Essay Topics
This essay is to bea research paper based on a topic related to one of our recent course readings. Once again, it requires you to state a thesis, develop an argument, and cite evidence as appropriate-this time from at least two sources, not counting 75 Readings.
Please note: This essay should be passed in as the top item in a folder that also includes your corrected first essay. Give your essay a title that indicates your topic in an interesting way and include the course name and number and your tutorial leader's name in the corner of your first page (a separate cover sheet is not required).
The assignment must be typed, and it should be 500-600 words (2-3 pages) in length. For lay-out and referencing, it should follow MLA or APA format. Please remember that both your writing skills and your understanding of the issues will be evaluated, and that you must acknowledge and document all sources you use (except standard dictionaries) with careful and complete citations and a bibliography. Do not include your bibliography in your word count.
1. Several decades afterJessica Mitford's scathing critique of the funeral industry in North America in the 1960s, the natural or green burial movement started to create change internationally. How does a green burial differ from the kind described in "Behind the Formaldehyde Curtain"? What are the advantages or disadvantages of the new methods?
2. Gretel Erhlich concludes "Chronicles of Ice" with the judgement that "our head-in-the-sand approach to economics-one that takes only profit and not the biological health of our planet into account-has left us one-sided" (81). To what extent is her assessment right or wrong? Looking ahead, what is "social licence" and could this emerging concept lead to a better balance between economic development and environmental protection as governments make decisions about controversial projects such as pipelines and fracking?
3. In "Monuments to Our Better Nature," Michael Byers describes the lasting impact of his childhood visits with his mother to the museums and monuments along the National Mall in Washington DC. Reflecting on natural and social history, he is left feeling that "we are all in this together" (62). Write an essay describing a few places of historic importance in either Ottawa or Fredericton. Conclude with a reflection on your feelings of connection and/or disconnection. (You may certainly write in the first person, especially at the end.)