Homework for Tuesday, June 26th

Bring a polished rough draft (mimimum five pages) for peer response.

Homework for Thursday, June 14th

Make sure to bring a semi-polished rough draft to class. Papers should be at least two pages long, but the more you have at this stage the better off you will be going forward.

Peer Response Groups

Good Fellas

Matt B.
Jessie
Brandon
Arlisle

DaBomb.com

Megan B.
Megan H.
Brennan
Bridgette

Go Gettas

Marilyn
Elle
Zo
Manuel
Erin

The Blue Barracudas

Sara Lee
Kayce
Drew
Ashley

Five Star (Built Strong to Last Long)

Duncan
Alex
Matthew P.
Joelle
Emily

Homework for Tuesday, June 12

Bring a typed paper proposal to class. This should be a more polished version of your explanations from Thursday's class. Be sure to explore the connections you hope to develop as well as providing a basic overview of your project . Your paper proposal should be a minimum of one - two paragraphs.

Essay 1 Assignment

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 Five 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 Thursday, June 28th. All papers must be turned in stapled and in a folder with both peer response drafts.

IMPORTANT DATES TO REMEMBER:

T June 12 – Paper Proposals Due
R June 14 – 1st Drafts Due (Minimum Two Pages)
T June 19 – Blog Post and Response Due
R June 21 – Progress Reports Due
T June 26 – 2nd Drafts Due (Minimum Five Pages)
R June 28 – Final Drafts Due