Capstone Essay
Natebanko
CapstoneessayonWarandCulture1.pptxCapstone essay
Supporting Your position via argument, counterargument, & rebuttal
The assignment
The final writing assignment of the semester will be the “Capstone,” an essay in which you utilize Highlander to showcase your mastery of the analytical reading and writing skills explored throughout the semester. This will require you to engage each of the concepts of the writing process including: Summarization, Thesis, Support, Counterargument & Rebuttal, Conclusion, and Source Citation. Consequently, this assignment will be worth 20% of the overall grade, and will be eligible for one revision (for a total of two drafts)*
* Revisions are contingent upon timely submission of drafts. The final draft is due by 11:59 pm Sunday December 12. Review prior PowerPoints for a refresher on the individual concepts.
argument
You will construct and support an argument demonstrating how cultural artifacts such as episodic television (i.e. Highlander, Star Trek), literature (Popular Mechanics, The Story of an Hour), etc., reflect societal attitudes towards war and conflict.
You might set up your argument by using real world examples such as the Black Lives Matter movement, the 2020 Presidential Election, the Summer of Violence, or the epidemic of assault rifle massacres since the dawning of the new millennium.
Using the immortal game as a theory of Conflict and warfare
Use “The Gathering” episode of Highlander to establish the basic theory regarding the inevitability of conflict
Discuss how the concepts connect with real world issues (proxies)
Use at least one additional episode to support your argument
Some proxies to consider
Duncan MacLeod is comparable to a conscientious objector, or a reluctant war draftee, who unwillingly fights when he cannot avoid it
Ritchie Ryan is comparable to a youth seduced into the cult of battle, under the allure of glory and excitement
Tessa Noel is essentially a military bride, who serves as potential collateral damage each time an Immortal comes for Duncan
Primary approach : Highlander exclusively
Use a minimum of two episodes of Highlander
Discuss the Immortal philosophy as explained in "The Gathering,“ including:
The Game
The Prize
The Rules
The Quickening
The Buzz
Primary approach continued
Discuss the concept of proxies and how they work in the series
Use a second episode (Band of Brothers, or a supplemental episode), to demonstrate how the inevitability of war has been central to the immortal way of life for millennia.
Your most important task would be to discuss how Highlander overall comments on the real world issue of perpetual war. As a general rule, the wars featured in the flashbacks reference actual historical events; and they go back as far as the Bronze Age (3000-1200 BC).
Questions your argument might address
To develop an argument, you might seek to address some of the following pairs:
Why do immortals blindly go off to fight complete strangers?
Why do people send their kids off to foreign countries to fight in wars they don’t understand?
What is the source of the rules Immortals follow?
Who decides there is a legitimate reason for one country to declare war on another?
What happens if an Immortal wins a battle by breaking the rules of the game?
What happens when a country commits war crimes?
Questions to consider (continued)
What is the prize for which Immortals risk their lives?
What is the prize for which humans risk their lives?
How is it possible that some Immortals become friends instead of enemies?
How unusual is it for two countries to be allies, then enemies, and then allies again?
What is the cost of the Immortal battle?
What is the cost of war between two nations?
More questions to consider
Why don’t more Immortals choose peace like Duncan, Darius, Amanda, Fitzcairn, and Ritchie?
Why don’t Duncan and Connor simply kill Ritchie and make him an Immortal? Why do they leave it up to fate to decide?
Do the children of presidents, prime ministers and kings usually go to war? Why or why not?
Who benefits the most from a war?
requirements
You must use a combination of summary (description of action and events), paraphrase (author's ideas in your own words), and quotation (author's exact words in quotation marks and with page citations).
Your paper will be approximately 5-6 double spaced pages, with proper MLA formatting for heading, pagination, and title.
The most important thing to understand though, is that regardless of which sources you use, the core of your essay is not about a story, a television series, or an episode; it is about war and conflict, and how these fictional works reflect real world values, beliefs, and practices.
counterargument
Your counterargument will explain why people would be most likely to disagree with your interpretation of this connection; and then, your rebuttal will demonstrate the flaws in that position. Although each work is different in term of its focus, one obvious common denominator is that all seem to suggest that human beings need a great deal of work on interpersonal relations, both at the macro and micro levels.
Structure of the essay: introduction
Your introductory paragraph should begin with a hook, a statement or idea that is intended to capture the reader’s attention. It should be at least indirectly related to where you are headed in your thesis.
The most important part of the intro is the thesis, which is ideally the final sentence (or two) of the introduction. Do not make the reader guess what your point is by making vague statements such as we will see what the connections are, or as we will discuss what the issues are; as that will decrease the likelihood that the reader will be convinced. Be direct (i.e., I will demonstrate that people are . . . People tend to . . . People believe that . . . ).
Introduction (continued)
Because you are making an argument about an idea that uses sources as evidence, rather than writing about a show or a story, you should not summarize the works in the introduction. You should set the context for the argument and lead up to your thesis. Then in the body as you refer to a source, you provide enough of an overview for a reader to follow your argument without being familiar with your sources.
