ESSAY #1
3-4 Pages + Works Cited, MLA format
Directions: Please choose and respond to one of the following prompts. As you write, please remember to utilize the rhetorical strategies and writing/structural elements we’ve been discussing so far; if necessary, use the handouts I’ve distributed for guidance, and the sample texts we’ve looked at as examples.
1. What responsibilities do you think individuals in wealthier nations have toward people in poor countries? How has reading about Paul Farmer’s work in Mountains Beyond Mountains impacted your ideas about your responsibility or obligations toward people who are poorer than you are? Acknowledging the dynamism of Farmer’s work, what can people realistically do to help, and what do you think is the best way to express or act on this sense of responsibility? Use the text and at least one secondary source for support.
2. Mountains Beyond Mountains begins with a first hand account, wherein Kidder observes Dr. Farmer in a “confrontation” with U.S. Army Officer charged with a peace-keeping force in Haiti; his book is by all means a first person narrative peppered with ten years of experience, and simultaneously, a commentary offering both overt and subtle arguments. Investigate Kidder’s writing techniques and discuss the impact his writing moves have on his audience. Use the text and at least one secondary source for support.
RELEVANT REQUIREMENTS
Your essay must include the following:
• A thesis statement
• A discussion of concessions or counter arguments
• One primary source and one secondary source to be found through the online databases at BCC (please connect with Heather and I about access help!)
• An MLA formatted Works Cited page
• MLA formatted in-text citations