Preparation for Midterm “What’s Wrong With Cinderella?”

Preparing to Discuss the Reading: Some Basic Assumptions About Gender and Identity There is a difference between gender and sex. Sex is biological. (It’s about parts.) Gender is socially constructed. This means that society has created ideas about what is “masculine” or what is “feminine” that have nothing to do with biology. Advertisements and pop culture take part in the construction of gender and use it to sell products. Let’s think of some examples.

“What’s Wrong with Cinderella?” This essay is written by a mother who is consciously trying to avoid having gender norms she sees as harmful forced onto her daughter. Why is this mother, Peggy Orenstein, concerned about her daughter’s interest in princesses (and the trend overall)? What reasons does she give for this concern? What is the debate about the princess trend? How does Orenstein place herself in relationship to other voices in the discussion?

“What’s Wrong with Cinderella?” Notice how Orenstein has a complicated stance here. She concedes that the princess trend might be a “sign of progress,” She mentions that little girls haven’t “drunk the Kool-Aid” and play basketball in their fancy dresses. She struggles with whether she is sending her daughter a message that being a girl is bad by being anti-princess. Notice that she also interviews several people who are knowledgeable about various areas that relate to her topic and then responds to her sources with her own ideas. What conclusions does Orenstein eventually come to? How does she stake out her stance in this complex debate? Where do you stand?

Expectations for Midterm A strong thesis that is supported by the body of the essay. At least one quotation from “What’s Wrong With Cinderella?” with a proper MLA in-text citation. (No Works Cited page will be required.) You may, if you wish, quote other essays we have read from Pop Perspectives or printed from the course website. Strong body paragraphs that thoughtfully answer the question and support the thesis. Identify yourself by student number, NOT YOUR NAME.

Why is In-Class Writing Important? Writing in-class is a skill that will serve you well as you take more advanced college classes. Professors in these classes will use in-class writing to measure what you have learned, and they will expect that you already know how to write and organize an essay. In-class writing requires you to do these things: Show that you understand the topic that you are writing about thoroughly. This includes concepts/ideas as well as facts like names, dates, and places. Present your thoughts on the topic in a unified, organized way in a short amount of time.

In-Class Writing Tips Step one: Read the prompt carefully. Underline key words. Figure out what kind of response the question is looking for. Make sure you give the correct type of response. Step two: Plan. Writing down ideas/things to cover may help you to remember them later. Don't spend too much time on this step (no more than a minute or two), but write down your thesis (Your main idea) somewhere in your outline. Also include main ideas and a several supporting ideas/phrases for each body paragraph.

In-Class Writing Tips Step three: Write. Step four: Check. Make sure that you are following any special directions like using pen/pencil or skipping lines. Pace yourself. Keep an eye on the clock and don’t allow any one section to take too much of your time. Spend the most time on the body of your essay, not introducing or planning or writing your conclusion. Make sure that each paragraph has a good topic sentence that will help keep you on track for that paragraph. Step four: Check. If you have time left over, take the opportunity to go back and look for grammar and spelling errors, or for places where you might need to add clarification. Also, remember to write legibly.

Using Quotes in In-Class Writing For your midterm, you will be required to quote an essay that we read, and you will need to know… Every quote you use must have quote marks around it. Every quote should be introduced with your own words. Every quote must be connected to a sentence you wrote. (Remember the quote sandwich method.) You should say the last name of the author that the quote came from, either when you introduce it or in parentheses after the quote. If you know what page number the quote came from, you should put it in parentheses after the quote.

Example of how to use a quote in an in-class essay: This is a quotation from an essay called “Just Walk on By” in which the author talks about how people react to him, a black man, in public. Example: Brent Staples shows the difference between the dangerous man the woman thinks he is and the thoughtful person he actually is when he says, "I was surprised, embarrassed, and dismayed all at once. Her flight made me feel like an accomplice in tyranny" (211). Staples is not a tyrant himself, but because of the image of black men that exists in many people's minds, he is feared just as much as if he was. This part sets up the quote, uses author’s first and last name. Notice that the quote is connected to a sentence in the student essay. Last name is used to refer to the author a second time. Quote is explained further.

Remember to bring… Your textbook/copies of readings Large blue book and pens/pencils Notes on readings A dictionary (no internet will be allowed on final) A print card if you plan to use a printer