The document provides instructions for a final research paper assignment on an event that advanced feminism or contributed to a more multicultural American society. The paper should include: a thesis statement arguing the event's impact; background on the event's historical context; a sustained argument from a feminist perspective using sources; analysis of rhetoric around the event; and optional sections on responses/backlash or need for further work. Papers should be approximately 2,250 words using MLA format. An example topic and annotated bibliography are also provided.

1. Rhetoric of U.S. Feminisms
Autumn 2019-2020
Final Paper Assignment
Description: Now that you have produced a research proposal
and an annotated bibliography, it’s time to compose your final
research paper on your selected event, which you will argue
advanced a sociopolitical goal of feminism or contributed to a
more multicultural American society. For purposes of this
assignment, we will define multiculturalism as a willingness to
be transformed by the multiple distinct but varied subjectivities
informed by identity markers such as gender, race, sexual
orientation, and socio-economic class, which overlap and
intersect in complex and fluid arrangements. In a multicultural
world, these distinct but varied voices are authorized to speak
and empowered to shift our ontological formations such that we
may move past dualistic thinking and, as Gloria Anzaldúa writes
“stretch the psyche horizontally and vertically” toward “a more
whole perspective, one that includes rather than excludes”
(Freedman 388). Each of you has selected an event that you
believe has contributed to these goals as articulated by the
thinkers we’ve engaged this term. Now is your chance to
explain your event’s meaning and argue for its importance.
Your final research paper should include the following parts in
no particular order:
· a thesis statement that makes a specific claim about the impact
your event had on our goals for a more just, more multicultural
America; your thesis should help you fulfill your paper’s
rhetorical exigence or primary purpose;
· background information that situates the event in its
sociohistorical moment and scales the information given to the
audience of readers you have in mind;
· a sustained, audience-aware argument that interprets the

2. meaning of your event from a feminist perspective by relying on
relevant scholarship;
· analysis of the rhetoric surrounding your event both from
public/popular sources and academic sources;
· where applicable, description and analysis of
normalizing/regulatory responses or backlashes to your event by
institutions, ideological beliefs, or groups of citizens who push
back against any advancements triggered by your event;
· optional: you may include a section that describes the need for
additional work in the area advanced by your event.
Form: Papers should be approximately 2,250 words not
including your works cited page. In addition to formatting your
works cited page per MLA formatting, please also use that same
format throughout your paper. Using MLA rules to guide you,
be sure that all quoted material is fluidly integrated into the
text, preceded by introduction and followed with parenthetical
citations. While you will need to include other voices in your
paper, do not subordinate your voice to those quoted in your
paper. Use a confident, direct, and specific voice throughout
your paper—avoid vague and wordy constructions—and
remember to keep a specific audience in mind as you write.
The Elimination of China’s One Child Policy
To this day, China holds the world’s largest population with
1.42 billion people. The country is known for its rapid growth
in size; however, China has probably received more attention on
its 1979 one-child policy that was abolished on October 29,
2015. Due to the country’s rapid growth in population, Chinese
leader Deng Xiaoping mandated that each couple could only
have one child. This essay intends to explore how the
elimination of the one-child policy advanced gender equity and
liberalized views on the “ideal family.” In terms of context, the
essay plans to discuss the events leading up to the abolishment
of the policy.

3. In order to effectively discuss the elimination of the one-child
policy, this essay will need to introduce the reasons behind
implementing the law back in 1979. With the help of my
sources, the essay will be able to address the government’s main
goal in its policy and why it was deemed necessary for the
country. In addition, the paper will aim to address the effects of
the policy on females. Mothers suffered greatly and became
victims of discrimination. The government mandated IUD and
sterilization programs for women after giving birth.
Furthermore, statistics prove to show the policy led to sex
selective abortions and abandonment of many children, which
were predominantly girls. It was common for a family to prefer
a son, which leads the essay to examining stories on the 100,000
children adopted from China in the 1990s, such as Ricki Mudd.
In order to argue that the 2015 elimination advanced women’s
and girls’ place in Chinese society, I will first need to illustrate
how the policy lowered their status and limited their human
rights. Furthermore, the paper will have to study advancements
in gender equity in China to get a clear grasp of what it was like
as a woman or a girl before the policy, during the policy, and
after the elimination of the policy. When the policy was
abolished in 2015, this accelerated the movement towards
gender equity. Studies have found that women accounted for
52% of undergraduates, which increased the chances of career
advancements for women. This is just a taste of what it was like
after the abolishment of the policy. I plan to dive deeper into
how the ending of the policy demonstrates progress for gender
equity.
Course materials will be used to support how culture and
traditions affect women’s role in society. The Boston Women’s
Health Book Collective will be of use when discussing China’s
known sex selective abortions. Another example would be from
the United Nations’ convention. In part three of the convention,
it outlines special protections for rural women and the problems
they face, and interestingly enough, this connects to the area the
essay plans to explore on all the children who were abandoned

