Major Assignment #1 - Tulane University



Major Assignment #1

Choose from one of the suggestions below and write a five-page essay that responds to one of the

prompts. Be certain to establish your position carefully in your introduction. Then keep that claim in mind as you complete each paragraph so that you maintain the focus of your essay. Make your examples specific and concrete–you may draw from personal experience if your position suggests it, but remember to keep the paper formal in language and tone as you develop the essay. Make certain that each paragraph is developed enough to clarify what you are saying. Look at the length of each paragraph, look for transitions between and within paragraphs, and make certain that your ideas are carefully connected to each other as you develop the thesis. Have a distinct introduction, body, and conclusion. See that the body develops and cites specifics (examples from text, from experience, from authority, etc.) sufficiently to make your position clear and to argue that your position is at least a legitimate one to consider. Tie ideas together with a solid concluding paragraph. The important point here is not to think in formulaic terms. Think of the suggested structure as a framework to the authorial position you hold as writer/creator of you own text.

If you use an outside source, be certain to include a Works Cited page and include proper internal documentation following MLA Guidelines (see handbook and handout on Blackboard). Citations from the text should be properly cited as should lines of poetry and a citation of the text(s) themselves should appear on a Works Cited page as well.

We will do in-class brainstorming, freewriting, revision, and peer editing. Think in terms of Aristotle’s five points of rhetoric (invention, arrangement, style, memory, and delivery) and of how to use the elements of invention such as ethos, pathos, logos. After reading your paper out loud, do you feel that you have offered sufficient proof in the most effective way, have you chosen the best or most effective structure to make your point using the clearest choice of words and ideas? Have you varied sentences and controlled tone so that your argument seems effective? Proof your paper carefully before turning it in and pay close attention not only to content, structure, and flow but also to grammar and punctuation. If you have questions or concerns, please see me.

If none of the following sparks your interest, you may talk to me about an idea of your own relating to the works in question. You probably want to define “scapegoat” early on so that your argument has a basis from which to build. Also, you may want to use some research to help you with this assignment.

• Oedipus unknowingly (and perhaps unconsciously) scapegoats himself. He assumes the burden of punishment for the people of his kingdom. Ironically, he actually IS the reason for their troubles. In fact, it is his sin that creates the plague on the kingdom. How does he then qualify as a scapegoat? How is he like or unlike Tessie as scapegoat in “The Lottery”? Is she also guilty since she threatens the community’s patriarchal structure and tradition? Examine her actions in connection to others in the community and compare her guilt (also perhaps unconscious) to that of Oedipus. Rene Girard posits that scapegoating is not a thing; rather it is a process. Explore this concept as it plays itself out in the two works studied (“The Lottery” and Oedipus Rex), look up Rene Girard’s book on The Scapegoat, and expand argument to examine how these two “processes” apply to contemporary society or in recent history.

• In “Tragedy and the Common Man” Arthur Miller says, “For, it is true that in essence the tragic hero is intent upon claiming his whole due as a personality, and if this struggle must be total and without reservation, then it automatically demonstrates the indestructible will of man to achieve his humanity.” The tragic feeling is evoked in us “when we are in the presence of a character who is ready to lay down his life, if need be to secure one thing—his sense of personal dignity.” Looking at Oedipus as an example of Aristotle’s classical definition of the tragic character is “tragedy then the consequence of a man’s total compulsion to evaluate himself justly”? Let this quotation serve as a springboard for ideas about the role of tragedy in the classic sense in our contemporary world. Find a way to argue something about the essence of humanity if we look at classical tragedy as a way to move toward this idea of “personal dignity.” Do we value personal dignity today? Be creative in your establishment of an approach here.

After reading your prompts and those of some past students, the list below offers some suggestions that may help initiate ideas for you. I have blended and combined some of your suggestions. Use any one or any combination of ideas for your paper. Just be certain that you have an absolutely clear position from which to develop your argument. You can be creative in your approach to any of the following:

• Scapegoating in America. What would the typical American leader have done in

such a difficult situation? Or examine a predicament related to a contemporary

ruler and compare his/her response to a crisis to that of Oedipus.

• Scapegoats and celebrities—How do celebrities idolized today mirror the issues

raised in Ancient Greece? How do their falls from grace and our interest

in watching those falls recall Greek drama itself?

• War as scapegoat to boost patriotism. Does society need a scapegoat?

Scapegoating and Civil Rights.

• Scapegoating and women throughout history—keep a focus. Look at Iocaste and Tessie as skeptic or disrupters of the status quo.

• Rulers/leaders as scapegoats. Is it easy to place blame instead of accepting responsibility ourselves—recent or historical examples.

• Jews as scapegoats. You can look at this historically or you can use contemporary

interpretations of history to develop your paper—films, books, etc.

• Scapegoating and pride/tradition, etc. How does the past affect how we act in the present?

• What is the role of the community in the process of scapegoating?

• Scapegoat and difference. Do scapegoats on occasion bring on their own fate because of hubris or because they choose to stand out as different on occasion? Or in some instances can setting oneself apart as “the other” translate into something positive? See scapegoat handouts that discuss scapegoat as “savior.”

• Scapegoating and martyrdom. Explore this as you choose, but make a specific claim. Is it a form of personal responsibility or a foolish act? e.g. Oedipus’s self-inflicted punishment.

• Is scapegoating inevitable/necessary part of human nature—from primitive societies to the present.

• Scapegoating and morality

• Accepting truth about something, especially about oneself, can be difficult. Oedipus pursues truth even when the suspicion that he himself may be at blame starts to develop. From personal examples to larger historical or political examples, argue that in spite of the danger involved, humans ultimately desire or long for truth. What happens when we stop searching? Is this the dividing point between good and evil? But is truth relative? What is the role of personal responsibility in this search?

• Fear as motivator for scapegoating, for societal progress, for personal development?

Here is a list of things you might want to think about as examples: capital punishment, inner city gangs, social ostracism for being different (weight, race, socio-economic status), scapegoat dynamics in the workplace or in social settings, bullies, sports, etc. These are just suggestions.

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