Prof.

Glover, Eng 1A/1AS F’19, E1

RED Essay Prompt: The Power of Social Change
BACKGROUND
When the government passes laws, citizens must follow them. But laws are not always necessary, possible, or appropriate.
They are, however, almost always slow to materialize. Sometimes, immediate action is required in order to bring attention
to an important issue. When a small number of people increase awareness and stir a willingness to act in a larger number
of people, the result is social change—change that is driven by the people (society), not the government. For example, in
1965 Cesar Chavez brought greater attention to the issues of sub-minimum wage pay and bad working conditions among
farm workers by calling for a boycott of the grapes grown on those farms; soon the United Farm Workers union was born.
A decade earlier, Rosa Parks, a black woman, famously refused to give up her seat in a whites-only section of a public bus
in Montgomery, Alabama, thus giving strength and courage to African-Americans all over the country during the civil
rights movement. A current example is the decline in NFL viewership, as many football fans have stopped going
to/watching games and buying merchandise as long as Colin Kaepernick does not play. People have always had the power
to contribute to real change if the cause is just and the timing is right.

SUPPORTING TEXTS
Fequiere, Jonadad. “How Millennials Use Social Media to Make Social Change.” Odyssey, 21 Mar. 2016,
https://www.theodysseyonline.com/social-media-social-change
Hassett, Andrew. “How Does Positive and Lasting Social Change Really Happen?” World Vision International,
10 Jun. 2014, https://www.wvi.org/child-health-now/article/how-does-positive-and-lasting-social-
change-really-happen
King Jr., Martin Luther. “Martin Luther King – ‘I Have a Dream’ Speech.” YouTube, published by LogistiKHD,
28 Aug. 2013, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I47Y6VHc3Ms
“Malala Yousafzai: Biographical.” NobelPrize.org, https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/2014/yousafzai/
biographical/
Nichols, Tom. “America’s Cult of Ignorance.” The Daily Beast, 1 Apr 2017, https://www.thedailybeast.com/
americas-cult-of-ignorance
Rao, Tanushee. “Four Everyday Actions That Can Create Social Change.” Medium, 23 Nov. 2016,
https://medium.com/future-crunch/4-everyday-things-you-can-do-for-social-change-fd3f67e8f015

PROMPT
How can twenty-first century Americans contribute to social change?
(Think about issues facing our country and/or the world today. What issues should people get involved with, why are they
important, and how can real change occur?

GUIDELINES
Length: minimum five pages (if essay 2 or 3) or six pages (if essay 4), not including the required Works Cited page.
Follow MLA format, be double-spaced (with no extra spaces between paragraphs), use Times or Times New Roman 12-
point font, include a thesis statement supported by evidence in body paragraphs that include topic sentences and
supporting details, and be as free of surface-level and grammatical errors as possible. Most college essays are expected to
adhere to the rules of formal written English, and this is no exception; avoid using the first-person (“I”/”we”/”us”/etc.)
and the second-person (“you”/etc.). The essay you submit for this assignment should consist of original work composed
for this class.

SOURCES AND DOCUMENTATION

You are required to use a minimum of four sources (if essay 2 or 3) or five sources (if essay 4) of your choice. That
means quoting or paraphrasing it, citing it properly in the body of the essay, and including it on a properly formatted
Works Cited page. (For help citing the various types of sources, including websites and journal articles, consult your
copy of the MLA Handbook or this website: http://svsuwritingcenter.tumblr.com.)

IMPORTANT ASSIGNMENT DATES: See the calendar on the syllabus for Writer’s Workshop date and due
date. Essay is due by 11:59pm on the due date; late essays will be docked per the syllabus.
Prof. Glover, Eng 1A/1AS F’19, E1

SOURCES OF ASSISTANCE
Remember that both the Writing Center and the Learning Resource Center offer free tutoring for all students
working on writing projects. If you are stuck, they can help you get “unstuck.” They can also serve as a second
set of eyes and offer you an objective critique of your work. The Reading Success Center can help you manage
your reading workload and interpret challenging texts; it is also free and staffed by tutors and faculty members.
Finally, I am also available to help; visit me during my office hours, and I’ll be happy to offer suggestions.

