Paper Topics for English 100 online – Fall 2018

Theme: Health, Disease and Wellness

All the writing you will be doing in this course is reading-based. This means that every essay you write will be a response to and analysis of the reading arguing a point of view about the reading. If you write an essay that does not mention the reading or directly examine the reading, it will be considered off topic and will receive little to no credit. You will not be writing plot summaries. You will summarize parts of the reading to support your argument, but summary should not take over your paper. Each paragraph should serve to prove a clear and specific point and all paragraphs should work together to prove one unifying, thesis (opinion on the reading). For all papers, except the midterm and final exam, you will be creating your own argument about the assigned
reading so that you are writing from a place of interest rather than duty. You cannot pass this course if you fail to turn in one of the assigned papers.

Follow standard paper guidelines and know expectations as described in Chapter 3: Paper Topics: http://www.skylinecollege.edu/skyenglish/3Papertopics.htm

Paper topics come in all shapes and sizes, but in general for an English class, you can expect to find the following requirements:

· Meet stated page length requirements. Turning in papers that are under the required page length sends a message
that the assignment was not taken seriously and that a lack of time, effort, and consideration was put into the project.

· Adhere to due dates. Plan ahead and break down the project into manageable stages, so you don’t cause yourself
undue stress by doing things “last minute” or by hurting your grade through missing due dates and not being able to turn
in assignments.

· Use the stated paper formatting standards. In an English class, the most common paper formatting approach is MLA.
See Chapter 5 on MLA Conventions.

· Follow the assignment. It is essential that you follow the guidelines of the assignment or else you risk receiving little to
no credit for your work. English classes are also teaching students how to successfully complete college-level tasks, so
take some time in the beginning to ensure you are doing what was asked.

· Apply writing standards in your paper. This Rhetoric walks you through the fundamental essay components, so
apply these concepts to your writing. There is also an Essay Checklist in Chapter 4 that you can use to ensure you
have covered all the bases your instructor will be expecting in an academic paper:

· Seek opportunities for additional help. Writing can be an isolating experience but it does not have to be. Use campus
resources to help you formulate your writing plan and to get outside perspective and feedback on your writing. You can visit
your instructor during office hours at any stage in the writing process. You can also use the tutoring services offered in the
Learning Center: http://www.skylinecollege.edu/learningcenter/index.php. Getting feedback is one of the most effective ways
to focus and improve your writing. 

Use the Essay Checklist to make sure you have all the necessary essay elements but here is also a quick guide of things not to forget:

· MLA formatting: on the first page, include your own title centered at the top, the course info (your name, the class, the instructor, the date)
in the top left corner and in the top right corner of each page, your last name next to the page number. Typed, double spaced throughout,
font 12, one-inch margins and be sure to meet the page minimum (Please note: 10 pts are removed for each page the paper is under the
required minimum length and 5 pts for half a page under. Don’t go solely by word count but by actual length).
MLA Conventions (Rhetoric 170-183): http://www.skylinecollege.edu/skyenglish/5MLA.htm

· Creative title: Creating a strong, clear, appealing title is an important part of any writing task. The title is the reader’s first introduction to
your piece of writing, and first impressions matter. Therefore, you want to create a title which pulls in your reader’s interest and makes him
or her want to keep reading. Make your essay stand out from the others and draw in your reader.
Creating Effective Titles (Rhetoric 153-154): http://accounts.smccd.edu/skyenglish/rhetoric.pdf#page=153

· Integrating Sources: When writing about texts, you will want to include quotes and paraphrases and you want to make sure to smoothly
integrate and properly document all your sources. Connect all quote to phrases that introduce them (don’t drop quotes) and follow quotes
with the source information in parenthesis (usually the author’s last name and the page number). Also, follow quotes with your own analysis
explaining their significance.
Sources (Rhetoric 262-282): http://www.skylinecollege.edu/skyenglish/10IntegratingSources.htm