4. in rural areas of China. Also, I plan to explore The Essential
Feminist Reader’s table of contents to locate essays written by
women in China about their life.
In conclusion, the essay intends to answer how the eradication
of the 1979 one-child policy advanced gender equity and loosen
the ideal views on family. To reiterate, this essay intends to
portray how eliminating the policy is a step towards eliminating
the idea that men’s and boys’ lives are more valuable than
women’s and girls’ lives. Explaining the problems created by
the policy is evidence on why the policy’s elimination is a
struggle to end sexist oppression. Researching China’s one-
child policy is important when it comes to feminism because not
only is gender equity a struggle nationally, it’s also a challenge
internationally.
Annotated Bibliography
Carrie, Liu C. "Investing in the Future: The One Child Policy
and Reform." Journal of Women, Politics & Policy, vol. 29, no.
3, 2007, pp. 365-393. ProQuest,
http://ezproxy.depaul.edu/login?url=https://search.proquest.com
/docview/213895321?accountid=10477,
doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15544770802206077.
Carrie examines the benefits and the negative effects
on women after the lifting of the one-child policy. This journal
will be used in helping me illustrate how the ending of the one-
child policy advanced gender equity and loosen the ideal views
on family.
Cullingford, Elizabeth. “Abortion and the Environment: China’s
One-Child Policy in Mo Yan’s Frog and Ma Jian’s The Dark
Road.” Signs: Journal of Women in Culture & Society, vol. 45,
no. 1, Oct. 2019, pp. 75–99. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1086/703635.
Cullingford describes China’s one-child policy as an
“indefensible violation of women’s human rights.” To help her
main point, Cullingford includes two high-profile Chinese
novels that describes the one-child policy and its connection to
coerced late-term abortions. I will use this source on how the

5. one-child policy affected women’s human rights and how this
event impacted our current state of gender equity
internationally. This source also guided me to two primary
sources, which are books. The novels are called “Frog” by Mo
Yan and “The Dark Road” by Ma Jian.
Kane, P, and C Y Choi. “China's One Child Family
Policy.” BMJ (Clinical Research Ed.), British Medical Journal,
9 Oct. 1999,
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1116810/.
Kane summarizes the factors that caused the 1979 policy and in
addition, the criticism it faced when it was implemented to
discriminate against females. I plan to use this source to situate
my event in a socio-historical context and to help me inform the
reader about the conditions that caused the 1979 one-child
policy.
Mudd, Ricki. “China's One-Child Policy Led to My Adoption -
and a More Privileged Life.” The
Washington Post, WP Company, 25 Sept. 2015,
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/chinas-one-child-
policy-led-to-my-adoption--and-a-more-privileged-
life/2015/09/25/9994f4b0-5fb8-11e5-8e9e-
dce8a2a2a679_story.html.
Based on a true story, Ricki Mudd was one of the 100,000
children adopted from China since the early 1990s. This article
tells a tale of Mudd’s adoption that led to a more privileged life
in America. I plan to use this source as an example on the
effects of the one-child policy in China. Also, this source led
me to a documentary called “Ricki’s Promise,” which reveals
her reunion with her birth family.
"One-Child Policy in China." Family in Society: Essential
Primary Sources, edited by K. Lee
Lerner, et al., Gale, 2006, pp. 310-315. Gale eBooks,
https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/CX2688300125/GVRL?u=depaul
&sid=GVRL&xid=44ef2989. Accessed 21 Oct. 2019.
This primary source was used as a congressional testimony on
December 14, 2004. It introduces China’s one-child policy as a

6. political and social controversy. Furthermore, it explains the
birth planning law, the gender imbalance, sex selective
abortions, and the traditional son preference. I intend to use this
source as a reaction to the event from the public. Arthur E.
Dewey’s testimony highlighted the 1979 one-child policy and
also directed me to a 1995 BBC documentary called “The Dying
Rooms,” which portrays the inhumane conditions that orphaned
baby girls experienced.
Robin, Anne. "Family Planning in the People's Republic of
China: Report from a Women's Health Delegation, July
1995." The Journal of Perinatal Education, vol. 5, no. 2, 1996,
pp. 37-41. ProQuest,
http://ezproxy.depaul.edu/login?url=https://search.proquest.com
/docview/203567910?accountid=10477.
Robin discusses the family planning program as part of the
government’s plan to control population. Under the one-child
policy, it was mandatory that couples apply for permission to
have a baby and financial incentives were given to those
planning to have one child. I intend to use this secondary source
to aid me in situating my selected event in its proper socio-
historical context. Also, this source could help me locate a
primary source, such as a book, given that this was a report
from a Women’s Health Delegation.
Zeng, Yi, and Therese Hesketh. “The Effects of China's
Universal Two-Child Policy.” Lancet
(London, England), U.S. National Library of Medicine, 15 Oct.
2016, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5944611/.
Zeng and Hesketh explain the impacts China faced when the
policy was finally abolished in 2015. This source will be helpful
when it comes to illustrating the elimination of the policy and
its impact on gender equity.