RWS 200 – ASSIGNMENT #2: USING ONE TEXT AS A “LENS” ON ANOTHER
SPRING 2016, PROFESSOR LOUIE CENTANNI, SAN DIEGO STATE UNIVERSITY
LONG-FORM
In this assignment you will use concepts and arguments from one researched outside text as a context for
understanding and writing about another (God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater). The first text will thus provide a
“lens” for understanding and evaluating the “target” text. Articulate Vonnegut’s argument, analyze its
elements, place it into a conversation with your research text(s), and decide whether or not Vonnegut’s
views seem to illustrate or contradict the themes in your researched piece(s).
In God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater, Kurt Vonnegut criticizes the income inequality in his society (1965
United States). His characters display greed, avarice, selfishness, compassion, and many other normal
(and supposedly abnormal) human emotions/propensities. Your job is to decide how Vonnegut’s novel
relates to the scholarly debate about income inequality during his context.
TL:DR
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Formulate one singular thesis statement that posits a debatable argument on whether
Vonnegut’s book illustrates or contradicts the beliefs expressed in your research
Articulate Vonnegut’s argument, and his the basic contextual situation, in the introduction
Analyze the strategies that are specifically intended to sway his readers
Support your thesis with textual evidence from both God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater and research
Put the texts into a “conversation” with one another. How do they play off of each other?
DETAILS
Due: Tuesday, March 15, via e-mail to louiecentanni@gmail.com, 11:59 pm
Revisions Due: Thursday, April 5, hard copy, in-class
Length: 6-8 pages, not including Works Cited page
Audience: Academic readers, professors of English or Rhetoric
Format: Standard MLA, including:
uniform double-spacing throughout document
header (your name, professor name, class, due date)
last name and page number in top right corner
title
1” margins all around
stapled
Works Cited page
Times New Roman, size 12 font
Value: 15 points (15% of final grade)