2nd Drafts Due (Minimum Five Complete Pages. Bring a copy for every group member and one for yourself).
Peer Response in class.
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Homework for Tuesday September 18th
Bring typed rough draft to class along with copies for all of your group members
Thursday, September 6, 2007
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
Essay Assignment #1
Essay Assignment #1 – Writing Arguments About Literature
Davidson – English 102
GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS:
For the purposes of this assignment you will need to select either one short story or one poem from Writing Arguments. You will then need to select a movie, television show, or song to use in connection with this text. The focus of your analysis should be human interactions. This is a broad concept that should allow for a wide range of original interpretations. However, since a litany of associations could be considered “human interactions” you should be specific in your paper proposal as to not only what you wish to explore, but also why you feel that it is important to the study of these pieces. Your argument should be an assessment of these works and how they function to create both the character relationships and a reader reaction to them.
A FEW EXAMPLES OF POSSIBLE TOPICS:
Choose a subject matter that you enjoy. If your favorite show is American Idol, then use American Idol as a way to look at your choice of literary text. First you need to look at both of your choices (story/poem and movie/show/song) and decide what sort of terms you could use to evaluate both. For American Idol, you might decide that hope, honesty, talent, confidence, judgment, popularity, etc. are all areas that you could write easily. Then using this information you decide that the most complete argument could be written about the judgment of people based on a specific aspect of their appearance and/or performance. With this in mind you choose Grace Paley’s “Samuel” and set about establishing the boundaries of their connection and how both work to help illuminate this concept in the other.
Do not make connections based on the obvious, inane, or ridiculous. Writing an essay comparing Stevie Wonder’s “I Just Called to Say I Love You” with Raymond Carver’s “Cathedral” because a character is blind and because Wonder is blind would not be a wise or effective approach to this essay. Try to come up with an analysis and connection that is not available to every astute reader. A few more examples of interesting connections: The female body as a commodity (in romantic relationships) in Sex in the City/ Kanye West’s “Golddigger” and Anne Sexton’s “Cinderella.” Notions of loyalty, faith, and commitment examined by looking at the interactions of Tony and A.J. Soprano and Luke’s “The Parable of the Prodigal Son.”
APPROACHES TOWARDS ANALYSIS:
Your thesis statement should introduce your subject and suggest the reason why you have chosen this specific subject to focus your analysis. Most importantly it should state the ideas you want your readers to accept. (The argument that follows should be why they should accept this). This analysis should go further than the primary relationship to explore ideas extending past a first time reading. What do you have to offer that your reader did not initially discover in the text? How can you support your reading and convince the reader of what you have discovered as being a suitable interpretation?
Some topics/ideas to get you started:
• Are there similarities between the two works? If, so what are they and how does their link enhance or help support your argument?
• How would you define each character? How would you define this character in relation to others?
• What do these works say about the ways in which people treat each other? How do they say it?
• Consider the idea of the intimate (those close to someone) vs. the stranger (someone unfamiliar to someone). How do these roles play out in the respective stories? What does this say about people/society in general?
• Re-evaluate character motivations. Why do the characters feel a certain way about the other characters? Are these ideas justified? What causes certain characters to act the way they do? What do these motivations tell us about the author’s intentions and the overall story?
FORMAT:
The minimum length of this assignment is Four complete pages. Papers must be typed, double-spaced, 12 point, Times New Roman, with one-inch margins. Any papers that deliberately manipulate any of these stipulations in order to gain length will be docked a minimum of a full letter grade. For the purposes of this assignment you should not consult secondary materials, nor use another writer’s critical work to supplement your argument. E-mailed assignments will not be accepted. You must turn your paper in to turnitin.com by no later than midnight on Tuesday, October 2nd. All papers must be turned in stapled and in a folder with both peer response drafts.
IMPORTANT DATES TO REMEMBER:
T Sep 11 – Paper Proposals Due
R Sep 13 – Introduction and Thesis Paragraph Due (Bring a copy for every group member and one for yourself)
T Sep 18 – In Class Writing Workshop
R Sep 20 – 1st Drafts Due (Minimum Two Pages. Bring a copy for every group
member and one for yourself). Peer Response.
T Sep 25 - Finish Peer Response/ Writing Workshop. Bring copies to class.
