Assignments

English 1102: English Composition II, Spring 2011

Section 03 (CRN 20268): MW 2:00-3:15PM, Arts & Sciences 353

Section 04 (CRN 20269): MW 3:30-4:45PM, Arts & Sciences 353

Literature Survey

To help make sure we do not cover something most or all have already read in high school, complete the following survey.

  1. What poets did you read in high school?
  2. What plays did you read in high school?
  3. What novels and short stories did you read in high school?
  4. What works of literature did you write about in high school?

In Class Activities

1. The Most Significant Passages

In order to learn each other's names as well as to determine significant passages for yourselves, today you'll divide into six groups of 3-4 to discuss one of the stories, either Joyce Carol Oates' "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" or Toni Cade Bambara's "The Lesson."

  1. Select the three most important passages that are central to understanding the characters, conflicts, and themes of the story.
  2. Explain those passages as we have been doing in large class discussion for the last couple of weeks.
  3. Decide what the core conflict and theme of the story is, then report your findings to the class.

2. Analyzing Fiction

Today, we're going to break into groups to discuss how the various elements of fiction make meaning in the short stories selected by the class. Break into 6 groups of 3-4, answer the Analyzing Fiction Checklist questions, and report the results of your discussion to the class.

 

2:00 Section

  1. Louise Erdrich, "The Red Convertible" (231-8): Narration, Character, Theme (68-9)

  2. Louise Erdrich, "The Red Convertible" (231-8): Setting, Language and Style, Theme (68-9)
  3. Louise Erdrich, "The Red Convertible" (231-8): Conflict and Plot, Theme (68-9)
  4. Alice Walker, "Everyday Use" (978-83): Narration, Character, Theme (68-9)
  5. Alice Walker, "Everyday Use" (978-83): Setting, Language and Style, Theme (68-9)
  6. Alice Walker, "Everyday Use" (978-83): Conflict and Plot, Theme (68-9)

3:30 Section

  1. Louise Erdrich, "The Red Convertible" (231-8): Narration, Character, Theme (68-9)

  2. Louise Erdrich, "The Red Convertible" (231-8): Setting, Language and Style, Theme (68-9)
  3. Louise Erdrich, "The Red Convertible" (231-8): Conflict and Plot, Theme (68-9)
  4. Ralph Ellison, "Battle Royal" (458-69): Narration, Character, Theme (68-9)
  5. Ralph Ellison, "Battle Royal" (458-69): Setting, Language and Style, Theme (68-9)
  6. Ralph Ellison, "Battle Royal" (458-69): Conflict and Plot, Theme (68-9)

4. The Significance of Poetry

We spent the first third of the class analyzing poetry and breaking down short stories in order to determine what they mean. We'll spend the next third of the semester not only interpreting meaning based upon close reading but also discussing the work of literature's significance. Beyond mere meaning, significance also involves importance and consequence. Why is the poem important—or not? What moral and ethical, psychological and intellectual consequences does the story have? Does the literary work change your world view, or make you reconsider, if not change, how you live and act in the world, with your friends, with your family, with your significant other, with your classmates, with your coworkers, with your community, with your fellow citizens? Today, let's break into five groups and apply the questions above to one of the poems selected by you.

5. The Significance of Fiction

Let's continue talking about significance by breaking into four groups to examine

today's assigned stories.

  1. What is the core conflict of the story?
  2. What is the overall idea of the story?
  3. How has the work of literature confronted, challenged, or changed your view of the world?
  4. Who do you think should read this work, why do you think they need to read it, and how do you think it will affect them?

After groups report their discussions to the class, we'll compare and contrast the significance of the two stories.

6. Connecting a Collection

On our first day of discussion of Sherman Alexie's War Dances, the 2010 collection of poems and short stories, we gave our first impressions of Alexie's playful yet serious writing style and outlined the collection's broad issues (father/son relationships; black/white race issues vs/and Native American race issues; violence and war; Native American faith, heritage, and identity). Today, we'll continue that process by looking at the structure of the collection and interpreting how the poems and stories are connected to one another.

