Writing Project 4
- First Attempt Due
Tuesday, July 18, 2017
- Length
3-4 pages
- Polished Draft
Thursday, July 20, 2017
- Sources Required
We’ve talked a lot about poverty this semester. We’ve looked at it through the lens of our own experience and others, we’ve read others ideas in poetry and prose, and we’ve struggled to understand how and why poverty is so hard to get rid of. In our classes, we’ve talked about difficult issues like family structure, race, education, opportunity, class, and wages, and how there is no simple solution to the problem.
We’ve also gone back and forth with the question of determination. Many of us look to examples of people, like Sonja Livingston in Ghostbread, who are able to “work hard and apply themselves” and make their way out of poverty. While I absolutely think those people exist, and that we should celebrate their achievement, I have argued (and will continue to argue) that we can’t overlook the ways in which the structure of our society makes it harder for some people than others. It’s true that Sonja was able to achieve a college degree through hard work and dedication. But it’s also true that Sonja had a much more difficult path to that same end because of the environment she grew up in, and because of the expectations and requirements of our society.
This is what we’ll engage with in Writing Project 4.
Your Task
Your task in Writing Project 4 is to make and support an argument in answer to the following question:
As a society, what is the one most important thing we can do to help eliminate poverty in the United States?
As a part of answering that question, you’ll need to use evidence from at least two outside sources to support your points. (See note on sources below.)
Requirements for Sources
Because we are making an argument about something beyond our own expertise, we’ll need to incorporate evidence from sources that know more than we do. Fortunately, we’ve looked at many such sources in this class, and we’ll continue to read more in the next week.
The requirements for your sources for this paper as follows:
- Use at least two sources.
- Please use only sources we’ve looked at in class.
- Your paper must include in-text citation and a Works Cited page.
- Correct Works Cited page entries are available for each of our sources, either online or included in the article itself.
Things to Think About and Do
The most important reminder I have here is that we’re looking at this question as a society. That means that we’re talking about at all levels. We shouldn’t just say, “Those poor people need to work harder,” and we also shouldn’t just say, “Those rich people need to give more money to the poor.” This is a difficult, challenging, complicated question, and I expect you to treat it as such.
I’d also point out that nobody in the world—no matter how many college degrees they have—is going to be able to solve this problem on their own in a 3-4 page paper. Remember, you’re describing one step that you think will make the most difference.