StrictMinimum Length:1500 Words
Due January 13th by Midnight
Submit via Turn-it-in on Cougar Courses
Required Essays: Warren, Mies/Shiva, Your Essay Choice #1, and Your Essay Choice #2
In other words: the two readings from our Ecofeminism unit are required (Karen Warrens
essay and the Mies/Shiva essay) plus any two essays of your choice from our course readings
(see the Children of Men Discussion Forum for some essay choice options). So that is four
essays total required for this assignment.
Answer ALL THREE of the essay prompts in your paper. You should spend, as a guideline,
about two pages on each essay prompt (1500 words is about 6 pages double spaced). Your paper
can simply be a 6 page paper that responds to all of these questions, or you may respond to each
one individually, so your paper consists of three short 2 page papers (for a total of 6 pages). It is
absolutely allowed to go over the minimum word countthat is just a guideline for the
minimum word count possible to adequately answer the essay prompts. Be sure to submit your
paper as only one document to Turn it Init will not accept more than one submission.
Essay Prompts (Answer ALL THREE!)
1. Ecofeminists, biocentrists, and many indigenous thinkers argue that the human practice of
mastery over nature causes destruction of the natural world (and often contributes to human and
nonhuman suffering). How does the world presented in the film Children of Men express this
attitude of mastery or domination over nature (and other beings, human and/or nonhuman)?
Analyze specific scenes from the film in order to demonstrate how this attitude of mastery over
nature may be violent or ethically problematic.
2. How does the film Children of Men demonstrate a human failure to adapt to changing
circumstances (including their natural environment)? What destructive paradigms seem to be
operating in the world represented in Children of Menare any of these paradigms operating in
our culture as well? What new paradigms or new approaches might we adopt in creating a more
optimistic future than the world in the film? For example, how might a model of symbiosis (Mies
and Shiva) or sympoeisis (Haraway) influence our models of conduct: could this make human
beings less destructive towards the natural world (and other beings, human and nonhuman)?
3. Explore the theme of dehumanization in the film Children of Menwhere do we see this
dehumanization in effect? Analyze specific scenes/events from the film to demonstrate your
points. Dehumanization is unethical because it means we treat human beings like objects; many
of the thinkers we studied in the course argue that we tend to treat nature in a similar manner
for example, Everndens nature as object argument, or Descartes anthropocentric attitude in
Animals are Machines, or Singers arguments for ethical consideration of animals, or
Leopolds land ethic, Rolstons idea of intrinsic value, etc. Using your choice of readings
from the course, what do you believe is the best ethical attitude towards nature?
Some Guidelines on How to Plan Your Paper:
1. First, study each of the three essay prompts and think about which essays might be useful in
answering them. You are welcome to treat these as three short essays (about two pages each) if
you prefer this to writing one long paper. You are required to use Warrens essay and Mies and
Shivas essay, then choose any other two readings from the courselook at the Children of Men
Discussion forum for some possible options!
2. Once you have chosen the texts (thats FOUR total texts) you want to use and matched them
to the essay prompts, think about examples from the film that will help you make your points in
answering each question. Choose themes, ideas, characters, scenes, or situations from the film
that will help you to make your points. Write these down in a list or outline. For example, lets
say you want to use Warrens essay to discuss violence and mastery over nature; you might
choose Keys observations in the barn (about the cows and the milking machines) as an example
from the film.
3. Study the essays you are using for each essay prompt question and formulate the argument or
discussion you would like to present in your paper. For example, maybe you want to use
Warrens essay in responding to the first essay prompt about mastery over nature, and you are
using Keys dialogue with Theo in the barn as an example from the filmnow, look through
Warrens essay and find a citation helps to illustrate the point you are making in discussing this
scene from the film. Make sure your citation choices express a main idea of the authors position
or argument.
4. Now you have an outline of your paper: for each question, you know which essay you are
going to use, which citation from that essay you are including, your basic argument/discussion
for this section, and concrete details from the film to use in that argument/discussion. Writing the
paper is SO MUCH EASIER if you have this in front of you!
Citations from the Essays: Citations must be direct quotes with the page number to count
towards the citation requirements. Parenthetical citations just like you used in the forums are
fine: something LaDuke says (LaDuke, page # where she says it). For any readings without
page numbers (perhaps the Carson reading via link, etc), just cite the authors name after your
quote.
Plagiarism will not be tolerated. Any student who plagiarizes on any class assignment, turns in
any assignment that is not their own original work, or otherwise engages in academic dishonesty
as defined by CSUSM guidelines will fail the COURSE and be reported to the academic
authorities as required by university policy.
If you are unsure about what constitutes plagiarism, see the campus website:
https://libguides.csusm.edu/plagiarism/defining_pl…
Notes
You may structure your essay as one coherent paper that answers the essay prompts (6 pages
minimum), or you may respond to each of the three essay prompts in a short paper (so you are
writing three 2-page papers, for a total of 6 pages). Whichever you choose, your paper must
contain the required four citations: Warren, Mies and Shiva, Your Essay Choice #1, Your Essay
Choice #2. (Essay Choice #1 and Essay Choice #2 must be two distinct essays.)
Papers that do not meet the minimum length will lose points. 10 pages is the required amount of
writing for an upper-division humanities course for CC credit, so 6 pages is already giving you a
break ?
You are strongly encouraged to make an outline before writing your paperthis will ensure
organization and coherence. See the Guidelines on How to Plan Your Paper, (above).
Proofread your paper for clarity and grammatical errors. Consider having someone else read the
paper for you; it is often hard to spot our own errors.
Papers that do not cite the required essays will not receive credit. This is an absolute requirement
of the final paper assignment.
Avoid plot summary of the filmassume all readers are familiar with the film. You will lose
points for unnecessary plot summary. Of course, when analyzing a scene, you are encouraged to
discuss relevant details (analysis is not the same as plot summary).
Also avoid fillerdo not begin your paper with excessive preamble like since the dawn of
time, people have considered ethical questions or the like.
Long citations will not count towards paper length! If you are including any long citations
(which is fine), block quote them single-spaced and remember that they do not count towards
minimum paper length. A long citation is a citation that takes up more than three lines of text.
Refrain from using any texts besides our course readings.
Any standard style (APA, MLA, Chicago, etc) is acceptable for this paper, just be sure to use the
same style consistently throughout.
Works Cited: for this paper, your works cited should include only our course readings. Since our
course readings are all from the textbook or posted on cougar courses, you may simply list those
essays by author and title, for example: LaDuke, Winona. Voices from White Earth.
use the extra essays I included in the files as the my own chosen essays