 

Issues:

  1. What are the main issues and main ideas of the assigned selections?
  2. In what ways are the selections connected and disconnected?
  3. Describe the underlying structure of the collection so far. Where do you think the collection is going?

Groups:

  1. "The Theology of Reptiles" (65-6), "Catechism" (67-72), and "Ode to Small-town Sweethearts" (73-4)
  2. "Ode to Small-town Sweethearts" (73-4) and "The Senator's Son" (75-104)
  3. "The Senator's Son" (75-104) and "Another Proclamation" (105-6)
  4. "Another Proclamation" (105-6), "Invisible Dog on a Leash" (107-12), and "Home of the Braves" (113-4)
  5. "Home of the Braves" (113-4) and "The Ballad of Paul Nonetheless" (115-148)

7. Checklisting and Round Robining

Let's refresh our analytical skills after spring break and make sure that everyone in class gets a chance to speak by answering the "Analyzing Drama Checklist" questions (104-5) in round robin format.

8. Asking Questions

In your group project, you will be responsible for teaching a work of literature to the class. As the first step in teaching a text is asking questions about the text, let's practice that today. Break into groups of 4-5 and compose at least 10 discussion questions about the play. When we regroup as a class, we'll answer your questions.

Selected Reading

In order to encourage you to take responsibility for this class, for your education, each member of the class will choose a work for the class to read.

 

To avoid choosing the same work of literature as another person, confer with other students signed up for your genre (poetry, fiction, drama) before making your selection.

 

Selections from Exploring Literature are due by M, 1-24.

Selections from Best American Poetry 2010 and Short Stories 2010 are due M, 1-31. (I only have one copy of each book, so you'll have to share.)

2:00-3:15PM Section [scroll down for 3:30-4:45PM Section]

Date Selection Student
M, 1-31

Keats, "When I Have Fears That I May Cease to Be" (1206)

Hayden Messer

Komunyakaa, "Facing It" (1225-6)

A. Meghan Calhoun

Thomas, "Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night" (1230-1)

Cailee Hill

Giovanni, "Woman" (780-1)

Claire Smithson

Safir, "Matisse's Dance" (697)

Ryan Legates
W, 2-2

Erdrich, "The Red Convertible" (231-8)

Caleb Johnson

Walker, "Everyday Use" (978-83)

Derrick Smith
M, 2-7

O'Brien, "The Things They Carried (1172-84)

professor pick

Hemingway, "Hills like White Elephants" (733-6)

professor pick
W, 2-9

Williams, "At the Ball Game" (1006-8)

Ryan Anshell

Millay, "Love Is Not All" (789-90)

Taylor Jones

Browning, "How Do I Love Thee?" (776-7)

Louisa Flowers

Hemphill, "Commitments" (784-5)

Catherine Neal

Oliver, "When Death Comes" (1207)

Maggie Hall
M, 2-14

Groom, "Oh Don't" (online)

Ryan Ashley

Young, "Lime Light Blues" (GeorgiaVIEW)

Bre Thompson

Szymborska, "Dreams" (online)

Sophia Markowich

McCrae, "Pieta" (GeorgiaVIEW)

Stephen Hogan/prof pick

Richardson, "Vectors 2.3: Fifty Aphorisms and Ten-Second Essays" (GeorgiaVIEW)

Anam Abid/prof pick
M, 2-28

Butler, "Jealous Husband Returns in Form of Parrot" (715-9)

Melissa Kingsley

Faulkner, "A Rose for Emily" (951-7)

Madison Bailey
W, 3-2

Baxter, "The Cousins" (GeorgiaVIEW)

 professor pick

Almond, "Donkey Greedy, Donkey Gets Punched" (GeorgiaVIEW)

Aundra McCants
W, 3-30

Ibsen, A Doll's House (854-911)

Elaina Schreckenberger
W, 4-6

Shakespeare, Hamlet (539-663)

