Concept Essay

50 Point Essays: Option Two, a “Concept” Essay

· 900-1200 words (about 3-4 pages if you follow MLA manuscript formatting conventions).

· More so than Option One (Rhetorical Analysis), Option Two should have a thesis: a central assertion or point you want to make about the topic you write about. (THESIS=Topic+Point)

· Using the list below (or develop your own idea--please consult with me to check to see if I think it will work), choose ONE of these concepts to explain and define thoroughly.

· Avoid an approach based primarily on information transference. Encyclopedic Order (“All About” Writing) tries to say a little bit of everything about a topic. When skillfully done, it breaks a problem down into a meaningful series of categories or sub-topics. But these categories do not function as reasons to support the claim. Like the headings in an encyclopedia article, the categories are merely a way to arrange information that does not add up to an argument. Remember that your purpose is not primarily to impart information—it is to construct an argument. It might help to focus on certain kinds of questions: rather than asking factual questions (“what is it?”), it would help to ask “how” and “why” type questions instead. I also call this type of writing I don’t want “report mode” in that it’s offering a reader a neutral report on the topic rather than an engaged inquiry into a problem/issue.

· Think of a concept you may already know something about or a concept that you would like to research. Feel free to choose a concept used in your field of study or a work-related concept.

· Teach your reader something new or give them a new perspective on the concept. (Think of this “teaching” that your essay does in terms of Bloom’s Taxonomy of Learning Outcomes . How does your essay help move your reader from the basic type of learning (remembering and understanding) to the more advanced levels of analysis and creation/synthesis?)

· You may consult outside sources for your paper, but make sure to document them using a Works Cited page. For a relatively short essay, I don’t assume students will be doing much research (although research WILL help enhance the rhetorical ethos of your papers and give you more to work with).

· Some of these words have many complex and contradictory connotations (or mental associations) for different people, so the task for this assignment is wading through some of these different meanings to show your reader what this concept means to you. Even as you are “unpacking” this idea, try to “complexify” your thinking about this concept--meaning I am looking for how well you can “open up” this concept to further inquiry rather than just shutting it down with a totalized, final definition. (I’m not looking for an entry from a dictionary, an encyclopedia article or a neutral report on this concept. Think about what’s at stake for you and potentially for others in considering this issue.) One model for this type of thinking is Foucault’s notion of a “critical genealogy”: a genealogy often attempts to look beyond the discourse in question toward the “conditions of their possibility” (for more, see wikipedia article on this concept ).

· Relevant personal stories that can help illustrate these concepts can be used. Make sure to include good sensory details to help bring this story to life for your reader. Also, stories usually do NOT go strictly from beginning to end--use foreshadowing and don’t start with “backstory.”

· Consider NOT using the 5 paragraph model essay. Form follows function. Invent a unique form for your essay that helps you develop the rhetorical purpose of the essay. (In this regard, the Structure and Organization section of the Writing Toolbox may be helpful.)

· An example of this type of writing in the list of assigned readings on the syllabus would probably include Bacon’s “ The Four Idols .” Note how he devotes more than one paragraph to each idol. This is a move that should be used by more students as a way to more fully develop their thinking about a topic. (His piece does tend toward “report mode”--be wary of this--see note above about problems with Encyclopedic Order type writing.)

· I think this option is MUCH harder than the Rhetorical Analysis option (that may just be my prejudice as an English major). While both options are analytical in nature (see #2 on the list on the Big Picture Stuff document), the “text” in question is given to you in advance for the Rhetorical Analysis option (or, rather, you choose which one to focus on). In this option, you have to create your own “text” (to avoid the trap of getting stuck on the level of “truisms,” ungrounded and abstract generalities) in addition to the analytical framework from which to approach it (one of the easiest “texts” to use as the basis for this, I think, is the “text” of your own personal experiences--but look at specific examples of your experience). It may seem easier, initially, but I really do think that it’s much, much more difficult. (Often with this type of essay, it’s difficult to have a “there” there.)

· This option is essentially asking you to create an extended definition of one of these concepts. In this regard, it might be worthwhile to consider what Neil Postman writes in “ The Word Weavers / The World Makers ” about freeing one’s mind from “the tyranny of definitions” (293). Remember, he wants us to shift away from asking “Is this the real definition?” and towards asking “What purpose does this definition serve? Who created this definition and why?” Think about the “event-ness” of this concept (Postman 291).

My Brainstormed List (you may well develop a better option--but check with me first)

· Freedom vs. Structure

· Leader/Hero

· Truth/Lies

· Rhetoric

· Critical Thinking

· Critical Reading

· Saving Face

· Gemütlichkeit

· Fun

· Boring

· Pain/Trauma

· “No pain, no gain”

· Happiness

· Peace

· Love

· Cheesy

· Sanity

· Courage

· Strength

· Sports

· Integrity

· Envy

· Self-Esteem

· Science/STEM

· Technology

· Humanities

· Literature

· Cat/Dog-People

· Gender

· Race/Ethnicity

· Economic Class

· Feminism

· Swearing/Profanity

· Style

· Power

· “Creature” vs. “Specimen” (see this essay by Walker Percy for some background)

· Organic/Natural vs. Artificial

· Myers-Briggs Personality Profile

· Self/Identity

· Family

· Home

· Community

· Gemeinschaft vs. Gesellschaft

· Relationship

· Dating

· Country/Nation

· Citizenship

· Democracy

· War/Peace

· Mourning ( quote on mourning I like)

· Meal

· Gratitude

· Mentor

· “Tool”

· Education

· “Meta-”

· Conscience

· Liminality

· Ritual

· Myth

· “The Map is not the Territory”

· Music/Noise

· Classical/Romantic

· Postmodern

· Enlightenment

· Head vs. Heart

· Ethics/Morality

· Faith

· Spirituality

· Drugs

· Literacy

· Success

· Political Compass or 8Values

· Work

· Dunning-Kruger effect

For some of these concepts, I have additional resources that may help you in developing your ideas. Or I may serve as a dialogue partner to help you develop your ideas more fully before drafting. Please contact me for some potential leads.

Yet another version of this assignment from another instructor I subbed for during an extended period (which inspired this assignment) may be helpful. She emphasizes the informative side of this kind of assignment. Personally, pure information for information’s sake is inadequate to the larger argumentative or analytical purpose.