read 2 articles and write an essay

Lebofsky-Downs English 711

Essay Assignment #2

Due: Tuesday, October 13th. You must bring TWO typed copies of your essay to class for peer

review. You will have the opportunity to revise the essay to hand in Thursday, October 22nd; you

must also upload this revised essay to the SafeAssignments link on our Blackboard page.

Please write a typed, double-spaced essay. Include MLA in-text citations and a Works Cited page.

Length: three to four pages (not including Works Cited)

Comparison of Arguments in their Effectiveness– In this assignment, you are required to show your

abilities to summarize and compare the effectiveness of two articles based on your analysis of them.

Thus far in the course, we have read writers arguing about the effect of gender on the way people talk to

one another. For instance, in his essay “Sex Differences,” Ronald Macaulay argues that the popular

assumption that the speech of men and women is essentially different is a pure myth, while Rachel

Rafelman, in her essay “The Party Line,” supports the assumption by describing how men and women

talk about different topics and employ different communication styles in some social conversations that

she has observed. Whether the writers have the same claims or different claims about the topic, you may

have noticed that the ways in which these writers argue for their claims vary in their effectiveness.

Which writer’s argument is more convincing to you? What makes one writer’s argument more

persuasive than that of the other writer?

Choose two essays from the readings on “Gender and Language,” and write an essay in which you

compare them in terms of the effectiveness of their arguments.

Like the first assignment, you need first to closely read and critically analyze each essay in terms of its

claims, evidence, and the presentation of the claims and evidence, asking such questions as the ones that

you raised in the first assignment. Once your analysis is over, compare the two essays in each area, and,

finally, decide on several areas (points) about which you can substantially compare the effectiveness

of the two essays. They are called your “points of comparison,” and you need to prove these points in

this assignment.

In your introduction, summarize the two essays, with each summary beginning with the thesis of each

essay. End the introduction with your thesis statement that is focused and reflects the purpose of your

essay. In other words, you need to include your chosen points of comparison and address the evaluative

nature of the comparison in your thesis statement.

In your body paragraphs, you should prove your thesis by providing a detailed account of your

evidence. That is, in each body paragraph, write about one of your points, explaining why one writer’s

argument is more convincing in each chosen area. In providing your evidence, make sure to use specific

details from the essays. Also use, whenever relevant, such terminology as audience, purpose, claims,

evidence, reasoning, credibility, opposing views, counterargument, language, tone, and organization

In your conclusion, restate your focused thesis and write other insightful concluding remarks.