Jeff Jones

3:30-4:45PM Section [scroll up for 2:00-3:15PM Section]

Date Selection Student
M, 1-31

Eliot, "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" (986-9)

Maggie O'Shea

Heaney, "Mid-Term Break" (522-3)

Kailey Scarboro

Espada, "Coca-Cola & Coco Frio" (1000-1)

Megan Herring

Lim, "Learning to Love America" (1002-3)

Robin Glaubman

Mora, "Immigrants" (1003-4)

Pharth Man
W, 2-2

Erdrich, "The Red Convertible" (231-8)

Victoria White

Ellison, "Battle Royal" (458-69)

Benjamin Thompson
M, 2-7

O'Brien, "The Things They Carried (1172-84)

Sydney Wright

Hemingway, "Hills like White Elephants" (733-6)

Joe Morovich
W, 2-9

Williams, "At the Ball Game" (1006-8)

Taylor Fairey

Frost, "Fire and Ice" (1211)

Courtney Campbell

Heaney, "Digging" (273-4)

Morgan Mahaffey

Olds, "35/10" (277)

Emily Brackett

Alvarez, "Dusting" (261-2)

Brianna Murphy
M, 2-14

Szymborska, "Identification" (online)

Claudia Tapia

Pascoli, "Last Dream" (online)

Kristin Gisi

Stallings, "Fairy-tale Logic" (online)

Kaitlyn Sheckler

Fairchild, "On the Waterfront" (online)

Mallory Chapman

Walcott, "21" (GeorgiaVIEW)

Scott Carranza
M, 2-28

Tan, "Two Kinds" (253-61)

Keri Wallis

Walker, "Everyday Use" (977-83)

Amber Stapleton
W, 3-2

Baxter, "The Cousins" (GeorgiaVIEW)

professor pick

Almond, "Donkey Greedy, Donkey Gets Punched" (GeorgiaVIEW)

professor pick
W, 3-30

Sophocles, Oedipus Rex (1013-56)

Megan Bishop
W, 4-6

Sophocles, Antigone (106-37)

Jason Edmondson

Informal Response

The goal of informal writing assignments is to get you to think actively and write critically about literature. These short assignments of 1-2 double-spaced, typed pages will also prepare you to write the longer, formal papers. You will be asked to respond to or practice analyzing some element of fiction (conflict, character, setting, imagery, figure of speech, etc.), respond to a thematic issue, or practice summarizing scholarly criticism in preparation for formal papers and research projects.

 

Responses will be due by the start of class on the due date, either as a typed hard copy or word-processing file in GeorgiaVIEW > Assignments > Informal Writing #. To retrieve your graded electronically submitted paper, go to GeorgiaVIEW > Assignments > Informal Writing #. Be sure to click the "Graded" tab. You can retrieve your graded response in the same dropbox; look for the file (not the comments, not the grade, but the actual file) under submissions posted by me. Here is a grading rationale and calculation of informal writing assignments; and here is a handout on GeorgiaVIEW basics.

