Prompt for the 2nd writing assignment, Biology 330
Ethical Dilemma Reflection
500-750 words
Due Friday, December 13th
Background: Given the current cultural context, variations in the sexual development of
infants can be treated by families and physicians as “medical emergencies.” In this paper
you’ll reflect on the intersection of ethics, social expectations and medicine in the context of
discussing how families and physicians should approach the treatment of infants who are
born with sexually ambiguous genitalia.
What to write: If you were the parent of a child born with sexually ambiguous genitalia,
how would you proceed? What questions would you ask and/or considerations would you
take into account to influence your decision? And what would you ultimately decide to do
and/or to not do?
In your discussion, consider what you have learned about the influence of genetics,
hormones, biological development, social and cultural environments, and personal
experiences as formative aspects of human sexuality – gender identity, roles and expression,
internal and external anatomy, and sexual orientation.
Also, please address your response in the context of your personal ethics around sexuality
and identity, social expectations and current medical interventions available.
This paper is a reflection paper and should present your understanding, values and beliefs;
there is no correct or preferred answer – I am simply interested in having you clearly and
thoughtfully articulate your ideas and opinions.
You do not need to include outside sources, but if you do, correctly cite them.
Be sure to include a title, your name and your student ID on your paper. You will submit
your paper into Turnitin on the class iLearn site.
Grading criteria:
1.) Must address the prompt
2.) Should state what your values are
3.) Should give specific examples of considerations made to reach your decision
4.) Should detail how considerations mentioned were influenced by your values
5.) Must be a coherent essay with organized thinking and easy for the reader to
follow.
Length: 500-750 words (2-3 pages, 12-point double space); Grammar and spelling should
be largely correct.
Note: This class will have developmental and second language writers so there may be
grammatical and spelling errors present. But I am interested in content; good content can
come through unless there are dramatic errors at the sentence level (i.e., punctuation, word
choice, grammar, spelling, etc…) which interfere with expression of ideas and thoughts.
Grading rubric for papers:
The writing assignment is worth 15 points.
15 points is a perfect paper.
Most diligent students with a few errors score 12-14 points.
Papers marked as plagiarized will receive a 0.
Deductions:
Not addressing the prompt (–10 points).
Lacking structural or logical coherency (–2 points).
Significantly below paper length (–5 points).
Multiple sentence level errors (-1 to 3 points).