English essay.

ESSAY #3 WRITING ASSIGNMENT:

Learning and Creativity: What Makes Us Creative?

The sources you will use in Essay #3 are:

"The Creativity Crisis,” Part 3 (para. 28-39)—

(Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman)

"Schools Kill Creativity," (Ken Robinson)

+ One additional article from a reliable source that provides useful evidence for your essay. If you are unsure of the reliability of the source of an article please check with the instructor or one of the TAs.

Introduction to the Assignment

In Unit 3 you have read about the ways in which today's education system affects the creativity of youth. The articles you’ve read discuss the ways in which creativity may be taught and brought to life, or, to the contrary, suppressed and deadened. The authors of the articles believe that the creativity of American youth is decreasing, and present research on several causes of the decrease. They also examine alternative attitudes and methods of education that actively encourage creativity in students.

Essay Assignment

In Essay 3 your focus will be on the ways in which education can discourage or encourage students to develop their natural creativity. Based on what you’ve learned from the reading that you’ve done on this topic, choose one idea that you agree with related to how creativity is being suppressed in the current education system and one idea that you agree with about the way in which creativity is or can be encouraged in schools.

In the Body of the essay you will explain each idea clearly as you discuss it, synthesizing evidence from at least two (2) articles in your analysis. To deepen and add to (not replace) your discussion of the readings, you can use experience from your own school experience. Remember that the majority of your evidence comes from our reading sources.

In the conclusion of the essay, briefly express a personal thought on any aspect of creativity that you believe is important for your reader to reflect upon.

ESSAY ORGANIZATION:

I INTRODUCTION

Introduction to the general topic

Mention of readings used in the essay, with a 1-2 sentence of explanation of the main idea of each

Thesis statement: Statement of the ways in which, as a result of teaching attitudes and methods, creativity is being suppressed in education and how , on the other hand, creativity is or can be encouraged and taught in schools

II BODY OF EVIDENCE

• Analysis of an attitude or method of teaching that you agree discourages the development of creativity in education.

To explain and support this point use:

• • Adequate evidence-quotations and paraphrases- and analysis from at least 2 of the readings you have done for Unit 3 readings. One of the readings may be one that you researched yourself.

  • A relevant example of an experience, either in your education or another learning situation, which illustrates your viewpoint.

• Analysis of an attitude or method of teaching that you agree encourages students to build creative skills.

To explain and support this point use:

• • Adequate evidence-quotations and paraphrases- and analysis from at least 2 of the readings you have done for Unit 3 readings. One of the readings may be one that you researched yourself.

  • A relevant example of an experience, either in your education or another learning situation, which illustrates your viewpoint.

III CONCLUSION

In the conclusion of the essay you can briefly express a personal thought on any aspect of creativity that you believe is important for your reader to reflect upon.

ASSIGNMENT SPECIFICS

Length (750-1000words), double-spaced, 12-point type, Times New Roman font.

Remember that a 3 ½ page essay (that correctly responds to the essay question) reflects the minimum requirement for a passing grade; the more (correctly) developed the essay, the better the evaluation.

Include a word count at the end of the essay.

ESSAY 3 CONTENT (In the Body of the Essay)

• • Use evidence from BOTH of the Unit 3 articles:

"The Creativity Crisis" and "Schools Kill Creativity"

“The article you have selected on your own.

To support each point you must refer to at least 2 different readings.

• (Each point you discuss must consist of at least 2 linked paragraphs of discussion. For a reminder about where to create a new paragraph as you discuss a point read over the Ppt material on paragraphing (posted directly below this assignment).

• • To meet basic essay requirements you must use at least 6 references from the readings. Only two of the text references you use can be quotations; all other references should be paraphrases.

• • Standard APA citations in the text of your essay are expected to be done correctly (Author’s last name, date of publication, para. number).

  • Do NOT attach a list of References to Essay 3.