For this unit assignment, we want you to focus on the relationship between women and the state. How do different states address women’s rights (including the impacts on women’s bodies), or not, and wh
Tips for Unit 2 essay assignment: Comparing women and the state cross-culturally
Prompt: How do different states address women’s rights (including the impacts on women’s bodies), or not, and what are the ways in which women make demands on the state?
First, turn the prompt into an argument or thesis statement. Make a claim that you will prove in your essay.
Re-read each article and as you do, take notes. Use key words and phrases to fill in the chart below. Remember that you only need to use three of these for your unit 2 assignment.
Look for patterns across the different contexts and take notes on the causes for those differences (the state? Religion? Patriarchy? What else?)
Craft your notes into an essay.
| Country | Characteristics of the state in general (stable, unstable, etc.) – Who runs the state and how do they run it? | What is the state’s approach to women? Are there policies that help or hurt women? Don’t forget to address women’s bodies. | Challenges for women in this country – how do they relate to the state?
| Socio-Cultural characteristics (e.g. religion, patriarchy) | Economic circumstances (jobs, wealth, access to education, etc.) | Civil society? (Are there organizations stepping in to address the needs of women? |
| Israel/Palestine | ||||||
| Latin America/ Mexico | ||||||
| Haiti | ||||||
| South Sudan |
This chart can be used in many different classes in the humanities and social sciences. I provided examples here for how to fill it in. The goal is to help you: 1) see similarities across different context, 2) recognize differences across contexts, 3) theorize about those similarities and differences (what drives them?), and 4) start thinking about how the key points, theories, and methods can be applied to your own life. Once you have the chart filled out, write your thesis statement and then use your answers in the box to write your essay paragraphs. For example,
You can turn the content of each of the boxes above into a sentence and/or paragraph. For example, were this chart filled with several more authors, you could use it to answer an essay question. The time/place/context of the article would serve as the topic sentence of your first paragraph, and then you would move to the right as you write. Each author’s line would be a new paragraph. At the end, after you have addressed each of the