Introduction (continued)
You might cite one of a number of recent events such as the protests over social distancing and quarantining, as a way of setting up a discussion about conflict. No one is really happy about the restrictions; yet people have responded to the conditions in very different ways. These differences provide an opportunity for discussion on such issues as civil disobedience, conformity, Democracy, and Fascism.
This might be merely a way of jumpstarting the discussion, or it might actually be central to the discussion itself, depending upon which episodes you use, and whether or not you decide to include print texts.
Introduction continued: Thesis
Your thesis would then indicate the following:
Your idea about how the literature connects with real life conflict/war
How you will prove your claim. Provided that you provide sufficient relevant evidence to support your idea, the reader should be convinced of your claim.
Your thesis should focus on the issues you will discuss which when considered together add up to a compelling argument, rather than focusing on the texts you will reference as evidence. They are like witnesses to be called to the stand in a trial. It is not about them; it is about the testimony they will provide that supports your claim.
The Body: argument
Keep in mind that each body paragraph is there to support your argument. Rather than focusing on plotlines, they should focus on the points you are making (i.e. the pieces of evidence you will present to convince the reader of your overall claim).
Proving your claim about connections would require such details as:
The identification of an action, a decision, a way of being, or a philosophy
A detailed explanation of the action, etc. and the circumstances under which it occurs in the text, including the motivation behind it
An explanation of how this reflects, comments on, or challenges some aspect of actual human culture
Each of the above would form the content of a single body paragraph, of which there should be a minimum of three
The body: counterargument & rebuttal
The purpose of this section is to acknowledge that there are reasonable perspectives that disagree with your interpretation of events, philosophies, or conditions, and then to demonstrate the flaws in their reasoning.
The counterargument might therefore suggest an alternative interpretation of one or more sources, that the examples are not representative of the preponderance of literature, or that they are not truly indicative of actual human behavior.
The rebuttal would demonstrate the flaws in the alternative interpretation, argue that the examples need not represent the majority of literature, provided that they accurately comment on reality, or that indeed that are reflections of genuine human behavior, which is easily demonstrated with an historic example.
Conclusions
With the exception of a pure summary assignment, virtually all forms of writing represent some form of discussion which needs to be wrapped up. The conclusion should leave the reader with the sense that whatever promise has been made in the introduction (by the thesis), has been fulfilled.
The conclusion simply wraps up the essay, giving the reader a feeling of resolution. It should convey that you have delivered what you promised in the thesis, without repeating anything verbatim, and without introducing new points or evidence.
Conclusions: various approaches
The writer can remind the reader of the stated purpose, and additionally, of the points made in support of the thesis, without repeating the details. It is also common to leave the reader with a final thought to consider, relative to the overall argument. If the essay is persuasive, the reader should be called upon to take action. If the essay began with an amusing thought, it would be appropriate to end with another, bringing the reader full circle. Finally, if the writer began by posing a question, it might make sense to offer an answer.
Conclusions: what not to do
An essay should not just stop, leaving the reader feeling as though the ground has suddenly been pulled out from beneath him or her.
It is never (ever) necessary, or desirable, to begin with “in conclusion.”
The argument must be completed prior to beginning the conclusion. Therefore if you are making new points or, providing new evidence, you do not belong in the concluding paragraph; you need to go back and revise.
Conclusions: a final thought
Conclusions are difficult; as they can feel artificial. As long as you give the reader a feeling of closure without the sense of the ground suddenly disappearing beneath them, you can always improve in the revision.
Tying in other sources (optional)
For those who like a challenge, you may bring one of the short stories, or the Star Trek episode into the discussion; however, the simplest way to add complexity is to add layers by increasing the number of Highlander episodes referenced. Three additional episodes have been selected and provided for you in this module; however, you are free to use any episodes you find relevant to your ideas. The only episode absolutely required is “The Gathering,” which lays the foundation of the entire mythology/theology.
Should you decide to tie in the other materials from this semester, you might consider the following concepts:
“Popular mechanics”
The fight at the end of Carver’s story is simply a metaphor for a child custody battle
Carver neither explains how the couple arrived at this point, nor what actually happens to the baby; because those details are irrelevant. The point is that when couples break up, the children are collateral damage; they are always hurt by a custody battle.
You might therefore use this to focus on the aspect of collateral damage that is always a consequence of war/conflict (Tessa, Victor Paulus, Mea 3, Louise Mallard)
“The story of an hour”
Although most of you resisted this in your writing, Kate Chopin clearly makes an indictment of the institution of marriage. The Mallard relationship is simply a single example of a universal problem. Whether you agree with her opinion of marriage is irrelevant; it is indisputably articulated in the text.
Louise Mallard’s heart trouble is a physical manifestation of an emotional condition resulting directly from her disempowerment as a Victorian Era middle-class wife.
It is clearly stated that love is nothing when compared to the potential for autonomy and self-sufficiency, which is eclipsed by marriage (i.e., it is like being a prisoner of war).
