The Emotional Lives of Animals
So far in class, we’ve read Cory Doctorow’s “Writing in the Age of Distraction,” Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s “The Danger of a Single Story,” and Marc Bekoff’s “The Emotional Lives of Animals.” All of these articles touch on different and important issues—writing, cultural inclusion, and empathy in the natural world. Many of you have written about your own experiences in relationship to these ideas, exploring how the concepts apply to your own life. Must use these articles listed above as sources and research.
For this essay assignment, you will choose one article to expound on in a meaningful way. According to OWL at Purdue, “The expository essay is a genre of essay that requires the student to investigate an idea, evaluate evidence, expound on the idea, and set forth an argument concerning that idea in a clear and concise manner.” You will choose a concept or concepts from one of the three articles to discuss at length. Consider our practice of critical reading. Can you include narrative, allegory, reflection, and action?
This essay assignment will also ask you to engage in primary research. According to OWL at Purdue,
Primary research is any type of research that you collect yourself. Examples include surveys, interviews, observations, and ethnographic research. […] Conducting primary research is a useful skill to acquire as it can greatly supplement your research in secondary sources, such as journals, magazines, or books.
The primary research you will be required to complete is interviewing. Based on the article you’ve chosen to write about, you will choose a person to interview who can illuminate an expound on the subject matter. For example, you may choose to interview a friend who has a successful writing routine, related to Doctorow’s article. You could choose to interview a family member who lived in multiple countries to listen to their thoughts about Adichie’s “single story.” Maybe you talk with someone who works within animal rights to better understand Bekoff’s ideas.
You will be graded according to the following benchmarks:
• Does the writer choose an appropriate thesis and have a well-organized paper with an introduction, body, and conclusion? 10/50
• Does the writer include a primary resource interview and one of the articles within the paper, quoting and paraphrasing as appropriate, with all quotes introduced? 10/50
• Are the ideas of the paper well-developed at a collegiate level and roughly 3-4 pages of text (title page and reference page are not included)? 10/50
• Is the paper in APA format, with a correct title page, APA citations, and reference page? Is the paper mostly free of mechanical and grammatical errors? 10/50
• Does the writer turn in a fully developed rough draft of at least 2-3 pages? 10/50 (less than 2 pages will receive half (5) credit; no draft with receive 0 credit)
Rough Draft
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The Emotional Lives of Animals
The article the emotional lives of an Animal by Marc Bekoff emphasizes that animals have emotional lives equal to that of human beings. Notably, he cites significant studies and anecdotal evidence to support his argument. Further, he explores many sentimental emotions such as grief, joy, anger, and empathy in animals. However, he contrasts the notion that animals are driven by instinct and conditioned reflexes by citing a claim that animals can make choices and portray compound behaviors. Thus, animals should be treated with compassion and respect. Also, he emphasized that in the scientific field, researchers should treat animals with consideration in their daily interactions with animals. This paper supports his claims by providing first-hand data gathered from an interview with an individual who shares the same beliefs.
The desire to interact with animals compassionately developed at an early age as my aunt, whom I consider to be my role model is a human rights activist working with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals ( PETA), a nonprofit organization dedicated to advocating for animal rights and ending animal cruelty in the laboratory, music industry, food or any other reason ( PETA,2023). Notably, PETA protects all animals and claims that all animals have a right to live and be treated with dignity. My aunt believes in these notions which has prompted her to be a vegetarian and animal extortion cautious. This means she does not wear clothing from animals and regularly reminds people to be animal friendly and mindful. I Interviewed her and my conversation with her went as follows after salutations.
ME: please tell me why animals are so important to you.
MY AUNT: ( pets one of her dogs) Just like humans, I belives have equal rights to have a dignified life, feel emotions, and have desires to keep taken care of. Animals are the most amazing creatures heaven gave us and I wish every individual should embrace them and see the other side of them rather than a tool for scientific experimentation, clothing, and food.
ME: Wow, that is very kind of you to say. When did you develop this notion and when did you begin advocating for animal rights?
MY AUNT: Before I became an accountant, I was working as a lab assistant and I never liked how the lab treated animals as specimens for experimentation. It used to hurt from the inside until one day they had to experiment on an adorable rabbit. Before the experiment, the animal seemed innocent and very kind litt...