Choose one (1) of the three (3) reading selections from the list of topic choices below. The focus is on brief but important primary source material written by important authors. In each case, the subject relates to the problems of certain people who are oppressed or impoverished. In each topic, a different genre or approach is adopted to help readers see and perhaps address the problem. Read the selections as identified with each topic below. Write a four-to-five (4-5) paragraph essay (350 words minimum) which analyzes the work following the list of four things “your paper should cover” given just after the topics.
Topic of choice – Reading selection of Olympe de Gouges’ Declaration of the Rights of Woman and the Female citizen (written in 1791). The selection should be read in full at http://chnm.gmu.eduirevolution/d/293/ with background provided on p. 852 of our class text. You should also look at the revolutionary document of 1789 that she is “correcting”, called Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen (http://avalon.law.yale.edu /18th_century/rightsotasp ). Olympe de Gouge has the status of women as her main concern. The general context is the French Revolution and the attempts to redefine rights and status once one replaces monarchy.
For the reading selection and topic you choose, your paper should cover the following:
Briefly introduce the writer and the situation that this reading is about. Identify the genre or nature of the reading. Using specific examples or lines within the reading, suggest the author’s key views and key aims for the reading audience. Evaluate the author’s strategy and what you see as the work’s likely effectiveness (or lack of effectiveness) for the target audience. If there is any known historical result, discuss that. Evaluate how the reading impacted you. Identify any analogous situations today, and also key lessons you get from the reading that could be relevant to one’s professional and personal life.