· Works Cited: when you are writing about a text, you will always include a Works Cited even if you are only citing the text you wrote about.
If you did research, include all your outside sources on the Works Cited page as well. List the sources alphabetically by author last name or
by title if there is no author.
Creating Works Cited pages (Rhetoric 177-182): http://accounts.smccd.edu/skyenglish/rhetoric.pdf#page=177

· Revising and Editing: the best writing is rewriting so before turning in an essay for a grade, use the advice on revising (making larger global
changes) and editing (making sentence level corrections) to ensure that you have submitted your best work.
Revising (Rhetoric 143-152): http://accounts.smccd.edu/skyenglish/rhetoric.pdf#page=143 & Editing (Rhetoric 155-161): http://accounts.smccd.edu/skyenglish/rhetoric.pdf#page=155

· Grading standards: every student should be striving for the ‘A’ paper so know what criteria make an excellent paper by reviewing the
English department grading standards that your instructor will be using when assessing your essay. Use the criteria as the standard you are
using as you revise your essay.
Grading Standards (Rhetoric 197-198): http://www.smccd.edu/accounts/bellr/GradingMenu.htm

Five major papers will be written for this class:
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Paper #1 (worth 10% of grade): 2-4 pages, 500-1000 words
Analyzing We Kiss Them with Rain by Futhi Ntshingila
Draft due 9/24, Revision due 10/1
MLA Title page and Works Cited required

Make your own argument about an issue or idea raised in Ntshingila’s We Kiss the Rain. Do not simply summarize the story. Make an argument about an aspect of the book that you would need to prove or convince your reader of.

Choose your own paper topic or use/adapt one the prompts below:

1. What are the sexual politics of this book? How is Nonceba’s sexuality displayed differently than Zola’s or Mvelo’s? What is the history and culture behind those differences? From this book, what would you guess sex education (whether that occurs in families or institutions) in South Africa looks like? How might it be different in North America?

2. Consider the relationship between Sipho and Julia, his mother’s employer. How does this relationship speak to the larger power and gender dynamics at play in this novel?

3. Why does Futhi Ntshingila choose to tell this story from different points of view? How do these changing points-of-view in the story strengthen or weaken our understanding of Mvelo’s situation and her story?

4. Many women gather to honor Sipho, a man that they loved, after his death even though he had been the source of disease for many of them. What does this imply about the complications and depth of love? What does it imply about the women’s feelings toward AIDS itself?

5. Futhi Ntshinglia has written about her interest in how people with so little struggle to maintain normalcy in the face of disaster. In what instances and to what lengths do the people of We Kiss Them with Rain put forth the effort to maintain their normalcy? How has this focus on normalcy helped or hurt the situation?

6. We Kiss Them with Rain begins with poetry. Some of the poetic images are obvious in the story, but others are more obscure. What ideas exist in the poem but may not be quite as obvious in the text? How does this poem, and the title that comes from it, comment upon the text as a whole and provide perhaps the book’s main theme?

7. Ntshingila's exploration takes us deep into the territory of violence against women. Analyze Ntshingila's argument for female empowerment. What are the reasons she suggests women are victimized in South Africa, and what are the requirements for female emancipation and empowerment? You may find it useful to consider concepts and definitions of masculinity and femininity, as well as how social and political power is constructed in societies around the world, leading to a worldwide problem of violence against women. 

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Research Paper #2 (worth 10% of grade): 3-5 pages, 750-1250 words
Analyzing ONE of the assigned articles on American Healthcare
Draft due 10/23, Revision due 10/30
MLA Title page and Works Cited required with a minimum of ONE outside source

Select ONE of the assigned articles on the topic of “American Healthcare,” and create your own argument on a particular issue raised in that article. Do not simply summarize the reading. Additionally, use a minimum of one outside source to help support or clarify your position.

