Paper #2: The Human Condition

NOTE: Be sure to do Blog Response #4 by Monday or Wednesday (whichever class you have)! It's the post DIRECTLY BELOW this one. 

Paper #2: The Human Condition 

PROMPT: In our first paper, we looked at how three stories could share the same conversation based on advice, and how you, as the writer, could connect all the stories through context and quotation. For this paper, I want you to take a similar approach, but instead of advice, I want you to use THREE STORIES in the book to introduce a serious conversation on-going in our society. This conversation must be something that you can read or learn about elsewhere, and that the stories in this book give a ‘human face’ to, rather than just being a story of facts and statistics.

SOURCES: Your paper should use one of the stories to introduce the topic, and then weave in the other two as you discuss different aspects of the topic using SECONDARY SOURCES which gives a broader scope to the conversation. Secondary Sources are articles, websites, books, videos, and other media that add depth and context to the subject matter. I’ll post a video this week to discuss ways to conduct useful research beyond a Google search.

EXAMPLE: The story on page 386 is one of a psychotherapist from Holland who says, “I’m a psychotherapist to some of the most successful people in Holland…They’ve accomplished so much, but they’re still driven by this fear that they’re not going to make it. And they start to ask themselves: ‘Is this going to be the rest of my life?’” This would be a great way to introduce the concept of IMPOSTER SYNDROME, which is a psychological condition than many people suffer from, and no amount of success or money can entirely eradicate. So this could be a great topic to research, and you could connect this to other people in the book who seem to suffer from the same condition (or people who don’t—to understand why they don’t seem to).

REQUIREMENTS:

• 3 stories from the book that connect to the conversation in useful ways; you must discuss them all in your paper, and provide enough context to understand each story. You can use one story more than another, but all three must be introduced and discussed.
• 2-3 Secondary Sources from articles, websites, books, etc. These must be QUOTED and discussed as well, and connected to the overall conversation. ALSO: Dictionary definitions are not good secondary sources. Find an actual article that discusses the issue.
• Remember the keys to a good conversation paper: conversation, context, and quotations.
• DUE  FRIDAY, MARCH 5^th by 5pm