Prompt: Final Paper

DUE: 6 pm, Friday, December 16, 2011

Explanation

This essay will be a demonstration of the skills you have learned and practiced throughout the semester. You will close read, interpret, and contextualize a passage from a text, and you will make a unique and compelling argument based on your reading. By now, the operation of close reading and interpretation should be familiar to you, and the method we’ve developed so far applies to the final essay. However, while weekly assignments could pass without attention to argument or context, this essay must include extensive and appropriate contextualizing elements as well as a clearly articulated argument based on your reading. Finally, this is your opportunity to compare works that we’ve read. Your primary text (that is, the text that provides the focus for your paper) must be from the second half of the class; however, you can compare that work to anything we have read this semester. We have not practiced comparative work, so it is not required. But, if you’re feeling ambitious please feel free to make an attempt. The successful paper will include the following elements, not necessarily in this order:

• Introduction and thesis statement. The introduction should not be general, but should introduce your specific reading and argument. Give the reader details that matter, including some reference to your critical lens. The thesis should be one or two declarative sentences that make an arguable assertion. General, non-argumentative statements will not count as a thesis.
• Close reading of one or two passages. Close read one or two passages from your chosen text. Remember, close reading begins with an identification of one or two important rhetorical techniques. Do not catalogue techniques; instead, choose the most relevant. Define the technique, identify it in the passage, and then describe HOW it creates meaning in the passage. This last part is the beginning of your interpretation. If you decide to close read more than one passage, be sure the second passage is related, in some way, to the first. Both should advance and support your argument.
• Expanded interpretation. After you close read, apply the meaning you’ve derived from the passage to the rest of the text, explaining why your interpretation of the passage helps us better understand the larger meanings of the text.
• Contextualization. You can provide context in any number of ways. For our purposes, we might classify context in three ways: personal, historical, and critical. Personal context explains what kind of approach or lens you’re using; historical context focuses on relevant historical details that enhance your close reading; critical context introduces another’s argument about the same text, which you will challenge, complicate, or extend. Unlike the midterm, your final close reading should be extensively contextualized and should include a combination of the three types of contexts. Here are some things about context to keep in mind:
• It is absolutely imperative that you use acceptable sources, namely, the Bedford Glossary, the Oxford Online Reference, and articles from the MLA Bibliography.
• Be thorough in your definitions of terms and ideas.
• Always, always, always properly identify and cite your sources.
• Finally, remember that context can come at any moment in your essay, and it should be integrated in a way that supports your argument and improves the organization and coherence of your ideas.
• Conclusion. Always include some brief concluding remarks about your reading and why it matters.

Suggestions

Keep in mind, this is not a five paragraph essay but a much more complex piece of writing and therefore should be organized accordingly. Only the introduction and conclusion have a fixed place in the essay. The other elements may be organized at your discretion and in a manner that best suits your argument. Write them in whatever combination you feel is most effective.

Also, keep in mind that I expect these papers to be more advanced than first drafts. Please reread and revise your papers to improve their organization (the order of paragraphs and other blocks of information), coherence (of transitions between ideas), clarity (of sentences), and correctness (of grammar, spelling, punctuation, and citation). You must have an identifiable thesis statement in the form of one or two declarative sentences that make an arguable assertion. Without this, it will be impossible to effectively organize your ideas.

You will have no opportunity to revise your final paper, so the grade you receive will stand as your permanent grade for the paper.

Requirements

• Choose any one short story or novel as the target text for your final paper.
• Use a range of contextual information, including engagement with at least one critical article, obtained from the MLA bibliography, and relevant to your target text.
• Include an identifiable thesis, written as a single, declarative sentence that makes a compelling argument. The thesis should be integrated into the introduction.
• Include a Works Cited page, properly formatted.
• Devise an interesting title that reflects the thesis of your paper.
• Write 1,600 words minimum.
• Email me your midterm essay in .doc, .docx, or .rtf. I will not accept any other formats.
• All midterm essays must be emailed to me by 6 pm on Friday, December 16. Late essays will automatically receive no credit.

