ESSAY II:  STORIES ABOUT GENDER

ArmenianSailorBoy.jpg (13166 bytes) SnailBoy.jpg (9542 bytes)  

The clothes and behaviors depicted in these five photos suggest that boys and girls learn different identities and live out different stories.                       

MatadorBoy.jpg (10402 bytes)
wizard.gif (30002 bytes)

BabyCarriageGirl.jpg (14391 bytes)

 What stories have shaped your experience of gender?  What roles have you learned to play?  How do we learn what it means to be a man or a woman?
Essay II Assignment Sequence
Date Homework Due In-Class Work
Day 6
2/4		 Read "Two Kinds" in Speculations (p. 9).   Identify four or five important parts of story and develop a theory about how they work to convey an idea.  List some possible experiences in your life related to gender that you might use for Essay II. Discuss "Two Kinds" as a story and develop a "theory" about how several of the story's scenes make sense to create a theme.
Day 7
2/7		 Reread "Two Kinds" as a writer and discuss what you like about how Tan wrote the story, about the choices she made.  Refer to specific passages and say what in particular you like (e.g. you like how she ended it with the two songs because they seemed to capture something about the girl's character) (about 1 page).  Do some freewriting on one of the experiences you listed for the last class (about 1 page).  Reading your freewrites for ideas.  Discuss "Two Kinds" from the point of view as a writer.  Start developing criteria for well written narratives. 
Day 8
2/9		 First draft of Essay II due, with metatext.  E-mail me draft by 9:00 a.m.  See requirements of essay below.  Click here for student example. Writing rules for men and women:  what are our questions about gender development?  Exercise to move from summary to scene.  Possible work in pairs or groups to respond to drafts.    In-class writing to begin revision. 
Day 9
2/11		 Read "No-Name Woman" in Speculations (p. 337) and develop a "theory" as with "Two Kinds."  (Hint:   include scenes from very beginning and end.)  First, respond using the two-column-entry format.  Afterwards, as in the two-column format, write your "theory."  Your theory (or theme) may have to do with what "No-Name Woman tells us about gender development or gender relations in China.  (One to two pages)   Share responses to "No-Name Woman" and develop a "theory" about how all the pieces fit together.  If time, read your own story to think of it in terms of pieces that fit together.
Day 10
2/14		 Second draft of Essay II due, with metatext.  E-mail me draft by 9:00 a.m.  Consider especially the kind of effect you want to create for your reader and the word choice that will achieve this effect.  Possible writing process for this draft.. Editing work in pairs.  Establishment of a Grammar Log.   Start homework reading assignment in class to read for meaning.
Day 11
2/16		 Read Brent Staples essay, "Just Walk On By" (Speculations, 382), Sanders essay (handout), and Julia Kasdorf’s "The Knowledge of Good and Evil" (handout). You may choose the way you respond to these three pieces, either using the double-entry journal method or freewriting. Whichever method you use, begin by articulating the main idea (or theme) of the piece; then explore what these pieces make you think about some gender issue(s). 1 1/2 to 2 pages.  E-mail by 9:00. Do a close reading of Julia's poem as a full class.   Share writing in class as a way to deepen the ideas you're developing about gender development and identity.  In-class work on Essay II if desired.
Day 12
2/18		 Final draft of Essay II due, printed, with metatext.  E-mail me a version, too.  Bring laptop! Introduction to Essay III.

This is the only essay this term that will really be "just" a story.  It will be about an experience of yours or someone you know that  in some way casts some light on how we grow up as boys or girls in this society.  These stories will serve as the evidence for Essay III, in which we as a class will attempt to make some generalizations about gender in contemporary U.S. society.  But for now, the focus is on telling a story that entertains--and makes us think about gender formation in nonsimplistic ways. 

Requirements for Essay II:
+     Tells a story with a sense of scene and climax
+     Reveals something about what it's like to grow up a boy or girl; that is, your story has a theme
+     2-3 pages, typed, double-spaced, following MLA format