The Change in the Role of Women

write an essay which answers the question, “Has the single story of women changed since pre-suffrage (Stanton’s time)? Why or why not?” Explore the traditional roles of women that are present in our unit’s texts, and make an argument for how/if women’s roles have changed and if/how women’s rights have now been granted.

Background:

Elizabeth Cady Stanton’s “Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions” (1848) outlines the “platform for the women’s rights movement.” Susan Glaspell’s Trifles (1916) is a play that argues for female solidarity and debuted in theaters just four years before women earned the right to vote with the ratification of the nineteenth amendment. Her text explores the perception of Mr. and Mrs. Wright’s marriage, as well as Mrs. Wright’s individual happiness. She is the main suspect in her husband’s murder, and the audience witnesses the interaction between the male investigators and their wives and who ultimately solves the crime. Hidden Figures (2016 but about events in the 1960s) is a contemporary film about African-American women who were paramount in NASA’s early space program in the 1960s. It follows three different women, an engineer, a programmer, and a physicist/mathematician and reveals the direct role they played in a successful space mission, stories that have been untold until now. Judy Brady’s “I want a Wife” (1971) outlines the duties of a traditional wife and argues that she would love to have a wife who follows these prescriptions. After all, who wouldn’t, she says. “Woman Hollering Creek” (1991) by Sandra Cisneros delves into the troublesome and abusive relationship between husband and wife and echoes the urban legend of La Llorona (crying woman), a woman who drowns her children in a river when she finds out that her husband has been unfaithful, and then proceeds to drown herself. The ghost of La Llorona then mourns her loss by crying and looking for her children. Cisneros’s story, however, revises this tale by adding an element of female solidarity and empowerment. The river in the story means something quite different than it does in the folk tale.

Assignment:

For this assignment, write an essay which answers the question, “Has the single story of women changed since pre-suffrage (Stanton’s time)? Why or why not?” Explore the traditional roles of women that are present in our unit’s texts, and make an argument for how/if women’s roles have changed and if/how women’s rights have now been granted. Use our AT LEAST 3 of our course readings as the foundation for your evidence, but you may also bring in current events to bolster your discussion of modern events.

Some questions to consider and help you brainstorm include:

Are discussions of women’s roles and rights still relevant today?

In what ways are women still fighting for equality? Are these efforts necessary?

Tips for Successful Essays:

4-6 pages.

Incorporates at least 3 of our unit’s readings

MLA format. 12-point font, Times New Roman. A creative title that hints at the subject matter.

Concrete evidence from at least three sources.

Indicate a clear focus in a well-written thesis statement and stay focused throughout the essay.

Organizing Principle.

Introduction, body, and conclusion.

Fully developed analysis of how the evidence supports each topic sentence and overall thesis statement.

Implements proper stylistic conventions to include: sentence variation, collegelevel vocabulary, target audience, complex sentence structure.

Use an effective structure that carefully guides the reader from one idea to the next, and be thoroughly edited so that sentences are readable and appropriate for an academic audience.

Write the paper as if addressing a scholarly audience.

Argumentative Essay Outline

• Introduction
  • Contextualize cultural expectations, stereotypes, ethnocentrism (topics you will discuss in the body)
  • Thesis
• Body
  • Topic Sentence: First reason to support your thesis.
    • Evidence
    • Explanation of how evidence supports your topic sentence and thesis statement
  • Topic Sentence: Second reason to support your thesis.
    • Evidence
    • Explanation of how evidence supports your topic sentence and thesis statement
  • Topic Sentence: Third reason to support your thesis.
    • Evidence
    • Explanation of how evidence supports your topic sentence and thesis statement
  • Repeat Body structure for any additional paragraphs
• Conclusion (You don’t need to write anything for the conclusion for your outline)

I think I sent everything for this essay. There is no need to works cited because our professor already sent it.