Choose ONE of the following articles to analyze for Paper 2:
(1) Article 1: "United States Health Care Reform Progress to Date and Next Steps" by Barack Obama
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5069435/
(2) Article 2: "Trump Signs Order Hitting Obamacare, Eyes Changes to Job-Based Health Coverage " by Dan Mangan
https://www.cnbc.com/2017/10/12/trump-to-issue-new-order-that-could-undercut-obamacare-markets.html
(3) Article 3: "A Side-by-Side Comparison of Obamacare and the GOP’s Replacement Plans" by Noam N. Levey and Kyle Kim
http://www.latimes.com/projects/la-na-pol-obamacare-repeal/
(4) Article 4:"The Fake Freedom of American Healthcare” by Anu Partanen
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/18/opinion/the-fake-freedom-of-american-health-care.html
(5) Article 5:"Trump administration rolls out health plan rules that could weaken Obamacare" by Adam Cancryn and Paul Demko
https://www.politico.com/story/2018/01/04/trump-administration-association-health-plan-324021
(6) Article 6: "Donald Trump on Healthcare" by Kimberly Amadeo
https://www.thebalance.com/how-could-trump-change-health-care-in-america-4111422

For Paper #2, you must include a minimum of at least ONE outside source:
An important persuasive tool is effectively selecting and integrating outside support to strengthen your own position and argument.  This is the function of research.  The idea of research is NOT to find information and ideas from “experts” to replace your own ideas.  In your writing, you are the authority and central voice, so keep your argument as primary in the paper.  You will use outside research to further support, clarify, or in some cases provide alternative viewpoints to show the weaknesses of a different position in order to reaffirm/strengthen your own argument (this is providing counter-argument).  Think of the research you will select and integrate as evidence that will help YOU to strengthen YOUR argument, not to replace it with someone else’s ideas.  Never let research “take over” your paper.  Make your research work for you to further prove the argument that you want to make about the reading.

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Paper #3 (worth 10% of grade): Midterm 90-minute essay exam
Analyzing the collected readings on American Healthcare
Thursday, November 8th between 6am and midnight (the latest you can begin the exam to get the full 90 minutes is 10:44pm)

Open book, timed essay exam on the assigned readings on the “American Healthcare” Unit. In 90 minutes, you will compose an essay to a prompt about the reading that will be given to you on the day of the exam. You will not need to include a Works Cited or outside research. There is no required page length but you will want to fully answer all parts of the exam question in a focused, organized and well-developed essay using the texts as the
basis of your response:

Review the 6 articles we read about the American Healthcare system for the Midterm exam:

(1) Article 1: "United States Health Care Reform Progress to Date and Next Steps" by Barack Obama
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5069435/
(2) Article 2: "Trump Signs Order Hitting Obamacare, Eyes Changes to Job-Based Health Coverage " by Dan Mangan
https://www.cnbc.com/2017/10/12/trump-to-issue-new-order-that-could-undercut-obamacare-markets.html
(3) Article 3: "A Side-by-Side Comparison of Obamacare and the GOP’s Replacement Plans" by Noam N. Levey and Kyle Kim
http://www.latimes.com/projects/la-na-pol-obamacare-repeal/
(4) Article 4:"The Fake Freedom of American Healthcare” by Anu Partanen
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/18/opinion/the-fake-freedom-of-american-health-care.html
(5) Article 5:"Trump administration rolls out health plan rules that could weaken Obamacare" by Adam Cancryn and Paul Demko
https://www.politico.com/story/2018/01/04/trump-administration-association-health-plan-324021
(6) Article 6: "Donald Trump on Healthcare" by Kimberly Amadeo
https://www.thebalance.com/how-could-trump-change-health-care-in-america-4111422


Preparing for the midterm exam:
Before taking the exam, review Chapter 11: Timed Writing (pages 274-285), http://www.skylinecollege.edu/skyenglish/11TimedWriting.htm). The best way to prepare is to annotate your text and take a practice 90-minute exam before the midterm. There is a non-graded practice exam you can take in Canvas. Click on Module 3 to assess the practice exam.