  1. Joyce, "Araby" or Murakami, "On Seeing the 100% Perfect Girl One Beautiful April Morning"
    • Choose one of the stories and write a character sketch of the first-person narrator. What do we know about him and how do we know it? What does he desire? What causes him anxiety? What are his core conflicts?
    • Due: Wednesday, January 19
  2. Close Reading of a Poem
    • Respond to one of the assigned poems for Monday, January 24 (Bishop, Doty, Olds, Plath, or Stafford) following Madden's checklist for first-response (5) and close reading (57-9). First, explore the poem by asking questions, then analyze the poem by examining some elements of poetry and making conclusions about its meaning.
    • Due: Monday, January 24
  3. Elements of Poetry
    • First, choose one of the five poems selected by your class section for Monday, January 31: 2:00-3:15PM section or 3:30-4:45PM section.
      • Then discuss how at least two elements of poetry described in Madden's Reading and Analyzing Poetry (73-90: denotation and connotation, voice, tone, irony, imagery, figurative language [simile, metaphor, personification], symbol, sound and structure [alliteration, assonance, and rhyme]) help create the meaning of the poem you selected.
    • Due: Monday, January 31
  4. Brainstorming the Signifance Paper
    • Part I (beginning of class): From Issue through Idea to Significance
      • What is the main issue in the assigned story?
      • What is the main idea of the assigned story?
      • Why and/or how is the issue, idea, and story significant?
    • Part II (end of class): Brainstorming Paper Topics
      • Pick any three works of literature (but not the work on which you wrote the close reading paper) and brainstorm the main issue, the main idea, and the significance for each. Spend 5 minutes per literary work, for a total of 15 minutes.
    • To Be Written in Class, Wednesday, March 2 but submitted Monday, March 7
  5. Outlining the Significance Paper
    • You brainstormed three possible topics for the Significance paper. Now, compose a thesis that not only claims the meaning and significance of the literary work but also guides the reader, controls your argument, and structures your paper. Then, write an outline that supports your thesis and organizes your paper's major points.
    • To Be Written in Class, Monday, March 7 but submitted Wednesday, March 9
  6. Annotating Literary Criticism
    • Part of your group project is an annotated bibliography. You will collectively find, individually read, and then collectively write a practice annotation on a scholarly journal article on the final play we're reading in class (Hamlet for the 2:00 section, Antigone for the 3:30 section).
    • First, each presentation group will use the Literary Research Methods handout to find an online, full-text scholarly journal article about the play at least ten pages long and written in the last ten years.
    • Second, read and take notes on the article over the weekend.
    • Third, use the MLA handout to put the citation in MLA format.
    • Fourth, each presentation group will collectively write a 100 word annotation in class that
      • identifies the issue or question that the source is investigating,
      • defines the source’s thesis or main idea relevant to the play, and
      • explains how the source helps your understanding of the work
    • To Be Written in Class, Monday, April 11

Play or Reading Attendance

To make up for the class that will be cancelled when I present at a conference in February, and also to experience literature outside of the classroom, you are required to attend at least one play or creative writing reading and write a two page summary and response of the experience, submitted either via hard copy or on GeorgiaVIEW a week after the performance. Failure to attend and submit a paper will result in a two letter grade deduction from your informal and peer response grade. Here are the upcoming on campus events; you may attend a play or reading off campus if you want.

Peer Response

Goals

The dual goals of this course are for you to read and write about literature in a variety of manners. Informal writing and formal papers allow you to analyze the texts. Peer response sessions extend the reading and writing process by allowing you and your peers to engage in direct oral and written dialogue about matters of composition and interpretation, with the ultimate goal of improving your formal papers. You have the opportunity to revise your first two formal papers based upon comments by your peers and professor. You will provide constructive criticism to two or three other members of the class as will they to you.

 

Note: If a group member does not submit her paper in Word or RTF format at least two days before the peer response session, the rest of the group is not responsible for responding to her paper.

Paper 1 Peer Response

  1. Writers upload their papers to both TurnItIn > Paper 1 Close Reading and GeorgiaVIEW > Discussions > Paper 1 Group # by the start of class on Monday, February 7.
  2. Each group reads, take notes on, and prepares to respond to just fellow group papers before the peer response class.
  3. We will not be holding regular class during the peer response sessions. You need only attend class during your group's scheduled date and time, see below.
  4. For the peer response session, either bring your laptop or bring paper print outs of the papers. The peer response group will collectively complete the Paper 1 Close Reading peer response sheet for each writer, then upload the completed response to GeorgiaVIEW> Discussions > Paper 1 Group #.

Paper 2 Peer Response

  1. Writers upload their papers to both TurnItIn > Paper 2 Significance and GeorgiaVIEW > Discussions > Paper 2 Group # by the start of class on Wednesday, March 9.
  2. Each group reads, take notes on, and prepares to respond to just fellow group papers before the peer response class.
  3. For the peer response session on Wednesday, March 16, either bring your laptop or bring paper print outs of the papers. The peer response group will collectively complete the Paper 2 Significance peer response sheet for each writer, then upload the completed response to GeorgiaVIEW> Discussions > Paper 2 Group #.

