Format Study

Look in your Writer’s Harbrace Handbook or another handbook to find out how to correctly format TITLES of different genres, including short stories, long poems, short poems, plays, movies, essays, and books, when you write them in a sentence. Refer to MLA format guidelines.

In two-three paragraphs (300-400 words), explain the rules in your own words, and make up examples (do not use the handbook’s examples!) to illustrate them. Don’t guess--look it up!!

Vreeland Strategies Analysis

Choose a substantial paragraph (composed of at least six sentences) from Vreelands’ Girl in Hyacinth Blue, pp. 60-154, to study closely.

What rhetorical strategies and literary conventions are at work in this passage that help to make it effective writing, that make it moving, thoughtful, believable? Identify at least two specific strategies or conventions (refer to your list and your book) and discuss why they help make the writing successful. Your analysis should be 300-400 words long.

Paper 1: Connotation Explication

Choose ANY two poems from our textbook that deal with nature (they need not be in the “nature” section); only one may be a poem that we have already discussed in class.

Compare and/or contrast the diction and images in the two poems, focusing especially on connotations and what they reveal about the speaker’s attitude toward nature. Make and support a claim that answers the following questions: what attitude is the poem displaying, questioning, and/or urging its readers to adopt in relation to the natural world and its elements? And why is it important that we contemplate the issues or questions that the poems raise?

Note: Remember that the sounds and rhythms of words and phrases have connotative powers, too, so you might wish to consider them in your analysis. The biggest danger in this essay is using “nature” in a vague and general sense. Be specific about what part(s) or element(s) of “nature” the poems are addressing!

Audience and Purpose: For this paper, your instructor is your primary audience, and your primary purpose is to demonstrate your understanding of how various poetic devices, including connotation, function as rhetorical strategies.

A successful paper will do the following:

Make a clear claim;
Cite specific evidence (MLA format) from the poems to support the claim, and evaluate the evidence effectively;
Use poetic vocabulary accurately and effectively in the course of the analysis;
Display stylistic and grammatical competence.

Length: 600-800 words

Remember, you may consult with me and/or the Writing Center at any stage of working on your paper!

Paper 2: Position Paper

A position paper is a focused and concise yet well-developed argument. For Paper 2, choose a particular technology or technological advance, either one that is already firmly in place in our culture, or one that might be on the horizon. Drawing upon three sources (see details below) to support your argument, take a specific position in relation to how this technology has affected (or might affect) our sense of what it means to be (fully) human.

As you are developing your position, you might consider one or more of the following:

What are the some of the central ethical questions surrounding adopting this technology, or not adopting it?
In what ways does/has/might this technology and our usage of it advance or enhance our humanity? In what ways does/has/might our usage of this technology compromise our humanity? In other words, what are the losses and gains associated with it?
How has this technology affected the ways we live our lives on a daily basis? Are the effects positive, negative, both, neutral?
How has this technology affected the environment (in a general sense) we live in, for better and/or for worse?
How has this technology affected the expectations we have of our selves and others? The expectations we have of how we or our lives are “supposed” to be or look?
What, if any, relationship is there between violence and this technology? Between health and this technology?
What values does this technology derive from or support?

Sources: For this paper, you will need to cite evidence from at least two literary texts, one of which must be fiction, AND anecdotal evidence from your own experience, or the experiences of those close to you. When selecting your technology, first consider the availability of literary resources related to it in our anthology and elsewhere!

Audience: Your audience is an educated, general audience who has moderate interest in your subject but no direct knowledge of the sources you are using; your instructor is part of your audience.

A successful position paper will do the following:

Present a clear, specific position;
Support the position with relevant and successfully integrated textual evidence from at least two literary texts, one of which must be fiction, and specific anecdotal evidence from personal experience;
Use fiction vocabulary accurately and effectively in the course of the analysis;
Display stylistic and grammatical competence.

Length: 600 - 800 words

Remember, you may consult with me and/or the Writing Center while working on your paper!

Abstract and Annotated Bibliography

To enhance your research and analysis skills, you will compose an abstract and an annotated bibliography of five sources. The objective of this assignment is for you to 1) enhance your research skills by finding sources; 2) learn how to evaluate their usefulness; 3) develop a fuller understanding of how sources contribute to an argument by carefully reading, summarizing, and commenting on them; and 4) practice synthesizing research and your own ideas into a succinct abstract, which will be the starting point for your researched essay.

