Write an essay of approximately 12-15 double-spaced pages on one of the ideas, propositions/ arguments expressed below. Your essay should incorporate insights drawn from some of the readings discussed in class as well as secondary literature that you think appropriate to the topic.  Because many of the topics broached by the quotes listed below are quite broad, part of your task as an essay-writer will be to select a focus that interests you and that you think is amenable to thoughtful analysis. In other words, use the quotes as starting points for your reflection on the subject matter, not as actual arguments which you must confirm or dispute.  As a rule of thumb, you should include at least 5-8 separate references in your essay, whether it is based on one of the topics below or is a special approved topic. Essays will be graded on the basis of clarity (and fidelity to the texts they seek to elucidate), persuasiveness of principal thesis, and grammar and style. The essay is worth 40% of your final grade.

15.    If her functioning as a female is not enough to define woman, if we decline also to explain her through the eternal feminine, and if nevertheless we admit, provisionally, that women do exist, then we must face the question what is a woman? Simone Beauvoir, The Second Sex, p. 2. http://www.sfu.ca/~decaste/OISE/page2/files/deBeauvoirIntro.pdf  Using Simone de Beauvoir as a point of departure, write a critical essay on Mary Wollstonecrafts views on the rights of women.