March 2017 archive

Crucible/McCarthy Comparative Essay Outline

I’ve found this particular template helpful in the crafting of my essay. It organizes the paragraphs and helps me think of what to write about. Sometimes I’ll forget to textual evidence or I won’t have a real structure to my writing. Another piece of the template that I find helpful is that after using the template more and more, you start to see how detailed each section is. For example, the analysis is where you do most of the thinking. That part should have more detail then your explanatory sentence. I think I have found the template more useful this time than compared to the Giver essay. I could feel it getting more confusing this time then last time and I think the outline helped me. I think that the format of each paragraph really helps me stay on track. I like how you start with big ideas and then narrow it down to the details and then at the conclusion you talk about the big main idea and the message that you were trying to get across. Here’s my first draft in the outline form.

 

 

Name: Meadow                                             Humanities

7th Grade                                                                         Comparative Essay

Outline for Crucible/McCarthy Comparative Essay

 

Theme: Sexism

 

Paragraph #1: Introductory Paragraph (GIT)

 

Grabber Statement (G): Females make up 49.6% of the population and yet they still face misogyny today. Every human being you know or have heard of came from a woman so why don’t we show women a little respect? Without females, No living animal would be alive. Do you really want to see a world where women are ashamed about the nature of their bodies and brains?

 

Introduction of Theme (I): Sexism has not ended and it won’t end if we don’t change our behaviour towards women. The salem witch trials, the baby boom in the 1950s, and our presidency today have demonstrated sexism in many shapes and sizes. We are constantly having to battle the objectification of women. There is no excuse for women to be treated unequally to men.      

 

Thesis Statement (T): Sexism and oppression of women has been around since the beginning of human evolution and still hasn’t stopped because women are constantly being marginalized by men.  

 

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Paragraph #2: Crucible Thematic Connection

 

Topic Sentence (T): Sexism and the objectification of women are evident in the Crucible by Arthur Miller because women get accused of being witches and can’t defend themselves. These oppressive forces disempower women.

 

Explanatory Sentence (E): When people start being blamed for witchcraft, names are being said left and right. Abigail is one of the main accusers that list people that have conferred, supposedly, with the devil. When Giles Corey’s wife is accused, he tries to defend her. Earlier in the book, Giles made a statement saying that his wife was reading books and then he wasn’t able to pray. Now he deeply regrets it.    

 

Evidence (E): “Giles: It is my third wife, sir. I never had no wife that be so taken with books, and I thought to find the cause of it, d’y’see, but it were no witch I blamed her for.” (The Crucible, page 91)

 

Analysis (A): This quote shows sexism because when a woman reads a single book, they are thought to be witches. They are seen as objects in the eyes of men and when that object thinks for itself, it is seen as wrong and distasteful. Women weren’t considered normal if they did anything that wasn’t what a loyal, Christian, “white” woman does. Sexism restrained the women from doing anything that wasn’t housework. Their minds were withheld from their true potential. Sexism is a constant issue brought up many times in this book. Very rarely was there ever a man accused of witchcraft in 1692 and when they were, it was only for vengeance. Giles made a mistake when he said his wife was reading books. In their sexist society, hysteria was spreading and any piece of information was held against themselves. Men wouldn’t stand up for females because when they did, they were classified to be working with the devil too.   

 

Concluding/ Transition (C): The Salem Witch Trials showed us the horrible things that can happen when women are oppressed.

 

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Paragraph #3: McCarthy/Red Scare Thematic Connection

 

Topic Sentence (T): Women in 1950’s America were not thought of as equals to men and were marginalized.  

 

Explanatory Sentence (E):The oppression and sexism against women in those times was so huge that it made headlines in newspapers.  

 

Evidence (E): “The suburban baby boom had a particularly confining effect on women. Advice books and magazine articles (“Don’t Be Afraid to Marry Young,” “Cooking To Me Is Poetry,” “Femininity Begins At Home”) urged women to leave the workforce and embrace their roles as wives and mothers. The idea that a woman’s most important job was to bear and rear children was hardly a new one, but it took on a new significance in the postwar era.” (History.com, Baby Boomers)

 

Analysis (A): In this age, women were treated like chattel. They were only accessories to their husbands. They wouldn’t have any freedom to do “male” jobs. They were a side thought. The only reason they were considered useful then was to have babies and cook food. They were seen to have no intellectual capabilities. This was sexism being shown in the 1950s. The message being told to the women at the time was: your husband is back now and you can go back back in the kitchen. Women weren’t allowed to be in the army. They weren’t allowed to get the same respect that the men got.          

 

Concluding/ Transition (C): This sexism and oppression shown in the 1950’s is still alive today.

 

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Paragraph #4: Modern Day Witch Hunt Thematic Connection

 

Topic Sentence (T): Sexism has left the attention of most people and has oppressed females even more.   

 

Explanatory Sentence (E): It is 2017 and the leader of our country is a sexist, bigoted, racist shell of a man.  

 

Evidence (E): “ A son of a presidential candidate, and others, questioned the legitimacy of sexual harassment in the workplace. A powerful executive dismissed gender inequality in his male-dominated industry. Conversations around the upcoming Olympic Games have revealed a fundamental difference in the way we talk about men and women athletes.

Wait … it IS 2016, isn’t it?

Thanks to social media and a growing understanding of women’s issues, there is less tolerance in our society these days for sexism and regressive comments. When someone steps out of line, they are more likely to get called out — on Twitter, if not in person.” (CNN.com, What’s with all the sexism?)

 

Analysis (A): Sexism is still very much alive and sadly it has left the attention of others. People don’t see how much sexism is in our daily life because it is so driven into our brains. Donald Trump is one of the most sexist people in the world and now he is also one of the most powerful. We as a nation have worked so hard to get where we are and he will now bring us back in time to where women were oppressed. Saying, “Grab them by the P***y” and calling Hillary Clinton a “Nasty woman” and saying “Ranking women is all good fun.” isn’t okay from our president or anyone. He has openly judged women on their appearance. There are so many women that have been shown such disrespect from our president, of all people. People like Paris Hilton, Carly Fiorina, Rosie O’Donnell, Megyn Kelly, Arianna Huffington, his own daughter and many more have been impacted and objectified by Donald Trump. Donald Trump also made an executive order that blocked reproductive rights. This shouldn’t be happening in this day and age. No matter your gender, sex, or what you look like, you should be able to feel free and happy. Harassment and assault towards anyone needs to stop. People should be treated equally by now.  

     

 

Concluding/ Transition (C): If it’s your body, it should be your choice.  

 

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Paragraph #5: Concluding Paragraph (ROC)

 

Reflection on Thesis (R): Sexism is pervasive force against women. People might say that it helped shape our country, but is a shameful side to nation’s past. Think about how many smart and intelligent women have been oppressed into silence by leaders and peers of this society.

 

Overview of Main Points (O): The Salem Witch Trials, The Red Scare, and present day have shown that our society can’t climb out of the ditch where people are pouring sexist ideas and trying to wash out logic from our feminist brains. Women have been repeatedly marginalized. Women were murdered because of power hungry people that silenced them into oblivion. They were objectified when their husbands came back from the war. And now our leader is oppressing an entire gender.   

 

Concluding Idea (C): Why hasn’t this ended yet? We’re not changing our misogynistic ways. We’re not making equal pay for both genders, or giving reproductive rights to women. Women can’t control how they were born and the least America can do is to judge us for who we are. We should feel safe and not have to worry about getting sexaully assaulted everytime we walk outside. It won’t stop until we all work together to stop sexism.