Is Obama Fighting Affluenza?

Wednesday, May 20 from 3:30 to 5:30 in Cyberia, Arts Extension 265

Assignment:  In his February 24 speech to the Joint Session of Congress, Obama described his solutions to the current economic crisis. Your task in this essay is to decide the extent to which Obama is committed to fighting affluenza.  To what extent does he agree with the analysis and recommendations we’ve studied in the book Affluenza?  How is his approach similar and different from the recommendations in the Treatment section of Affluenza?  Your paper should do the following:

• Show a clear understanding of Obama’s speech.  Some summary will be necessary either at the beginning or scattered throughout or both.
• Show an understanding of the central recommendations of Affluenza.
• Effectively compare Obama’s perspective to the Affluenza authors’.
• Use sentence patterns from They Say I Say.
• Introduce and explain quotations and paraphrases using the PIE method.
• Include a thesis statement, introduction, conclusion, and at least three body paragraphs with topic sentences and supporting evidence.

As you know, this will be an in-class essay, but you are encouraged to prepare and bring your prewriting materials. However, you may not bring anything with more than two sentences in a row that end up in your essay. You will turn in any materials you use on the test. Also, you will not have internet access or any form of access to electronic data during the exam. Internet will be turned off.  At the end, though, you can email yourself a copy of the exam. 

Bring the following to the exam:

• Affluenza
• Printed copy of Obama’s speech and any additional sources you plan to use such as analyses of the speech or other class reading material.
• Your outline (topic sentences, thesis, and quotations or other supporting details)
• Your notes (no 3 sentences in a row that end up in the essay)
• A print card with change on it in order to print the exam at the end.  We don’t have extra in stock in Cyberia, so pick one up at the Rosenberg library or arrange to use a friend’s.
• A dictionary (optional)
• Rules for Writers (optional)

I encourage you to prepare for this exam as thoroughly as possible by revising your outline, by visiting the Writing Lab, and, if you are nervous about in-class writing, by practicing writing out the essay under time pressure at home. (You just can't bring that practice essay with you to the real exam.)  You can also visit Cyberia to familiarize yourself with the computers.