Final Draft of WP1: “_____________ Education” | Excelling Homework

The PromptWrite your “________________ Education” to explore and answer the question: Who am I and for what do I stand when I consider my life, including my experiences, my education, my culture, my society, or my future?
You’re not required to focus on your educational grade levels, as Alexie does, you may choose to develop twelve levels of something else. For example, one former scholar wrote about her diagnosis of, struggle with, and triumph over cancer. The possibilities are many.
Essential RequirementsYour “_____________ Education” must meet the following requirements:
Write your “____________________ Education,” following Alexie’s structure of individual grades/experiences/steps/moments/whatever other identifier you wish to use for individual experiences as well as the two-column format. Unlike Alexie’s Victor Joseph character, however, your essay will be nonfiction (autobiographical), which means you embody the speaker. Write what you know; trust in your experiences to develop a unique essay. As Oscar Wilde said, “Be yourself; everyone else is taken.”
Your essay must possess ethos, pathos, logos, and kairos. Remember, ethos is your credibility, the persona and image of yourself you present as someone whose words we can trust; logos is your logical way of delivering and developing your meaning, including your examples, experiences, structure, and whatever other evidence you use to support your argument; pathos is the emotional impact your words and your essay delivers, including how you make us feel throughout the reading experience; and kairos is the timeliness of your essay. Kairos asks whether your essay addresses a contemporary and, preferably, timeless concern; does your essay somehow fit in or complement or speak to the wider concerns affecting most of us?
Make concessions as well as refutations; however, do so implicitly, as Alexie does; that is, perform—don’t tell/lecture. Concede to a potential counterargument to your implicit argument, but find a way to refute that argument by showing us how it is not valid. Identify each using endnotes or footnotes.
Your essay must contain a rhetorical purpose; that is, it must develop an implicit argument. The difference between an implicit/explicit argument is simple. Consider the claim, “pit-bulls are dangerous dogs.” An explicit argument provides evidence to support that claim. In an implicit argument, however, the claim, “pit-bulls are dangerous dogs,” is not made directly; rather, we see how they are/n’t dangerous within the narrative.
Formulate a FATt thesis sentence introducing the Focus (argument/point/conclusion) of your essay, the author (you!), the title, and the text type (we’ll call it an “essay”).
You need to include the same literary devices Alexie uses, including juxtaposition, hyperbole, paradox, irony, symbolism, and stereotype. Each device must be used purposefully; don’t just use, for example, hyperbole for the sake of hyperbole. Identify each using endnotes or footnotes.
You need to include at least one purposeful example of connotation; that is, use a word that could contain multiple connotative meanings. Identify it using an endnotes or footnotes.
Purposefully incorporate at least five key vocabulary words learned this semester and bold each for easy identification.
Show; don’t tell. Depend on the imagery, the visualization, and the action to convey meaning. Do not spell out your meaning for the reader; let your reader interpret your meanings independently. That is, perform your meaning.
Your “_________________ Education” cannot exceed two pages; it must mirror Alexie’s format of two columns, front and back/first page and second page
Your “_________________ Education” must be at least 1,500 words.
Create a cover page to include the title, your name, and the FATt thesis of your essay
Include your endnotes on a separate page or on your cover page; if using footnotes, they’ll appear on the page in which you use them.