ESSAY SCORING RUBRIC

Grading Criteria A (Excellent) B (Very Good) C (Adequate) D (Weak) F (Poor)
Purpose Criterion met! Criterion met, though Thesis is functional and Thesis may be No clear thesis is present,
Wonderful job! there is some room for presents a basic unfocused, too broad, resulting in an unclear
10% improvement in terms of representation of the and/or unclear as a result, essay.
The thesis is clear, clarity. essay that follows but it is difficult to tell what
compelling, original, lacks specificity and/or the essay will discuss.
and an excellent does not generate much
representation of the reader interest.
essay that follows. The
essay responds to the
prompt and does not
deviate from its
intention.

Development & Criterion met! The essay’s thesis is The essay’s thesis is The essay’s thesis is There is not enough
Wonderful job! developed through developed through a poorly developed. There support for the thesis at
Support discussion of the idea(s), rudimentary discussion is not enough evidence all, and as a result, the
50% analysis of specific or analysis of examples. presented to support the essay is short and
The essay’s thesis is examples, and the use of Some ideas or examples thesis. (Paper may be underdeveloped.
developed through appropriate outside are not well developed short of the minimum
sophisticated sources. At times, the and lack follow-through, length as a result.)
discussion and in- essay lacks and/or the sources are Sources are not used well
depth analysis of specificity/clarity, and/or not appropriate or or at all, or they are
specific examples and the sources are not properly used. inappropriate for a
makes good use of properly used. college essay such as
appropriate outside this.
sources.

Organization Criterion met! The essay shows The essay reflects basic The essay contains The essay has little-to-no
Wonderful job! evidence of solid planning and numerous undeveloped apparent method of
15% planning and organization. The and/or disconnected development or order,
The paragraphs and organization. The writer’s thinking is paragraphs. The writer’s resulting in significant
ideas show evidence of writer’s thinking is occasionally unfocused thinking is often reader confusion. It
planning and mostly unified. Rarely is or muddled, resulting in unfocused, resulting in seems that the writer
organization. The the reader confused by portions of the essay that frequent reader either does not have
writer’s thinking is the essay's "flow." confuse the reader. confusion. good points to make or
logical, unfocused, does not understand how
and unified. to make those points.

Language Criterion met! Sentence structure and Sentence structure and Words are frequently Words are not used
Wonderful job! word choice are word choice are safe and misused. Sentences are properly. A significant
20% generally sound. The simplistic. The essay has poorly constructed and number of sentences are
The essay has virtually essay has some minor some minor errors in unclear. The essay has not comprehensible. The
no significant grammatical, spelling, or grammar, spelling, and many major and minor essay has so many basic
grammatical, spelling, punctuation errors, but punctuation that slow the grammar, spelling, and grammar, spelling, and
or punctuation errors nothing is particularly reader down on occasion. punctuation errors. The punctuation errors that it
—in particular with bothersome. A careful proofreading essay's meaning is cannot be easily
regard to sentence eye would have caught frequently unclear or understood.
boundaries. Nothing many errors here. takes the reader some
interferes with effort to figure out.
readability, so the
essay is clear and easy
to read.

Formatting Criterion met! The essay mostly follows The essay tries to follow The essay contains The essay does not
Wonderful job! the expectations of a expectations of a college numerous deviations follow several of the
5% college essay, including essay, including source from the expectations of expectations of a college
The essay follows the source documentation, documentation, but a college essay. essay.
expectations of a and rarely deviates from regularly deviates from
college essay, them. them. The writer did may
including source not have paid enough
documentation (MLA attention to detail,
format, 8th edition), resulting in easily-fixed
and does not deviate errors.
Prof. Glover, Eng 1A/1AS F’19, E1
Grading Criteria A (Excellent) B (Very Good) C (Adequate) D (Weak) F (Poor)
from them.