Instructions
The essay assignment is to demonstrate how students understand, interpret, articulate and analyze the texts, topics, themes that we have studied this quarter. Textual analysis, students’ clearly defined opinions and weighty quotes are vital for an essay. Please keep in mind critical
thinking, multicultural approaches and historical consciousness in your writing.
Choose one of the following essay prompts. Respond in a typed, 12-point font, doubled-spaced, and page-numbered essay about 4~5 pages in length with 1-inch margins. Provide a title page or header that gives your name, the course number and title, instructors’ names, quarter and year, the prompt you have chosen, the title of your essay, and the date turned in. Write your essay for an audience of your IGE 120 peers. Remember that your reader will be familiar with the readings, but not with your interpretation of specific concepts or events. You will need to analyze
examples to explain your ideas. For format and style, please use D. Hacker’s Manual for reference. When you quote text or use specific information or concepts from course readings, provide the author’s name and page number of the selection in parenthesis after the passage—like this (Friere p. 4).
After you finish writing your paper, write a short letter telling me:
• What do you like most about your paper?
• What are you least satisfied with in your paper?
• What did you learn from writing this paper?
Prompt
IGE120 is a class of introductory course of higher education and IGE program. How do higher education and IGE contribute to good citizenship and community? Why do we pursue higher education: for personal needs for knowledge, or the community, or both? Relate your personal experience to educational concepts and objectives from IGE Guidebook and from readings by Meiklejohn, Rodriguez, Tan, Hughes, Freire and Hook wherever applicable to you.
In SUMMARY from Syllabus, The essay assignments enable students to examine critically the class reading materials and themes from a variety of perspectives and viewpoints. The essays may involve the interpretation, critical analysis and comparison of as many as (but at least more than two) theme-related reading materials, and examination of particular topics / theme(s) with detailed references to particular class works and library research sources. Persuasive and thoughtful citations from our class readings and library sources must be intensively used to test your ideas, perspectives and arguments. For format and style, please use D. Hacker’s Manual for Reference when you quote text or use specific information from course readings. Your essay must include a bibliography to support your citations and other references. I advise you to carefully read and understand the Prompt you chose and the Core Questions in this syllabus as a basis for your topic focus. The length of essay body is no less than four to five pages though full development of the essay and the topics are far more imperative than format. Essays will be graded holistically on letter grade or 6-1 Scale – a low scored essay may be required to rewrite. Please refer to the latest version of IGE Essay Rubric. All papers must be typed, double-spaced, 10-12 font. Title of essay must be used to provide direction and theme. Use third person to demonstrate objectivity, academic research and formal writing style. Copy the Prompt topic to keep yourself focused as well as the rater of your essay. For essay topics or prompts, rubric and detailed requirements, please refer to Essay Assignment Guide or Essay Prompt from our Blackboard website, as well as this Syllabus.
Two Readings (Source)
Freire: Banking Concept of Education;
Meikelejohn: American College & American Freedom
Criteria for Evaluation
You paper will be graded on a 6 point scale included pluses and minuses in which 6=A, 5=B, 4=C, and so on. The instructors will evaluate your paper for:
• Original ideas appropriate to the prompt and course themes
• Organization that connects the ideas and builds the author’s points
• Support from examples, reasoning, and reflection
• Clear prose with few grammatical, spelling, or other mechanical errors