Paper 3 Peer Response

  1. Writers upload their papers to only GeorgiaVIEW > Discussions > Group Presentation / Research Paper Peer Response # by the start of class on Wednesday, April 27.
    • Research Peer Response Groups have the same membership as the Group Project.
  2. Each group reads, take notes on, and prepares to respond to just fellow group papers before the peer response class.
  3. For the peer response session on Monday, May 2, either bring your laptop or bring paper print outs of the papers. The peer response group will collectively complete the Paper 3 Research peer response sheet for each writer, then upload the completed response to GeorgiaVIEW> Discussions > Group Presentation / Research Paper Peer Response #.

Paper 1 Close Reading

We have discussed Klug, Joyce, Murakami, Plath, Stafford (3:30 section), Oates, Bambara at length in class. You have written about some of these works in your informal responses. Now is your opportunity to rigorously analyze a work of literature. For the first formal paper, write a four-five page essay that either 1) explicates, line-by-line, a short poem assigned on the syllabus, being sure to illuminate, through nuanced reading of figurative language, diction, connotation, and symbol, how the central tensions, ambiguities, and contradictions constitute a cohesive theme or 2) examines the most important passage in one of the short stories we have read so far, interpreting it sentence-by-sentence through nuanced reading of figurative language, diction, connotation, and symbol, and arguing its centrality to the core conflicts, character, and overall theme of the story. In other words, using either this short poem or this short story key passage, you should write a paper that interprets the universal theme of the work by explicating the fundamental conflicts within the particular lines of text. Your essay should be driven by a thesis that argues the work's theme and logically organized by close reading of the text: unpack the tension and conflict, connotation and diction, idea and theme.

 

1. Pick any poem or short story on the syllabus up to February 2.

2. Do a close reading/textual analysis of the poem or key story passage that explicates particular, significant words and lines.

3. Interpret the key conflict and overall theme/meaning/idea of the work of literature.

 

Note: You will write at least one draft of this paper and have the option of revising. The first draft, which will also be reviewed by your peers, will be given a tentative grade. If you choose to revise, the second draft grade will replace the first. If you earn an F on the first draft, you must revise, otherwise you will fail the course.

Paper 2 Significance

In the first formal paper, you closely read a poem or short story passage and in so doing explicated how the literary language set up the core conflict and overall theme. In the second formal paper, you will also interpret the conflict and main idea of a literary work of your choice on the syllabus up to Wednesday, March 2 but not the one on which you wrote your first paper. Beyond simply discussing the issues, you will also examine the text's significance in either your life or the lives of others. In other words, discuss either why this work of literature is important to you or why this work is or should be important to the world (or at least a particular group of people). Some questions to consider include but are not limited to: Why is the literary work important—or not? What moral and ethical, psychological and intellectual consequences does the text have? Who do you think should read this work, why do you think they need to read it, and how do you think it will affect them? How has the work of literature confronted, challenged, or changed either your world view or the belief system held by the particular audience?

  1. Select any work of literature on the syllabus up to March 2, but not one already written about in Paper 1.
  2. Using textual evidence, explicate the core conflict and key meaning of the literary work.
  3. Explain why and how the literary work is significant to either you personally or a particular audience.

Note: You will write at least one draft of this paper and have the option of revising. The first draft, which will also be reviewed by your peers, will be given a tentative grade. If you choose to revise, the second draft grade will replace the first. If you earn an F on the first draft, you must revise, otherwise you will fail the course.

Group Project

Groups of 3-4 will choose a work of literature, compile a 12-16 source annotated bibliography of literary criticism on the text, write a 4-6 page paper summarizing the literary debate on the text, and share their findings with the class in a 20 minute presentation and 10 minute question and answer session.