1) Abstract

An abstract is a summary of an argument; there is a sample in your course packet. Write a 200-word research proposal abstract that identifies both the general topic and the more specific angle you wish to focus on in your research. Include a preliminary thesis statement that answers the “So what?” In your abstract, refer to at least two of the sources (including one literary source) that you intend to draw on and briefly explain their relevance to your proposed argument. Briefly summarize how your proposed argument would progress.

You may find it easiest to draft your abstract first, find sources, and then revise the abstract after completing your annotated bibliography.

2) Annotated Bibliography

For your annotated bibliography, include five sources and annotate them. An annotation consists of three “parts”:

1. The citation of the source, in correct MLA format;

2. A summary of the specific contents/meaning of the source--what it’s about;

3. A comment on the significance of the source to your essay--that is, a statement about what point or points the source will help you make or support in your argument.

See below for source specifics. Please note: If you turn in a bibliography in which it is clear you did not at least attempt to look MLA format up, you will receive no credit for the assignment. Citations in databases are NOT in MLA format, so DO NOT rely on them!

Your five sources must include the following:

§ Two of these sources must come from our class literature anthology (other literary works may be acceptable; see me);

§ Two sources must be from refereed, scholarly sources. In general, you will want to look for current research to support you, although in many cases older sources are important and in fact valuable, depending on your topic.

§ You are strongly encouraged to include one non-traditional source, such as a personal or email interview with a professional who has authority to speak on the topic you are researching.

§ All sources MUST be cited in correct MLA format. You MUST look this format up. Please refer to WHH Chapter 11 for examples; you may also go to The Writing Center or the library and consult the MLA Handbooks there.

Two sample MLA-style annotations are included in the course packet for your reference.

Paper 3: Researched Argument

Choose any 20^th-century military conflict OTHER THAN the current war in Iraq. You will research the facts of this conflict as well as various responses to it in order to provide a historical context for your argument; you will examine literary treatments of this conflict (and others) in order to gain a philosophical and ethical perspective on issues related to war and power, overall. Then, write an essay in which you explore, and make an argument about, one of the following questions* in the context of the specific conflict you have chosen:

Can war ever really be defined as “just” or “unjust”? Why or why not?
What are the effects of war on those who are “left behind”—those whose loved ones leave to fight (and possibly die in) a war, and/or those survivors left to pick up the pieces of a war torn country after the battles are over?
How do we define the “enemy” in wartime, and what complications and ethical dilemmas arise in determining “friend” or “foe”?
How does war depend upon—and complicate—the concepts of “loyalty” and “duty”?
What is the relationship between private and public duty in times of war? (You might consider this question in relation to soldiers, civilians, governments, or the press.)
What does it mean to “win” a war, or “lose” a war? Do either of those words accurately describe the outcome of a military conflict? Why or why not?

Essays that simply condemn or champion war are discouraged; dig into the complexities of the particular conflict you have chosen.

Sources: Use the research materials you compiled for your annotated bibliography. You must cite and document sources in MLA format. You may reference additional sources if you wish, but cap it at 8 maximum. Remember, this is YOUR argument, supported by evidence drawn from sources, NOT a summary of your sources’ arguments.

Audience: Your audience for this paper is a general, educated audience who is interested in the subject but has not yet formed an opinion on your topic. Assume that your audience is unfamiliar with your sources—that means you will need to provide sufficient context.

A successful researched essay will do the following:

Present a specific, arguable claim;
Support the claim with relevant and successfully integrated evidence from at least five sources, two of which must be literary, two of which must be refereed scholarly sources;
Use literary vocabulary accurately and effectively when explicating the literary evidence;
Demonstrate accurate knowledge of the history of the conflict under discussion;
Incorporate effective argument strategies, such as logical organization, emotional appeal, and counterargument and refutation to create ethos;
Include a Works Cited page in correct MLA format;
Display stylistic and grammatical competence.

Length: 1200-1500 words

Visit me and/or the Writing Center if you’d like to discuss your work!

*Questions adapted from Stanford’s Responding to Literature, 5^th edition

Paper 4: In-class Essay Exam on Love, Hate, and Gender

You will receive the prompt for this paper at the exam.