Essay

Essay 2: Representations in Dialogue7-8 pages total (in 3 parts)twelve-point Times New Roman font150 pointsEssay 2: Representations in DialogueAn Essay Written In Utramque Partem, or, Arguing Two SidesIn humanist schools of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, one of the most common tasks assigned to students was the preparation of written debates proposing arguments for opposing sides of the same topic. Students might, for example, have been instructed to imagine themselves as counselors to Julius Caesar and to compose a speech encouraging Caesar to cross the Rubicon with his army; then, taking the contrary stance, they would compose a speech listing all the reasons why Caesar should not cross the Rubicon. This was called writing in utramque partem, or arguing both sides, and it was designed to develop students’ rhetorical and reasoning abilities.Taking our inspiration from this ancient practice, in this essay we will concentrate on arguing from evidence by considering two perspectives on the same discussion. This type of writing will differ from writing assignments to which you may be accustomed in several ways. First, you will not be developing your own original thesis. Instead, you will select from among a number of prewritten argumentative propositions I have composed. Then you will prepare two short argumentative essays: one providing evidence that supports the proposition, and one providing evidence that refutes or challenges it. Each short argumentative essay should be ~3 pages in length.The key to preparing the argumentative essays is locating evidence. Use the close reading and interpretive skills you have developed to find evidence in the text you choose to write about and explain how it supports/refutes the argumentative proposition.In addition to the argumentative essays, you will also be required to write a reflective essay thinking about what you have learned from the process of writing argumentative essays taking opposing sides on the same issue. The reflective essay should be 2 pages long.Below you will find the argumentative propositions you can choose from for the argumentative essays. To ensure you have plenty of choices, I’ve prepared a proposition for each novel that we will have read by the due date for Essay 2.• In Thomas More’s Utopia, Hythloday is never critical of the customs of the Utopians, and he consistently asserts the superiority of Utopian customs over European customs.• In Never Let Me Go, Kathy generally acts as a reliable narrator, and the reader should generally trust her accounts of events.• In White Teeth, Zadie Smith endorses the possibilities for individual choice and freedom available in the new multicultural Britain of the late twentieth century, while she generally presents characters who long for the orderliness and stability that is supposedly offered by homogenous, “pure” cultures in an unfavorable way.