Ashley Fisher - Week 10 Example

In her essay "Hills Like White Elephants": The Jilting of Jig," Nilofer Hashmi close reads the short story "Hills Like White Elephants" by Ernest Hemingway while discussing the various possibilities of what may have happened past the last page of the written story. He predicts what ensued between the couple by employing details, symbolism, and the title to support his argument. Hashmi addresses the many ideas concerning the future of the troubled couple of the story. However, he settles on the argument that in the end the girl, Jig, will decide to have the abortion, expecting that this is the way she can stay with the American, yet the American will leave her after she has the operation.

The details within the story that the author utilizes to support this argument include the specifics that the girl smiles at the American when he says he must move the bags, urges him to hurry back so they can finish their drink together, and smiles again when he returns from placing their bags. Hashmi argues that these details all point towards the idea that the girl indeed wants to remain with the American.

Next, Hashmi interprets the title of the story to mean that the American will leave Jig after she has the abortion because their relationship will be filled with painful memories and he will no longer have any obligation to her. Hashmi argues that the hills in the title represent Jig’s dream of family relationships, and the American’s unwillingness to endorse it symbolizes the killing of the dream. And it is not just the dream that the American longs to push away, but also the girl herself. The careless fun they used to have has been drained from their relationship, so the American has no reason to return to it, since all he wanted was fun from the start.

Throughout his journal Hashmi constructs a well-supported argument, and I agree with his reasoning. The girl in this story is confused, even when she says that the hills look like white elephants she later changes her mind and says that “they don’t really look like white elephants” (224). This shows how easily she can be persuaded, and that she acts to please the American, which implies that she will end up getting the abortion like he wants her too. Also, in the end of the story the American sits at the bar to take a drink with others who were “all waiting reasonably for the train” (227). He chooses sitting with people who wait reasonably – unlike Jig – with no apparent worry in the world, which is how he wishes to continue living his life. As Hashmi said, the story of this couple will conclude with the girl getting the abortion to please the American, only to have him leave her once the deed is done.

Week 10 Prompt: Research

DUE: Friday, October 28, 2011, no later than 6 pm

This week you will be performing research on one text from the readings. Choose one text and search for that text in the MLA Bibliography, located on the WSU library website.

Method

• Choose a text 
• Go to the MLA Bibliography 
• Type in the text’s title in the search field and search 
• Limit the list to journal articles 
• Review the results and find an article that looks interesting to you 
• Read the article and write a summary of and response to it 
• Attach your assignment AND the pdf article to an email and send it to me 

I’ve put a link to the MLA Bibliography under the Readings section at the top left of the website. Hamlet is already in the search field. Be sure to erase it and enter the title of the work you want to research. Once you choose an article, download the pdf version of it, read it, summarize its argument and supporting evidence, and then respond. You may agree, disagree, or find yourself somewhere in the middle, but you must explain why.

Requirements

• Find an article using the MLA Bibliography 
• Read the article 
• Write a summary of and response to the article, no less than 250 words 

Email the assignment AND pdf article to me by Friday, October 28, no later than 6 pm. If I receive it after 6 pm it will be considered late and will receive a reduction in points. If I do not receive it before Monday, October 31, it will receive no credit.

TOP GIRLS

hey guys,

i found an audiobook vsn. of top girls online. it's free. hopefully it helps...

http://www.scpr.org/programs/la-theatre-works/2011/04/02/top-girls/

kat

Prompt: Midterm Paper

DUE: 6 pm, Monday, October 17, 2011

Explanation

This essay will be a demonstration of your ability to close read and interpret a text. By now, the operation of close reading and interpretation should be familiar to you, and the method we’ve developed so far applies to the midterm essay. However, while weekly assignments could pass without attention to argument or context, this essay must include some contextualizing elements as well as a clearly articulated argument based on your reading. The successful paper will include the following elements, not necessarily in this order:

