspaper articles to credible blogposts or tweets. I would dissuade you from using more than ten sources in this paper. After all, you should be engaging meaningfully with each source, and an extensive bibliography of outside voices can be difficult to incorporate without distracting from your original argument.

Other than the change in prompt and number of required sources, the other major requirement for this paper is that you use secondary sources more strategically and synthesize them throughout your writing, a practice we will explore at length in class. Therefore, academic synthesis—in addition to argumentation, organization, and source use—will be the fourth major component of your grade with this paper. As you will see, it is incredibly important to use a range of sources that support, complicate, and even expand your main idea. For more information, a loose grading rubric can be found below.

As always, while your sources should inform your argument, they should not dominate. I understand the balance between asserting your voice and allowing your sources to take over is difficult. For that reason, your papers will undergo several stages of drafting and even a week of in-class revision stations to ensure your sources are being used in service of your point of view. This time will be productive, and I hope you use these opportunities to collaborate with both me and your peers to create truly exciting research papers. Consider these papers to be your entry point into academic writing. They will prove challenging, but I encourage you to use them to explore and expand both your interests and worldview.

Below, you can find a list of scaffolded assignments and due dates, a breakdown of the final grade, a checklist of requirements for this assignment, and a basic rubric laying out my expectations.

Length: 8-10 full pages

Proposal Due: Friday, April 10^th (via Canvas)

Draft #1 Due: Sunday, April 19^th (via Canvas)

Peer Letters Due: Tuesday, April 28^th (via Canvas)

Draft #2 Due: Sunday, May 3^rd (via Canvas)

Student-Instructor Conferences: Tuesday, May 5^th – Thursday, May 7^th

(via Zoom)

Final Draft Due: Sunday, May 17^th (via Canvas)

Grade Breakdown:

Final Draft 30 points

Peer Letters 10 points

40 points

Checklist of Requirements:

A paper proposal describing a paper topic that explores an issue relevant to a community or category of identity with which you do not identify
A narrowly framed argument pertaining to an issue or concern associated with the group being addressed as part of the topic
Two drafts submitted through Canvas
One round of peer letters completed in response to your peers’ first drafts
One scheduled conference with your instructor to discuss your progress and second draft
Three scholarly, peer-reviewed secondary sources
- Additional scholarly or nonscholarly sources will likely be needed in addition to this basic requirement. (No more than ten sources.)
Meaningful synthesis of sources throughout the paper

Grading Criteria

“A” Paper

Incorporates and responds to a range of sources
Sources speak to each other consistently and productively without impeding writer’s voice
An original, clearly-stated, and focused central argument or claim
Organized creatively and effectively
Clear demonstration of intensive revision between drafts
Polished, concise, and engaging style

“B” Paper

Strong use of sources in service of main argument
Sources frequently speak to each other and only occasionally overshadow the writer’s voice
Clearly-stated and focused central argument or claim guiding paper
Organized sensibly and deliberately
Revised according to class comments
Occasional mechanical errors but consistent voice

“C” Paper

Lack of meaningful engagement with sources
Sources irregularly speak to each other and suggest a haphazard attempt at synthesis
Use of a central claim but lacking in specificity
Disjointed organization
Halfhearted attempt at revision
Prevalent and careless mechanical errors and inconsistent voice

“D” Paper