essay writing

The Editorial DUE ___________________ LENGTH 3-5 pages (more is fine, if you are inspired). THE EDITORIAL (a formal opinion essay) Editorials are short essays, found on the editorial page of a newspaper or magazine, and expressing the opinion of the editor(s) on some current topic. CONTENT

TOPIC: Your topic will be the relevance and impact of tales—fairy tales, legends, family history, cultural beliefs—the kinds of stories we are told as small children. THESIS QUESTION: How do these tales influence us? Keep us safe, direct our behaviors, help us blend into our cultural heritage? Or are they a frivolous waste of time? Will they unduly frighten vulnerable children? The thesis question drives our research and analysis, but in your editorial you will express your thesis as a statement, not as a question. As you think about this issue, and keeping in mind that most of you will sooner or later become parents yourselves, it will be good to bring some thought-out policies to your own parenting

.EXAMPLE: to illustrate your opinion, give an example by briefly telling a tale or family legend

RESEARCH SOURCES:

As part of this unit on folklore/psychology/sociology/socio-economics, we have looked at the ways that each of these disciplines can act as a lens through which to view, analyze, and interpret variations on the Cinderella (rags to riches) tale. Then you were given a research assignment: Find a story to tell that is important to your family or to you. You might use a fairy tale that you remember being told, or a family legend. Your research could include the personal interview (see Hacker and Sommers) of an older family member. (REMINDER: For those of you who do not have easy access to your older generation family members, most libraries have Fairy Tale sections that you can browse.)