• Introduction and thesis statement. The introduction should not be general, but should introduce your specific reading and argument. Give the reader details that matter, including some reference to your critical lens or filter. The thesis should be one or two declarative sentences that make an arguable assertion. General, non-argumentative statements will not count as a thesis. 
• Close reading. Close read one or two passages from your chosen text. Remember, close reading begins with an identification of one or two important rhetorical techniques. Do not catalogue techniques; instead, choose the most relevant. Define the technique, identify it in the passage, and then describe HOW it creates meaning in the passage. This last part is the beginning of your interpretation. If you decide to close read more than one passage, be sure the second passage is related, in some way, to the first. Both should advance and support your argument. 
• Expanded interpretation. After you close read, apply the meaning you’ve derived from the passage to the rest of the text, explaining why your interpretation of the passage helps us better understand the larger meanings of the text. 
• Contextualization. You can provide context in any number of ways. For our purposes, we might classify context in three ways: personal, historical, and critical. Personal context explains what kind of approach or lens you’re using; historical context focuses on relevant historical details that enhance your close reading; critical context introduces another’s argument about the same text, which you will either challenge, complicate, or extend. Your contextual material does not have to be extensive, but it does have to be appropriate. You may use outside sources, but always properly cite your sources. 
• Conclusion. Always include some brief concluding remarks about your reading and why it matters. 

Keep in mind, this is not a five paragraph essay but a much more complex piece of writing and therefore should be organized accordingly. Only the introduction and conclusion have a fixed place in the essay. The other elements may be organized at your discretion and in a manner that best suits your argument. Write them in whatever combination you feel is most effective.

Requirements

• Choose any text assigned within the first eight weeks 
• Write 1,100 words minimum 
• Email me your midterm essay in .doc, .docx, or .rtf. 
• All midterm essays must be emailed to me by 6 pm on Monday, October 17. Late essays will automatically receive a ten percent reduction in grade. Essays not emailed to me by 6 pm, Friday, October 21, will receive no credit.

Week 7 Prompt: Prewriting and Argument Formation

Due: Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Explanation

This week, you will begin work in service of your midterm paper. Think of this work as a prewriting exercise that will help focus the scope of your project. For this assignment, you will answer a series of questions that will require you to narrow your attention on a single work, and on one or two passages within that work. These questions will also help you think about your own predispositions (what we may call a filter, screen, or lens) that incline you to read in a certain way.

For instance, Laura, in her presentation on Hamlet, focused her reading through the lens of performance and the difference between reality and representation. Phillip focused his reading through the lens of the gyre and the relation between unity and chaos. Susan, who talked about sonnets, focused her reading through the lens of gender difference; Lauren through the lens of the tragic hero; and Brittney through the lens of individual will versus preordained fate.

But, keep in mind that your lens is not synonymous with your close reading. They are two different operations. This week you will not be doing a close reading, but you will be preparing for it by identifying the text, the passage/s, your potential lens (you don’t have to be certain yet), and your potential argument (also, at this point, an uncertainty, but give it your best guess).

Method

Answer the following questions as an essay, organized into paragraphs as you see fit:

• What text do you pan to write about and why? What drew you to the text? Be specific in your explanation of why. I will assume that you find the text interesting or provocative, but go further, and tell me why it’s worth your attention. Talk about the features of the text you think are worth talking about, whether it be plot, character, the use of generic features, the formal qualities of the language, the strong visual imagery, the political and social content, etc. Each of you will have your own reasons, and these reasons could be anything, but they must be fully explained and clearly articulated. 
• What passage within the text are you going to focus on and why? What was it about the passage that drew your attention? Again, explain in detail using the technical language we’ve developed over the semester. If you need help explaining, use your Bedford glossary, or any of the other resources I’ve made available on the website. This is not a close reading, just a general discussion. No need to talk about specific rhetorical effects unless you want to. 
• What is your lens (see above) and how is it related to the passage/s you’ve chosen to focus on? This is really the second part of the question above, and you can answer them together. By answering this question in relation to which passage you’ve chosen, you will better understand the nature of your argument. 
• Finally, what is your (preliminary) argument about the text, based on the passage you’ve chosen? This is a tricky one and, at this point in the writing process, it puts the cart before the horse since you haven’t even done your close reading yet. However, it is an important step in conceptualizing the kind of argument you hope to make. Before we make our final arguments, we always create preliminary arguments that we know will evolve as our reading of the text becomes more advanced. 

