LIT 2030 Essay 3: Responding to Drama, A Collaborative, Researched, Academic Argument
For this paper, you will defend your group's interpretation of August Wilson's Fences. Like other essay assignments this term, you should first identify what you see as the most important theme and several important symbols in the work. You should then develop your argument using examples from Wilson's text. Unlike other assignments this term, however, you are then required to make use of literary criticism, academic sources from the library's databases from academics and scholars, that offer their own view and interpretation of Fences. You should only use examples from these sources that strengthen your own academic argument/interpretation.
Your group will compose one paper together, but you will receive two separate scores--one for the paper written by the group and a grade that you earn individually (for which you will be graded by your group members). See further details about collaboration below.
Purpose
In this type of paper a writer is forming an academic argument. As the writer you are arguing that your interpretation of the text is a valid - not the only interpretation - in an attempt to aid the reader in “seeing” the text in a new light or from a different perspective that perhaps may be different from their own. Specifically you are arguing what you see as an important theme in the work and the connections that theme has to three objects/symbols in the novella
Audience
Your audience is made up of academics, scholars, literary critics, professors, and students (who are academics, scholars, and literary critics). You should assume that they have read the text and are familiar with its contents. Because of this you would never merely retell the story because your audience is already familiar with it. This would also conflict with the purpose of this type of paper. You are to discuss underlying meaning, not retell the events of the story.
Because your audience is a scholarly one, your paper must be presented in a formal manner. You should use high diction and avoid first person, personal pronouns, and contractions.
Development
In developing your ideas, you should concern yourself with three important steps. First you must make a writerly assertion about the content of your text. For instance, when considering Alice Walker’s short story, “Everyday Use”, one might assert that Dee’s plans to display her mother’s quilts on her wall illustrate a disconnectedness from her heritage, which is ironic when one considers that Dee views this as an act of embracing her culture. As your second step, to “prove” this assertion as a valid one, a writer would then need to provide evidence from the text to support that assertion. A writer could then quote Mama’s lines from the story explaining that she had attempted to give Dee these same quilts when she left for college, but Dee found them to be “old fashioned” and “out of style.” Keep in mind, however, that you cannot stop here. Providing a quote and then moving on to another idea is not acceptable. As your last step, you must explain how the quote from the text illustrates the assertion that you are attempting to make. For instance, one could explain that because Dee has recently embraced the Black Power Movement’s idea of returning to one’s African roots she is merely interested in these quilts because it is the fashionable and stylish thing to do among her peers.
Organization
Organization is sometimes quite difficult for writers who are just beginning to write a literary critical analysis.
An effective method for organizing an essay might look like this :
Title: Should reflect the entire content of your essay (mention title of work,author's name, and theme you plan to examine)
I. Intro: Develop a lead-in sentence; Make certain you formally introduce the author and title of the work. Establish the context for your argument (provide necessary background information); state your overall claim; preview the main ideas of your paper (this will include identifying the 3 objects/symbols you plan to examine). Include a "so what?" statement
II. Create a subclaim that makes a connection between they symbolism of the object you have chosen and your theme. This should preview the content of your paragraph. Provide supporting evidence from the text (quote or quotes) and explain how they illustrate the ideas of your subclaim. Provide an example from an outside academic source that will somehow strengthen your argument and connect it to your subclaim and overall claim.
III. Create a subclaim that makes a connection between they symbolism of the object you have chosen and your theme. This should preview the content of your paragraph. Provide supporting evidence from the text (quote or quotes) and explain how they illustrate the ideas of your subclaim. Provide an example from an outside academic source that will somehow strengthen your argument and connect it to your subclaim and overall claim.
IV. Create a subclaim that makes a connection between they symbolism of the object you have chosen and your theme. This should preview the content of your paragraph. Provide supporting evidence from the text (quote or quotes) and explain how they illustrate the ideas of your subclaim. Provide an example from an outside academic source that will somehow strengthen your argument and connect it to your subclaim and overall claim.
