English 0950
Fall 2005
Essay 1

Background:

It is said that history influences present and future events. It is also said that our family plays an important role in who we are and who we become. But are these "theories" true in practice? How much does our own history influence our present and future choices? How much does our family really influence us? How much do we really follow in the footsteps of our great-grandparents, our grandparents, our parents, and our siblings? Especially when it comes to "work," how much are our choice(s) about what we are going to do with our lives really (pre-) determined or dependent on what our family members chose to do with their lives? And, is our philosophy of work and our work ethic shaped by our family members?

Assignment:

Write an essay of 3 to 4 pages, word-processed and double-spaced, in which you explore and analyze (1) your own choices about a job, career, occupation, or profession, (2) your philosophy about work, and (3) your work ethic -- and how these things may have been shaped by your own history and your family members. As you think, prewrite, and plan for your essay, think about, and write about, the following questions:

• What are you planning to do with your life in terms of work? In other words, what job, career, occupation, or profession do you see yourself in? And, how has this choice been influenced by your own history and your family members? How did you come to this decision? Do you remember the "key moment" when you decided, or have you arrived at this decision over time? Are you following in someone's footsteps, or are you blazing your own trail? Are you doing what someone else wants you to do, or are you doing what you want to do?
• What is your "philosophy" of/about work? For example, do you (or will you) "work to live," or do you (or will you) "live to work"? Do you see your work as something to help yourself or something to help others? And, how has your philosophy of/about work work been shaped or influenced by your own history and your family members? Have you, on your own, thought about your philosophy of/about work? Has your philosophy of/about work been shaped by events in your past? Have you talked to your family members about their philosophies of/about work? What have they said?
• How would you describe your work ethic? Do you work hard, or do you hardly work? How do you now behave on the job? How do you now approach your duties? How do you now interact with your supervisor(s) and your coworker(s) and your subordinate(s)? Do you think any of these things will change in the future? How, and why? And, how has your work ethic been shaped or influenced by your own history and your family members? Have you, on your own, thought about your work ethic? Has your work ethic been shaped by events in your past? Have you talked to your family members about their work ethic? What have they said?

The goal of this essay is for you to think about these things in a new way. As I said in the course syllabus, the most exciting "academic writing" does two things: (1) it makes the familiar strange, and (2) it creates new knowledge about everyday life. And, even though "academic writing" is often seen as formal and dry, really good academic writing is also personally meaningful to the writer. Your exploration and analysis should lead you to learn something new about yourself, your history, and your family. And, this "thing" that you learn, you will want to be able to express it in 1-3 sentences; it then will become your thesis for your essay--the "central idea" that all of the examples and details and explanations will support.

What Not to Do:

Do not write a "narrative" of your own history or of your family's history, do not write a "list paper" of what everyone in your family has done for work, and do not write an "interview paper" about what your family members have said about the above questions.

When I Grade Your Paper I Will Look For:

In initial drafts, I will be looking for you to bring specific experiences, examples, and details into your essay and explain to your readers what you think those experiences, examples, and details mean or what they show. In the final draft, you should also be addressing how they each relate to some main/central idea. I will also be looking for interesting interpretations and conclusions, a thoughtful presentation and development, a consistent focus, and an ongoing relationship between examples and main idea.

Format:

The complete first draft should be word-processed and double-spaced; don't worry about any other special formatting. The final draft should be word-processed and double-spaced, it must be at least 3 full pages long, and it must be formatted according to the directions given and illustrated in class. (See RFW, pages 69-70, for an example of an academic essay in MLA format.)