Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Today’s Agenda

 

Let’s begin today by reviewing the assignment we are now working on:

Literary Argument Essay

Assignment:

 You are to write a well-developed argument with a contestable thesis about one or two of the texts we have studied this semester. You may write about any of the short stories or poems we have read this semester expect for the poem you wrote about in your explication essay.

You are to make a contestable argument that includes strong evidence supported by sound reasoning. You are required to incorporate at least two secondary sources into this paper with MLA formatting. The point of this paper is to describe in detail a particular aspect of your chosen text or texts that illuminates a reader’s broader understanding of the work.

 For example, one may argue about the particular role a certain literary element plays in a given text. One could focus on how a particular metaphor is sustained and developed over the course of a story or poem, or how a certain theme is communicated to the reader by the author. One may also choose to write in detail about character or characters in a given story, and how their interactions may have an explanation that we have not yet considered. Essentially, you are only bounded by your imagination – AS LONG AS YOUR ARGUMENT IS REASONABLE.

An argument is reasonable when the reader can understand the logical connections that bind its various parts togeather.

Your assignment for today was the following:

Your homework for next time will be to identify a possible subject for your paper, and describe to me in a one page paper what you envision your argument to be about.  You also need to identify two possible sources that you will use and cite them on a works cited page using proper MLA format.

 

1)      We are going to begin today with a journal entry. In your journal, I want you to explain to me why and how the argument you have chosen will meet the requirements for this paper.

2)      Once we have finished our journal work, I want you to get into groups of four and discuss your topics with one another. In your groups, I want you to HELP one find SPECIFIC evidence your partners can use to support their arguments. Find at least FIVE examples in the text, and then rank them from 1-5, from strongest to weakest points.

3)      You might not use all five of these points in your argument, but they should be enough to get your started in your writing.

4)      Let’s think about how a paper like this begins.

a.       1) Your paper will need to begin with an INFORMATIVE INTRODUCTION.

                                                               i.      The format for this introduction is very similar to the format of the introduction you wrote for the explication paper.

1.       You must introduce the reader to the text or texts you are going to focus on. Begin by telling the reader who wrote the text and when it was written. Summarize it for the reader. Look for opportunities in this paragraph to use a secondary source.

2.       If you are writing a paper in which you are comparing or contrasting two texts, it’s a good idea to write a separate introduction for each, with a smooth transition from the first paragraph to the second.

b.      Once you have written your introduction, you need to be focused on writing your thesis paragraph. This, again, is going to be somewhat similar to the thesis paragraph you wrote for you explication essay.

                                                              i.      You need to begin with your contestable thesis.

                                                            ii.      You need to follow your contestable thesis with a series of sentences that introduce your major points to the reader. It is important that you clearly state each point in its own sentence or sentences. Don’t try to list all of your points in one long sentence. Make sure that you are thoughtfully transitioning from sentence to sentence.

c.       Once you have written your thesis paragraph, it is time to begin working on the body of your paper. There is a good formula you can use to write each of your body paragraphs.

                                                              i.      Begin with a topic sentence that introduces the reader to the basic point you will be making in this paragraph.

                                                            ii.      Introduce a quote from either the text or a secondary source that backs up the point you want to make.

                                                          iii.      Present the quote to the reader.

                                                           iv.      Explain in your own words exactly how the quote backs up your point, and how it stands as proof to justify your thesis.

                                                             v.      End your paragraph with a sentence that helps to transition the reader into the next body paragraph.

 

 

5)      Okay, that should be more than enough information to get us started in class today. We are going to begin working on this paper now. We are going to begin by creating an outline for ourselves that we are going to follow. We may not be able to completely fill out the outline yet, but we can get started, and then we can begin to write. The first 4 pages of your draft are due on Thursday.

 

 

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