The majority of your grade in this course comes from a sequence of papers based on the assigned literature. Your essay must be in standard essay format and based on your own ideas; research is not necessary for this particular assignment, but you should use quotes from the literature to support your thesis. Not using quotes from the text will result in points deducted from your grade.

Assignment:

Write a short essay (750 words) that defends a thesis you developed through a close critical reading/analysis of one (or two) works listed on the syllabus. The “critical response” essay relies on textual support from the primary text (secondary sources are not required) – not plot summary to develop the student’s argument. Do not confuse “critical analysis” with “plot summary”; the goal is to develop, sustain, and advance a thesis based on a critique of the primary text. Some potential topics are listed below:

1. What impact does the point of view in Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use” have on a readers’ understanding of and reaction to both Dee and Maggie?
2. What do the quilts in “Everyday Use” represent, and how are the quilts significant to the story’s plot, conflict, and character development?
3. What general attitudes toward sex, love, and marriage does Chopin imply in “The Storm”? Cite evidence from the story to support your answer.
4. What themes and ideas is Hemingway exploring in “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place”? How does he use style and symbolism to express these themes?
5. Why are the lines of dialogue so brief in “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place”? Why are the speakers so seldom identified? (For examples, Hemingway very rarely uses phrases such as “he said” after a line of dialogue.)
6. Define the central theme of “Harrison Bergeron.” Is Vonnegut’s early 1960’s vision of the future still relevant today? Why or why not?
7. Take a close look at Jackson’s description of the black wooden box (paragraph 5) and of the black spot on the fatal slip of paper (paragraph 72) in “The Lottery”. What do these objects suggest to you? Are there any other symbols in the story?

Format. In an academic community that communicates effectively, proper formatting is a mark both of one’s ability to follow instructions and of one’s willingness to interact with one’s colleagues in an accepted, mutually understandable manner. Therefore, it is important that you follow proper MLA format in producing your texts, particularly as you cite your sources. Failure to do so will lower your grade.

Grading Criteria. I’ll be looking for a clearly defined, arguable thesis and a logical organization of paragraph structures in each paper. Your essay should provide a comprehensive analysis of the work, which should eventually lead to an explanation of the theme of the work. I’ll also look at grammar, usage, mechanics, and so forth, as well as at your use of secondary material.

Paper Submission. Upload your paper to the Turnitin assignment link in the appropriate Learning Modules folders.You must submit your papers electronically through CANVAS on or before the due date. No late papers will be accepted. If you do not turn your assignment in by the deadline, then you will not get credit for the assignment. You will not be allowed to make up or redo essays for any reason.

All essays must be submitted in Canvas by 11:59 PM on the Sunday of the week they are due. All submissions are final, so allow yourself plenty of time to draft, revise, edit and upload. Be sure that you upload the correct document. If you upload the wrong document, then the essay is considered late and you will not receive credit. Allow spare time for unforeseen circumstances. If you wait until 11:55 PM to upload your paper, and you have technical difficulties that cannot be resolved by 11:59 PM, then your essay will be considered late and you will not be able to submit the assignment. I will not accept any essays emailed to me for any reason. Even if you email it to me at 12:00 AM on Monday, I will not accept it. I will not accept any document attached to a comment on the assignment.

If you would like to write on a topic other than those provided, you may do so, but you must have the instructor’s approval. You might want to look at the questions at the end of the works in the textbook for ideas.

Plagiarism: Plagiarism is defined as submitting anything for credit in one course that has already been submitted for credit in another course, or copying any part of someone else’s intellectual work – their ideas and/or words – published or unpublished, including that of other students, and portraying it as one’s own. Proper quoting, using strict MLA formatting, is required, as described by the instructor. All students are required to read the material presented at: http://troy.troy.edu/writingcenter/research.html (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.

• Students must properly cite any quoted material. No term paper, business plan, term project, case analysis, or assignment may have more than 20% of its content quoted from another source. Students who need assistance in learning to paraphrase should ask the instructor for guidance and consult the links at the Online Writing Center.
• This university employs plagiarism-detection software, through which all written student assignments are processed for comparison with material published in traditional sources (books, journals, magazines), on the internet (to include essays for sale), and papers turned in by students in the same and other classes in this and all previous terms. The penalty for plagiarism may range from zero credit on the assignment, to zero in the course, to expulsion from the university with appropriate notation in the student’s permanent file.

Discussion:Out of the Darkness