Requirements

• Answer the above four questions as an essay organized into coherent paragraphs. The way you decide to organize your essay is up to you. 
• Your essay should be no less than 550 words. 
• EMAIL ME YOUR WRITTEN ARGUMENT IN .DOC OR .RTF FORMAT 
• All assignments must be emailed to me by Wednesday, 6 pm. All late posts will automatically receive half credit. If the post is not emailed to me by Friday, 6 pm, it will receive no credit. 

Week 6 Prompt: Close Reading Hamlet or Glossary Work (Choose One)

Due: Wednesday, September 28, 2011

This week you must choose from ONE of two options:

• Option One: Choose a passage from Hamlet and perform a close reading. This is the same assignment you’ve been doing since the beginning of the semester. If you feel like you need practice close reading, you may want to choose this option. 
• Option Two: Use the Bedford Glossary to answer a series of questions having to do with drama and plays. This option is intended to help you focus on the generic distinctions and nuances of drama. If you feel comfortable with your close reading skills, you may want to choose this option. 

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OPTION ONE

Explanation

Close reading involves reading carefully and keeping your senses attuned to things within the text that strike you as interesting, disturbing, significant, etc. Be certain to mark the passage or passages that strike you, so that you can come back to them. Once finished, reread the striking parts, choose one that you find the most compelling, and describe how it works and what it means.

Remember, you do this by:

• identifying what rhetorical effect/s are at work within the particular passage; 
• explaining the way the rhetorical effect/s function in the context of the passage; 
• and, finally, suggesting why the meaning, derived from the effect, is important for understanding the entire work. 

Close reading always moves from the particular (passage/effect) to the universal (entire text). From the effect you will provide a new way of reading the entire work. In many ways, this new reading forms the basis of your argument.

Requirements

• Read Hamlet and perform a close reading 
• Focus on a single passage that you feel is important 
• Identify and interpret no more than two rhetorical effects at work within the passage 
• Write your argument in 450 to 650 words 
• EMAIL ME YOUR WRITTEN ARGUMENT IN .DOC OR .RTF FORMAT 
• All assignments must be emailed to me by Wednesday, 6 pm. All late posts will automatically receive half credit. If the post is not emailed to me by Friday, 6 pm, it will receive no credit. 

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OPTION TWO

In essay form (that is, with complete sentences and coherent, well-organized paragraph), please answer the following questions using your Bedford Glossary for assistance:

• What is the difference between story and plot? 
• What is the difference between drama and play? 
• How does an Elizabethan tragedy, like Hamlet, differ from an ancient tragedy, like Oedipus Rex? 
• What is a soliloquy and why is it important to understanding Hamlet? 
• There are a number of soliloquy’s in Hamlet. In your opinion, which is the most important and why? 

Requirements

• Read Hamlet and then begin answering the above questions 
• Use your Bedford Glossary or the Oxford online resources to assist you in developing complete answers 
• Write your answers in essay form, NOT as a list. Be sure that your essay is a coherent, well-organized response. In style, it should resemble a summary. 
• Writer your answers in 450 to 650 words 
• EMAIL ME YOUR WRITTEN ARGUMENT IN .DOC OR .RTF FORMAT 
• All assignments must be emailed to me by Wednesday, 6 pm. All late posts will automatically receive half credit. If the post is not emailed to me by Friday, 6 pm, it will receive no credit.