III. Conclusion : Summarize the main ideas that you have discussed in the body of your paper. Restate your overall claim; Argue the validity or force of the theme. This is your final opportunity to convince your reader that your ideas about the work are valid ones and that they are effective and relevant in aiding them in seeing this text in a unique way, perhaps one they have not considered (This is essentially a "so what?" statement.
NOTE: When relating events in the story use words such as, "Morrison develops the major characters in the story..." Notice the use of the active verb "develops." Try to stick with using active verbs as you analyze the story. This is also known as “the literary present tense.” Do not use past tense verbs when relating story events. You should also note that sometimes a narrator can be directly involved in a story. Sometimes the narrator is not named and is not directly involved in the story's development.
RESEARCH REQUIRED
You will need to conduct outside research on your topic. You must use dependable, reliable sources. These include book chapters and articles of literary criticism taken from academic journals.
You must use signal phrases and include in-text MLA citations to note the ideas of your sources and include a works cited page as well.
Papers handed in without signal phrases, in-text citations, or a works cited page will not be accepted and will receive a grade of zero.
YOU CANNOT USE SOURCES FROM THE WORLD WIDE WEB! You must use sources from the library's databases or other sources from a library.
FORMAT
Your essay should have a title. It should also be typed, double spaced, with one-inch margins all around, Times New Roman Font, & 12 pt. Your paper should be minimum of 4 FULL pages up to 6 FULL pages. Your essay should have a title and must include a works cited page (NOTE: THE WORKS CITED PAGE CANNOT BE COUNTED AS PART OF THE PAGE REQUIREMENT FOR THE ESSAY) . Refer to OWL at Purdue for questions about MLA format and citations.
RULES FOR COLLABORATIVE WORK
Everyone in the group must make a significant contribution to the final product. You will create one essay as a group.
Each student is required to use Google drive over the course of this project to work collaboratively online with the other students in your group. This will require everyone to have an active Google/Gmail account.
Do not write individual sections and try to piece together an essay. This is a bad idea! Follow the scenario I mentioned in class.
If a majority of the group members feel an individual student is not contributing his or her share to the project, this person may be fired (voted out of the group). If this occurs, the individual voted out of the group must complete the project on their own and must forfeit the points for individual scoring (see below).
I suggest making someone team captain/manager. It will be this person's responsibility to keep everyone on task.
At the end of the project, everyone within the group will grade one another anonymously for the individual portion of the grade.
Total Possible Points: 60/
Individual Scoring (18 points):
Score for individual score for contribution to in-class drafting/invention and overall contribution to project (graded by group members).
Group Scoring (42 points ):
Final Draft, evaluated on the following criteria:
Focus (12 points): Does essay have a clear purpose? Focus on a main idea and clearly identifiable thesis? Are reader’s expectations set and then met? Ideas, examples, and reasons developed in the body of the paper are clearly related to the main focus?
Development (12 points): Are supporting examples, showing details, and data rich and relevant to the main idea? Are the writer’s assertions immediately followed by supporting evidence? Appropriate research supports the writer’s main idea or thesis? The writer shows how or why evidence is relevant to main idea or claim?
Organization (12 points): Do ideas and paragraphs proceed in logical and apparent sequence or pattern? Does writer use sufficient audience cues to let the reader know what has been discussed, what is being discussed, or what will be discussed? Does writer use attention-getting title and lead-in, essay map, summary and forecasting statements, paragraph hooks, transitional words and phrases? Do effective conclusions guide the reader from beginning to end?
Style (3 points): Is language clear direct and readable? Are sentences clear, concise, and easily read by intended audience? Is word choice appropriate for audience? Do sentences reveal and sustain appropriate voice and tone?
Mechanics (3 points): Are there obvious errors in spelling, punctuation, and grammar? Are there patterns of error?
NO 1ST DRAFT ON DUE DATE (-5 POINTS)
NO PEER CRITIQUE (-5 POINTS)
NO REFLECTION (-5 POINTS)
NO PROCESS OR PROPER CITATION OF SOURCES=NO GRADE
Grading scale:
A 54-60
B 48-53
C 42-47
D 36-41
F 0-35
