1C Formative Assessment #2 for Chimera Essay
The Assignment: Write a Cause and Effect Thesis Paragraph
Write a thesis paragraph that answers this question: “How does the chimera get inside someone’s head, grow into an all-consuming obsession, and entail relentless self-destruction?”
To answer this question requires analysis: You are analyzing the causes and effects of the chimera as it is evident in one of the stories, movies, or comedy special.
Instructions for This Assignment
One. Begin by asking these questions: “What made Character X’s brain such a potent breeding ground for receiving a chimera and then allowing the chimera to flourish? In other words, what were the causes behind Character X being so eager to embrace his or her chimera?
Two. Then you are asking, how does this chimera manifest in various symptoms? In other words, what were the effects of this chimera?
Three. Develop a cause and effect thesis paragraph that breaks down a chimera into its parts, you are analyzing its powers of self-destruction.
For example, here is a cause and effect thesis addressing the problem of political tribalism in America.
The isolation of people in their social media bubbles, the hyper-partisan hostility that festers in those bubbles, and the cognitive bias that cherry-picks evidence so that people confirm their prejudices is creating a Cold Civil War, creating a climate that makes it impossible for civic disagreement, and is creating a climate so that “owning the libs” or “owning the Right” is more important than achieving a common understanding.
You are creating a similar structure for your Chimera Essay.
Sample thesis structure:
Character X fell prey to the chimera because of ____________ and _________, and this resulted in ______________, ______________, and ____________________.
List of Requirements for This Assignment
One. Your thesis paragraph answers the question: How does the chimera get inside someone’s head and lead to self-destruction?
Two. Your paragraph should be between 150-200 words in length.
Three. The reasons that you provide in your thesis provide an outline for the subsequent body paragraphs.
Four. Your paragraph should be uploaded as an attachment to either turnitin or Unicheck, depending on which platform has a contract with the college.
How I Break Down Your Grade for This Assignment of 25 Points
One. Thesis paragraph that powerfully explains the causes behind chimera and provides body paragraph outline embedded in the causes, 10 points.
Two. Have sufficient details to establish a meaningful, authentic approach to the subject. A writer never wants to just “go through the motions,” that is to say, deliver a perfunctory effort. Deliver the degree of authenticity and meaning this subject deserves, 10 points.
Three. Write full sentences and avoid sentence mechanics, spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors. Be especially mindful of avoiding comma splice and sentence fragments, 5 points.
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Resources Needed for This Assignment:
Content Resources:
Your main sources are the following:
The short story “Winter Dreams” by F. Scott Fitzgerald.
Optional Sources If You Don’t Choose “Winter Dreams” (Choose One)
Hasan Minhaj’s comedy special on Netflix, Homecoming King, in which Minhaj pursues “The Great White Princess.” What were the causes and effects behind Minhaj’s obsession with “The Great White Princess”?
The 1995 Todd Haynes film Safe in which a suburban housewife, Carol Wife, goes on an obsessive search for Safety and Purity. What are the causes and effects of Carol’s search for Safety and Purity?
The 2018 Netflix film Private Life, starring Paul Giamatti and Kathryn Hahn, in which they play a frustrated couple who fail at their repeated attempts at conceiving a baby. What are the causes and effects of the couple’s obsession with having a baby? In what ways is having a baby a chimera for this couple? What kinds of problems does this couple think the baby chimera will solve?
The 1941 film Citizen Kane in which Charles Foster Kane amasses wealth and material objects as a substitute for his obsession with what he lost in his childhood: unconditional love (“Rosebud”). What are the causes and effects of Charles Foster Kane’s obsession?
The 2017 Jordan Peele horror film Get Out in which the white supremacy cult in the movie don’t see African-Americans as human beings but rather as chimerical beings, part superhuman, part subservient, part inferior, and part resource to be exploited and used for their own sinister purposes.
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