Feminist Platforms Essay
25 points
Assignment Guidelines
Due: Tuesday, April 9 (hand in a hard copy in class)
For this assignment, you will write a 5-page essay about a current issue or happening in the U.S. in which you take a position on how feminist movement should resist, approach, and/or understand this issue. This issue should be related in some way to at least one of the platforms of our course (art, environment, family, education, beauty, economy, health, science, reproductive justice, or sexual assault and intimate partner violence).
For example, if you decided to write about current U.S. immigration policies that have led to the separation of families, you could tie this into feminist understandings of families: for example, the way that feminists have critiqued the mythical norm of the nuclear family for obscuring other kinds of families. (For this issue, you would most likely also draw from foundational concepts such as privilege and oppression as well as intersectional approaches to gender, race, nationality, citizenship, etc.) Keep in mind that although we often think about many issues as partisan (that is, identified with a particular political party), a feminist perspective is often broader and more intersectional than the perspectives typically taken up by political parties in electoral systems of governance.
Guidelines:
1. Find one outside source directly related to the topic you have chosen. (For example, a news article from an established credentialed news outlet.)
2. Draw from at least three of the course readings, being sure to demonstrate full comprehension of the readings you utilize. (This means that you demonstrate a full understanding of the author’s overarching argument and are not simply quoting randomly to fulfill this part of the assignment.) Part of the evaluation of your essay will be based on the relevance and effective use of the materials you have chosen.
3. From these sources, create a position about how feminist movement should resist, approach, and/or understand this issue. This is your paper’s thesis argument.
4. You will defend or prove this thesis by using specific evidence from your sources and analyzing it effectively.
5. Use parenthetical citations in your paper and include a properly formatted (alphabetized, MLA style, 8th ed.)
Works Cited. See here for more information: https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/mla_style/mla_formatting_and_style_guide/mla_sample_works_cited_page.html
Further instructions: Please use 12 pt. font (Times New Roman preferred) and double-space your essay with one-inch margins.
Please make sure that you indent your paragraphs and that you do not have extra space between paragraphs.
Your essay should be appropriately titled in the header (your name, date, WOM 220, Platforms Essay). Please give a descriptive title to your essay, and center it above your essay.
Finally, please paginate your essay in the upper right hand corner.
Grading Rubric
| Possible Points | Criteria | Points Earned |
| 8 | Analysis: How you make your argument. | |
| · paragraphs focused and coherent; logical transitions; introduction engages initial interest; conclusion supports without repeating | ||
| · argument about how feminist movement should resist, approach, and/or understand your issue | ||
| · use of keywords and phrases from class/readings | ||
| 8 | Content: How you handle sources and evidence. | |
| · argument supported with concrete and substantial evidence from relevant materials | ||
| · effective use of quotations from readings | ||
| · issue chosen from a credentialed news source | ||
| 2 | Presentation: How your paper looks. | |
| · formatting, grammar, composition, punctuation, and spelling | ||
| 2 | Style: How your paper sounds. | |
| · tone complements subject, authorial persona, audience considered | ||
| 5 | Documentation & Sources: How your paper meets the requirements. | |
| · 5 pages | ||
| · parenthetical references, works cited, margins, font, spacing, etc. | ||
| · 1 outside source | ||
| · 3 of the course readings | ||
| 25 | Grade | 0 |