 

You may write your research paper on the same topic as your group project, or you may choose another literary work subject to professor approval.

 

I expect each group member to respect the group, communicate with the group, attend group meetings, and do her fair share of the work. If there is a major problem that the group cannot manage, let me know (anonymously if warranted).

 

Timeline

 

Date

Due

March 14

group sign up

March 30

topic

April 4

bibliography

plan of action

April 13

groups 1-3 conferences

April 18

groups 4-6 conferences

April 20

groups 1-2 presentations

April 25

groups 3-4 presentations

April 27

groups 5-6 presentations

research paper draft 1

May 2

peer response

May 4

research paper draft 2 (2:00 section)

May 6

research paper draft 2 (3:30 section)

1. Sign Up

On Monday, March 14, you will self-select your groups of 3-4. Those who have no preference and those who are absent will be placed in a group by the professor.

 

On Wednesday, March 16, groups will be assigned genres—poetry, fiction, or drama.

 

2:00 Section

 

Group

Students

 Individual Research

1 poetry

Langston Hughes,

"Let America be America Again" and

"The Negro Speaks of Free Will"

 Anam Abid Hughes, jazz poem
Ryan Legates Hughes, equality
Aundra McCants Minot, Lust
Derrick Smith Poe, "City in the Sea"

2 fiction

Margaret Atwood,

The Handmaid's Tail (plot summary) and (selections)

 Stephen Hogan Atwood, religion and the state
Jeff Jones Atwood, plausibility of utopia/dystopia
Claire Smithson Austen, Pride and Prejudice

3 drama

Sophocles,

Antigone (Madden 106-37)

 Meghan Calhoun Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night's Dream
Cailee Hill Atwood, The Handmaid's Tale
Caleb Johnson Shakespeare, Julius Caesar
Hayden Messer Sophocles, family

4 poetry

Robert Frost

"Not to Keep,"

"The Road Not Taken," and "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening"

 Ryan Ashley Longfellow
Madison Bailey Austen, Pride and Prejudice
Louisa Flowers Frost, "Stopping by Woods"
Breanna Thompson Frost, "The Road Not Taken"

5 fiction

James Joyce,

Dubliners

"Sisters," "Eveline, "The Dead"

 Maggie Hall Dubliners, portrayal of women
Melissa Kingsley Dubliners, compare to structure of Dante's Inferno
Sophia Markowich Dubliners, sea and music as escape from Ireland into past

6 drama

Oscar Wilde,

The Importance of Being Earnest (full text) and (plot summary)

 Ryan Anshell Importance, morality
Taylor Jones Importance, marriage
Catherine Neal Importance, title
Elaine Shreckenberger Importance, double life

 

3:30 Section

 

Group

Students

 Individual Research

1 poetry

Edgar Allan Poe,

"Ulalume" and

"Annabel Lee"

 Morgan Mahaffey Poe, love and separation
Pharath Man Hughes, "The Weary Blues"
Claudia Tapia Poe, "Ulalume"
Keri Wallis Poe, women

2 fiction

J. D. Salinger,

The Catcher in the Rye (plot summary)

 Joe Morovich Salinger, adulthood
Kaitlyn Sheckler Salinger, childhood
Courtney Campbell Salinger, alienation

3 drama

William Shakespeare,

The Tempest (full text)

 Megan Bishop Tempest, utopia
Emily Brackett Tempest, Christianity
Taylor Fairey Tempest, magic
Megan Herring Tempest, Miranda

4 poetry

Robert Frost

"An Old Man's Winter Night"
"Once by the Pacific"
"Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening"
"Spring Pools"

 Scott Carranza Frost, nature
Mallory Chapman Frost, fatefulness
Ben Thompson Frost, isolation
Victoria White Frost, human presence

5 fiction

Margaret Atwood,

The Handmaid's Tail (plot summary)

(selections)

 Robin Glaubman Handmaid's, role of women
Brianna Murphy Austen, Pride and Prejudice
Amber Stapleton Handmaid's, feminism
Sydney Wright Handmaid's, dystopia