R Sep 27 – 2nd Drafts Due (Minimum Five Complete Pages. Bring a copy for every group member and one for yourself).
Peer Response.
T Oct 2 – Final Drafts Due
Davidson – English 102
GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS:
For the purposes of this assignment you will need to select either one short story or one poem from Writing Arguments. You will then need to select a movie, television show, or song to use in connection with this text. The focus of your analysis should be human interactions. This is a broad concept that should allow for a wide range of original interpretations. However, since a litany of associations could be considered “human interactions” you should be specific in your paper proposal as to not only what you wish to explore, but also why you feel that it is important to the study of these pieces. Your argument should be an assessment of these works and how they function to create both the character relationships and a reader reaction to them.
A FEW EXAMPLES OF POSSIBLE TOPICS:
Choose a subject matter that you enjoy. If your favorite show is American Idol, then use American Idol as a way to look at your choice of literary text. First you need to look at both of your choices (story/poem and movie/show/song) and decide what sort of terms you could use to evaluate both. For American Idol, you might decide that hope, honesty, talent, confidence, judgment, popularity, etc. are all areas that you could write easily. Then using this information you decide that the most complete argument could be written about the judgment of people based on a specific aspect of their appearance and/or performance. With this in mind you choose Grace Paley’s “Samuel” and set about establishing the boundaries of their connection and how both work to help illuminate this concept in the other.
Do not make connections based on the obvious, inane, or ridiculous. Writing an essay comparing Stevie Wonder’s “I Just Called to Say I Love You” with Raymond Carver’s “Cathedral” because a character is blind and because Wonder is blind would not be a wise or effective approach to this essay. Try to come up with an analysis and connection that is not available to every astute reader. A few more examples of interesting connections: The female body as a commodity (in romantic relationships) in Sex in the City/ Kanye West’s “Golddigger” and Anne Sexton’s “Cinderella.” Notions of loyalty, faith, and commitment examined by looking at the interactions of Tony and A.J. Soprano and Luke’s “The Parable of the Prodigal Son.”
APPROACHES TOWARDS ANALYSIS:
Your thesis statement should introduce your subject and suggest the reason why you have chosen this specific subject to focus your analysis. Most importantly it should state the ideas you want your readers to accept. (The argument that follows should be why they should accept this). This analysis should go further than the primary relationship to explore ideas extending past a first time reading. What do you have to offer that your reader did not initially discover in the text? How can you support your reading and convince the reader of what you have discovered as being a suitable interpretation?
Some topics/ideas to get you started:
• Are there similarities between the two works? If, so what are they and how does their link enhance or help support your argument?
• How would you define each character? How would you define this character in relation to others?
• What do these works say about the ways in which people treat each other? How do they say it?
• Consider the idea of the intimate (those close to someone) vs. the stranger (someone unfamiliar to someone). How do these roles play out in the respective stories? What does this say about people/society in general?
• Re-evaluate character motivations. Why do the characters feel a certain way about the other characters? Are these ideas justified? What causes certain characters to act the way they do? What do these motivations tell us about the author’s intentions and the overall story?
FORMAT:
The minimum length of this assignment is Four complete pages. Papers must be typed, double-spaced, 12 point, Times New Roman, with one-inch margins. Any papers that deliberately manipulate any of these stipulations in order to gain length will be docked a minimum of a full letter grade. For the purposes of this assignment you should not consult secondary materials, nor use another writer’s critical work to supplement your argument. E-mailed assignments will not be accepted. You must turn your paper in to turnitin.com by no later than midnight on Tuesday, October 2nd. All papers must be turned in stapled and in a folder with both peer response drafts.
IMPORTANT DATES TO REMEMBER:
T Sep 11 – Paper Proposals Due
R Sep 13 – Introduction and Thesis Paragraph Due (Bring a copy for every group member and one for yourself)
T Sep 18 – In Class Writing Workshop
R Sep 20 – 1st Drafts Due (Minimum Two Pages. Bring a copy for every group
member and one for yourself). Peer Response.
T Sep 25 - Finish Peer Response/ Writing Workshop. Bring copies to class.
R Sep 27 – 2nd Drafts Due (Minimum Five Complete Pages. Bring a copy for every group member and one for yourself).
Peer Response.
T Oct 2 – Final Drafts Due
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