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.