“The story of an hour”
Louise’s joy upon the news of her husband’s death is an indication that the only way for a woman to enjoy independence is to outlive her husband.
Her death upon the “resurrection” of her husband suggests that she had never previously experienced such a sense of joy and freedom; yet once having arrived, could not go back to where she had come from. Like Frederick Douglass who could no longer bear slavery after learning to read, a person can endure incarceration, as long as he or she believes there is no alternative.
Star Trek, “A Taste of Armageddon”
Because the warring leaders had direct telephone lines to each other, at any time they could have held a conference to propose peace. Why did they not attempt this in 500 years?
What did both sides gain by sustaining the war for so long?
Is it really possible to sustain war for 5 centuries, avoid bloodshed, make death instantaneous and painless, track foreign populations, determine whether registered casualties actually are disintegrated, and yet be incapable of ending a war, the cause of which no one alive remembers?
The Game as the capstone foundation
In any case, whichever direction you decide to pursue, Highlander “The Gathering”must be the centerpiece. Although all four works deal with conflict, and the Star Trek episode is focused on an ongoing war, Highlander is the only work amongst them entirely devoted to the universal and perpetual commitment to war, and the only one (through its rules of the game), to codify a system of beliefs that attempt to justify war. The Eminians in “A Taste of Armageddon are trapped in an unending war due to their own shortsightedness. Highlander, however, makes a direct attack on the illogic of war overall. It raises war to the level of a religion, thereby exposing holes glossed over by those who seek to capitalize on war for personal gain.
Drafting & revision
As this will account for the single largest portion of your grade, you will have an opportunity to revise; however, that will require that drafts be submitted on time. You may begin submitting drafts as soon as you are ready; however, new drafts cannot be submitted until you have received feedback from the previous draft. The final draft is due Sunday December 13 at 11:59 pm.
Drafting Process
As you are all aware by this point, the process of drafting is completely different from the structure of the completed essay. Therefore, you should avoid obsessing over the introduction, thesis, or title prior to beginning to draft; as that is a recipe for writer’s block. The title gives a general hint as to the topic. The introduction is there to get you to the thesis; and the thesis is there to announce to the reader what you will demonstrate. Prior to each of those components you must have something to say. That work requires the most thought, research (searching the text for evidence), writing, and revision, and should be given the bulk of your time and consideration. Start drafting immediately!
Getting started
Decide what the connecting issues are between your sources and reality
Identify several potential historic events to use as introductory context, or as a source to which you might return repeatedly
Focus on the issues rather than the sources, group similar issues from different sources into single paragraphs, rather than rehashing the same issue multiple times
Introduce each source fully the first time it is referenced (title, author, overview), then if you reference it again later, you can just cite by author or director (Chopin, Carver, Hammer, Gordon). Each episode of Highlander has different writers, all of which are identified in Wikipedia by searching Highlander, and the specific season. All episodes provided on Blackboard are from seasons one and two.
Getting started continued
Identify a minimum of three different categories (issues), each of which can be used as evidence to support your overall argument
Support your argument by developing these categories into separate paragraphs
Choose categories which can be connected to each other to connect with real world experiences
For the counterargument, look for reasons someone might disagree with you
Connecting the pieces
Once you have a cohesive body, then work backwards by answering the following questions:
What do all these points add up to (i.e., what question would each of these paragraphs answer when considered together?) The answer is the core of your thesis, which can be revised as needed. Everything else in the introduction leads up to it.
What additional details would be needed to make this convincing? Depending upon your answer, you might add another body paragraph, or add to the introduction.
How do I wrap this all up? The answer indicates how you conclude.
Utilizing the drafting process effectively
The sooner you begin, the more time you have to work.
You get two opportunities, contingent upon the pace at which you work.
The only draft that really counts is the final one.
I cannot help you with drafts that are only hypothetical in nature (i.e., those that you might have written but did not, those that exist only in your imagination).
drafting effectively (continued)
You can be certain that Kate Chopin, Raymond Carver, Dan Gordon (author of Highlander, “The Gathering,” and Robert Hammer (author of “A Taste of Armageddon”) did not throw their works together in one sitting. If they had, they would not be worth reading/viewing more than once (I have personally read these stories and viewed these episodes multiple times).
A Final Note
Please do not write to me with the following:
Professor, what exactly do you want us to do?
Professor, I don’t understand the assignment.
Can you explain to me in your own words, what you want us to do?
Either of the above will only waste time. Everything in this presentation is in my own words. The language is not difficult; however, if you do not understand a word, look it up. If the overall concept makes no sense to you, you should work with a tutor; they are usually good at breaking down the prompt.
A Final Note (continued)
On the other hand, if you understand the concepts, but are not certain how to perform a specific task, that is something with which I can help. In fact, that is one of the primary functions of the Office Hour. I have often brainstormed with a student to jumpstart a project; however, it begins with the student doing some work.
What connections do you see (between fiction and reality)?
Which sources do you intend to uses?
At which point in the process do you encounter difficulty?
Have you annotated the assignment guidelines (you can print out single pages)?
