Iraqi Women: Untold Stories from 1948 to the Present

I. Purpose of the assignment

• To gain an understanding of how Iraqi women’s lives have been affected by conflict in mid 20th-early 21st century Iraq.

• To evaluate the author’s methodology in the book.

II. The assignment

Write a 7 pages paper on the Introduction, Chapters 2, 3, 5, 6 and the conclusion of the book. The paper should analyze how Iraq women’s lives have been affected by conflict. The following questions should guide your analysis:

• What have been the effects of conflict and war on Iraqi women? Analyze.

• How have Iraqi women resisted, accommodated, changed, or adapted to changing political circumstances and conflicts?

• How does the author’s personal history shape the book? Evaluate her methodology.

• How does this book fit into some themes we have been studying in this course? How does it demonstrate the importance of history in affecting women’s lives?

III. Paper Style and Format

1. Audience and style:

Write this paper for an educated, well-informed reader (i.e., me) who knows a great deal about the Middle East. Please avoid colloquialism and slang. This is a formal writing assignment, but do write in your own voice, and write in a style that is natural and clear.

2. Format

• LENGTH: papers should be 7 full pages long.

• FONT: All papers are to be double-spaced, typed 11 or 12 font, in black, with one inch margins. No fancy fonts or italics, please.

• PAGING: Pages are to be NUMBERED, and STAPLED. Warning: these are pet peeves of mine. Page number one is NOT the title page.

• TITLE PAGE: Do not use fancy covers. Provide a simple cover page with your name, the title of the paper, the name and number of the course, and the date.

• SUBMISSION: when submitting the paper, save and submit your paper under your name-paper 2.

• CITATION: proper citation is required for a quote or a paraphrase. In this paper, since it only uses one source, simply put the page number in parentheses. Example: quote (Al-Ali, page number). There is no need for a bibliography or works cited, since you should only use this one source.

• MAKE SURE YOU KNOW WHO IS BEING QUOTED, where appropriate. The author quotes extensively from interviews, and she also analyzes and interprets the material. If you quote from one of her quotations, make sure this is clear, and you identify the speaker.

• SPELLING, GRAMMAR, PUNCTUATION: All students in this course should have completed English 101 and 102 or the equivalent before taking this 300-level class. For this reason, spelling errors, grammatical errors, and punctuation errors will considerably reduce your grade. There are many sources of assistance available on campus to help you avoid errors. USE SPELL AND GRAMMAR CHECK. Have a friend read your paper. Bring your draft to me before handing in the final version (not at the last minute, though). Go to the Write Place. Read your paper out loud.

V. How the paper will be evaluated: see the rubric below

Paper on Iraqi Women

Criteria Not Done

0 Somewhat Done

6 Adequately Done

9

Well

Done

12

ExceptionallyWell Done

15 Comments

Paper has a thesis and introduction

The writing is clear and articulate

The paper is well-organized

The paper makes specific and appropriate use of the source for evidence

The paper responds to all of the prompts

The paper provides an analysis

The paper has proper in-text citations

Grammar and spelling follow conventions for academic writing. 25+ errors 24-17 errors 11-16 errors 7-10 errors 0-6 errors

Length of paper is within limits

Paper is properly formatted, including page numbers, etc.

Total (maximum possible 150)