Overview This is an essay proposal, in which you present your plan for final essay. In order to complete the proposal, you need to select the essay question you are going to address, and undertake preliminary research into the topic. Your proposal should be structured as follows: a. At the top of the page, write the essay question you are going to answer. b. Contention: In no more than two sentences, explain your answer to the essay question. Every essay should contain an argument or contention, which is your informed response to the essay question. c. Essay plan: You should present a paragraph by paragraph plan of your essay, beginning with “Introduction”, and then “Paragraph 1”, “Paragraph 2” and so on. The plan should explain what each paragraph is going to contain. The first paragraph of your essay is your introduction. The task of this paragraph is to introduce the ESSAY. It is NOT to introduce the subject of your essay. For example, if your essay is about increasing rates of women in prison, then your introduction would say “This essay argues that increasing rates of women in prison is due to [etc ]. Drawing on prison statistics and the theories of [etc], the essay shows that increasing rates of women in prison is not due to increasing crime rates, but, instead, it is due to [etc]. This argument is illustrated using the example of [etc].” And so on. Do not make the mistake of explaining the core issues of your essay in your introduction. The second paragraph of your essay provides important background information. In this paragraph, immediately after the introduction, you should explain the core issues of the essay. If you are writing about incarcerated women, then this is the paragraph in which you provide statistics, explain trends and so on. This gives the reader the basic information that they need to understand the rest of your argument. You may need two paragraphs to provide enough background information, depending on the topic you choose. Third to the fifth/sixth paragraph: Lay out your argument. Each paragraph should have a clear purpose. If you are writing about incarcerated women, then you might have three paragraphs explaining different theories for women’s increasing incarceration, followed by one paragraph in which you put forward your preferred theory, followed by an example which illustrates your point. (This is just a possible essay structure. There is no one ‘right’ way to structure your essay. You need to be guided by your judgement and common sense.) d. Key resources: List no fewer than SIX academic sources (books, chapters, journal articles) that you will use in the essay. After each source, include a sentence explaining why it is useful for your essay. You should pay close attention to the written feedback on this assessment and ensure it is incorporated into your final essay. Here are the following questions; Student must select ONE of the following essays: 1. What are the similarities and differences between patterns of male violence against males, and patterns of male violence against women? 2. When the law is supposed to be blind to difference such as gender, can it provide justice to women experiencing abuse and violence due to their gender? 3. How do gender inequality and stereotypes shape female offending patterns? 4. Is it reasonable to expect that civil life won’t be pervaded by male violence when violence has become so integral to our economy and historical narrative? 5. What factors make some all-male peer groups more likely to engage in violence? Explain using examples. 6. What effect has the culture and history of technology industries had on the current problem of online abuse and harassment? 7. What was the role of transnational business masculinity in the global financial crisis? 8. Is it useful to distinguish ‘honour’ violence from other types of violence against women? Why/why not? 9. What is the role of homophobia and anti-gay violence in reproducing hegemonic masculinity? 10. Identify a primary prevention program or activity, such as an education program or social marketing campaign that aims to prevent violence against women. How does the program/activity construct gender and violence?