Take the 90-Minute Midterm Exam: Thursday, November 8th

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Collaborative Research Paper #4 (worth 20% of grade): 4-6 pages, 1000-1500 words
Analyzing Sizwe’s Test: A Young Man’s Journey through Africa’s AIDS Epidemic by Jonny Steinberg
Draft due 12/4, Revision due 12/11
MLA Title page and Works Cited required with a minimum of TWO outside sources

Choose an issue or aspect in Sizwe’s Test and write a collaborative research essay that asserts your own analysis of the significance of this book or an aspect of the book. You are not summarizing her story but rather arguing your point of view about its significance.

Some examples of topics raised in the book:
>cultural approaches to disease
>biomedical approach to cultural understandings of disease
>HIV-AIDS in Africa and outside involvement
>cultural mis-communication
>the politics and economics of infectious disease
>cultural politics
>traditional medical practices
>the clash between science and traditional beliefs
>sexuality, gender and shame
>shame and HIV

What is a collaborative paper?
Students will select a partner (or we can assign partners in class) and write the paper together in teams of two. I've assigned this type of paper
in my classes for many years and consistently these are the strongest papers I get over the semester. Working with another person can show you
your strengths and weaknesses and help you produce an excellent paper. As you work with a partner, is it vital that you each work collaboratively
and equally. Also remember that you will be completing a Collaborative Paper Evaluation on your partner and on yourself. Also, on the essay you
turn in for a grade, you will indicate who wrote which part of the paper to ensure that the work was shared. If you have any difficulties with your
partner, let me know immediately and we can have you write the paper separately. I want this to be a positive experience for everyone.

Names on the Paper
You and your partner need to only upload one copy of the paper and it does not matter whose name you submit it under. Just be sure that both of
your names are on the paper. As this is a collaborative paper, you and your partner will write the paper together but you will indicate which body
paragraphs each was the principle writer for (each student must write a minimum of 2 pages each of the final paper). Indicate this information next
to your names on the first page. For example, the top left header will contain the following information:

John Ramirez (wrote paragraphs 1-4 & 7)
Jun Chan (wrote paragraphs 5-6 & 8-10)
English 100
21 May 2014

And for the page numbers in the upper right corner of each page, you will hyphenate the last names of the authors, i.e. Ramirez-Chan 1


Uploading the Collaborative Partner Evaluation on 12/11 before midnight:
(1) Download the Collaborative Partner Evaluation:
http://www.smccd.edu/accounts/bellr/ReaderWorkshoppingCollaborativeMenu.htm
Complete both pages: assign both you and your partner a grade on the project and then answer the questions. This evaluation is confidential and your
partner will not being seeing this evaluation. If you did not have a partner, submit a written reflection on your experience in writing the paper to get credit.
(2) Log into Canvas, click where it says “SUMBIT by 12/11: Collaborative Partner Evaluation” and upload the completed file.


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Paper #5 (worth 20% of grade): Final essay exam—2 ½ hours
Connecting the 4 course texts under the course theme “Health, Disease and Wellness”
Thursday, December 13^th between 6am and midnight (the latest you can begin the exam to get the full 2 ½ hours is 9:29pm)

Open book, timed essay exam on the course readings.

In 2 ½ hours (150 minutes), you will compose an essay to a prompt about the reading that will be given to you on the day of the exam. You will not need to include a Works Cited or outside research. There is no required page length but you will want to fully answer all parts of the exam question in a focused, organized and well-developed essay using the assigned texts as the basis of your response.

Preparing for the final exam:
Before taking the exam, review the advice in the Rhetoric, Chapter 11: Timed Writing (pages 274-285), http://www.skylinecollege.edu/skyenglish/11TimedWriting.htm). The best way to prepare is to annotate the texts and take a practice 150 minute
exam before the midterm. You can create possible final exam questions for yourself which connect the works we have read through the course theme:
“Health, Disease and Wellness.” Take at least one practice essay exam before the actual final exam. There is a non-graded practice exam you can take in Canvas. Click on Module 5 to assess the practice exam.

Taking the 2 ½ hour Final Exam: Thursday, December 13th