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PART 2: Analyzing Your Own Writing Take a piece of writing from one of your writing-intensive courses and complete the following steps: Find a sentence with passive voice and highlight it in your document. Explain: Is passive voice appropriate in this sentence? Why or why not? Revise: Rewrite the sentence in active voice while maintaining clarity. Find a sentence with active voice and highlight it in your document. Explain: Why was active voice used in this sentence? How does it improve clarity or impact? Attach a copy of your document with the sentences highlighted. Write your explanations and revised sentences in the textbox below: 

PART 1: Revising Passive Sentences Revise the following 3 sentences so that each sentence uses active voice:  The decision was made by the committee to postpone the event. A new policy was introduced by the school administration. The book was read by the entire class before the discussion. 

Choose ONE question to answer. Your answer should demonstrate critical engagement with the material, textual evidence, and clear, organized writing. Analyze: Both Anne Bradstreet and Mary Rowlandson were Puritan women who expressed their faith through writing. However, their works serve different purposes and reflect different experiences. Compare and contrast how each woman presents her relationship with God. What role does suffering play in their expressions of faith, and how do their works reflect Puritan beliefs about divine providence? Evaluate: Mary Rowlandson’s Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration has been criticized for its portrayal of Native Americans, yet it was one of the most widely read works of its time. To what extent should Rowlandson’s account be read as a historical document, and to what extent should it be read as Puritan propaganda? Support your argument with evidence from the text and historical context. Apply: Anne Bradstreet’s poetry often explores themes of love, loss, and spiritual reflection within the constraints of Puritan culture. Choose one of Bradstreet’s poems and connect its themes to a modern issue or experience. How might Bradstreet’s reflections on personal suffering, devotion, or the role of women still resonate today? Create: Imagine that Mary Rowlandson and Anne Bradstreet were able to meet and discuss their experiences as Puritan women. Write a dialogue between them in which they discuss faith, suffering, and the expectations placed upon women in their society. Use evidence from their texts to make their perspectives authentic. Understand: Both Rowlandson’s and Bradstreet’s works are shaped by Puritan theology, particularly the belief in divine intervention and the idea of testing one’s faith through hardship. Synthesize their works by identifying how each woman portrays God’s role in their personal struggles. How does their writing either reinforce or complicate Puritan views on suffering and redemption?    

Choose ONE question to answer. Your answer should demonstrate critical engagement with the material, textual evidence, and clear, organized writing. 1. Analyze: Benjamin Franklin’s Autobiography presents an image of self-improvement, hard work, and moral virtue. Analyze how Franklin constructs his own identity in his writing. What rhetorical strategies does he use to shape his persona, and how does this self-presentation reflect Enlightenment ideals? 2. Evaluate: Franklin’s list of thirteen virtues is often considered a model of personal discipline and ethical living. Evaluate the relevance of Franklin’s virtues in modern society. Would these values still be useful today? Are there any that seem outdated or in need of revision? 3. Apply: Franklin’s belief in self-improvement was central to his life and writing. Choose one of Franklin’s virtues and apply it to a real-world situation today. How could practicing this virtue change someone’s personal or professional life? Provide specific examples. 4. Create: Imagine Benjamin Franklin was alive today and updating his Autobiography to reflect the 21st century. Write a new virtue that Franklin might add to his list and explain why it would be necessary in today’s world. How would this virtue align with his philosophy of self-improvement? 5. Understand: Franklin’s famous “rags-to-riches” story and his emphasis on hard work and frugality have become deeply embedded in American culture. How does Franklin’s Autobiography contribute to the idea of the “American Dream”? Compare his vision of success with how the American Dream is understood today.

Choose ONE question to answer. Your answer should demonstrate critical engagement with the material, textual evidence, and clear, organized writing. Analyze: Compare the themes of interconnectedness and collaboration in the Native American creation stories (“How the World Was Made” and “Creation Story”). How do these themes reflect the respective tribes’ cultural values and environmental realities? Use textual evidence to support your analysis. Evaluate: In the trickster stories (“Trickster’s Warpath” or “Trickster Eats a Laxative Bulb”), the trickster often serves as a dual figure—both creator and destroyer. Evaluate how these stories use humor and subversion to reinforce social boundaries or challenge them. Do you find this approach effective in conveying moral or cultural lessons? Why or why not? Synthesize: Based on the Native American first-contact narratives (“The Arrival of the Whites” and “The Coming of the Whiteman Revealed”), synthesize how these stories reveal Native perspectives on European arrival. How do these accounts challenge traditional Eurocentric narratives of first contact? Reflect: Native American creation and trickster tales often depict a close relationship between humans and animals. Contrast these perspectives with the hierarchical human-animal relationships described in European exploration accounts. How do these differences reflect broader cultural worldviews, and what can they teach us about the significance of land and community? Apply: Reflecting on Paula Gunn Allen’s assertion in The Sacred Hoop that “the land is part of our being,” apply this concept to one Native American creation story. How does this perspective shift your understanding of modern debates around land and environmental stewardship?

How did Mary Richardson damage The Rokeby Venus?

ISIS destroyed artworks and archaeological sites in Syria and Iraq because they were deemed “anti-Islamic.”

The ancient Romans developed a systematic method of looting.

The Bamiyan Buddhas have been reconstructed.

What is “All the Beauty and the Bloodshed” about?