6 drama

William Shakespeare,

The Taming of The Shrew (full text)

 Jason Edmondson Taming, gender
Kristin Gisi Taming, social roles and happiness
Maggie O'Shea Taming, marriage as submission
Kailey Scarboro Taming, genre

2. Topic

Poetry groups will select a few poems or a book of poetry by a single poet; fiction groups will select a couple of short stories, a short story collection, or a novel by a single author; drama groups will select a full length play by a playwright. Groups may select an author and work not in our anthology, a work in our anthology but not on our syllabus, or a work by an author on our syllabus but not a work on the syllabus. Groups may not select works studied in 1102, written on in high school (i.e., those works identified on the literature survey on the first day of class), children's literature, The Great Gatsby, The Lord of the Flies, or To Kill a Mockingbird.

 

On Wednesday, March 30, groups will submit three ranked choices of literary works to the professor, who will advise and approve the final selection based upon appropriateness and researchability.

3. Bibliography and Plan of Action

On Monday, April 4, groups will submit in hard copy or GeorgiaVIEW > Assignments > Bibliography and Plan of Action

  1. a 20 source bibliography of approximately half scholarly books and approximately half scholarly journal articles found using the Literary Research Methods handout
  2. a plan of action listing when the group will meet outside of class as well as each group member's responsibilities

4. Conferences

On Wednesday, April 13 and Monday, April 18 some groups will conference with the professor while other groups work in class on their projects.

 

For your conference, be prepared to discuss the status of your group project and compose a working thesis for your research paper.

5. Presentations, Annotated Bibliography, Debate Paper

On Wednesday, April 20, Monday, April 25, and Wednesday, April 27, groups will teach the class their selected literary works in a 20 minute presentation with a 10 minute question and answer session. On the day of the presentation, groups will also submit their 12-16 source annotated bibliography (4 sources per group member) and their 4-6 page literary debate paper to GeorgiaVIEW > Assignents > Group Project. Be sure to put the annotated bibliography and literary debate paper in one file.

 

Your presentation may use any of the equipment in our room (chalkboard, projector, speakers, web browser, Powerpoint, DVD). Clips like YouTube may be used but do not count toward the 20 minute time limit.

 

An annotated bibliography is an MLA styled works cited list of scholarly books, book chapters, and peer-reviewed journal articles that provides a 75-100 word summary of each secondary source's thesis as well as how the secondary source interprets and illuminates the meaning of the primary text, i.e., the literary work.

 

A literary debate paper summarizes the literary research findings, poses the predominant questions literary critics ask about the meaning of the literary work, and argues the opposing ways of interpreting the primary text.

 

Submit the bibliography and paper as one file to GeorgiaVIEW > Group Project on the day of your presentation. Retrieve your graded project approximately one week later in GeorgiaVIEW > Group Projects.

Paper 3 Research

In the first formal paper, you analyzed a particular passage, and in the second paper you not only analyzed but also evaluated the significance of a literary work. For the research paper, select a work of literature, either one discussed in class but which you have not previously written a formal paper on, one available in our textbook, or one of your choice but which you did not write about in high school; and, after clearing it with me, write an in depth analysis and interpretation of an issue (some meaning that is in dispute, some interpretation that is open to debate, or a key conflict in the text) in the work integrating at least 5 works of scholarly criticism (journal articles, books, and book chapters) to provide support or counterargument. You may write on the same literary work as your group project, but you may not write on the same issue as your fellow group members. The threefold emphasis of this paper is your thoughtful evaluation of the issue at work in the text via rigorous analysis of the text and the use the secondary sources to aid your interpretation and critical judgment.

 

You submitted the previous formal papers to both your peers and professor for review (and a tentative grade from your professor) in order to develop the best compositional practice of drafting and revision. In this paper, in order to prepare you for regular, non-composition classes in which the professor does not grade first drafts, you will be expected to draft and revise with only the help of your peers

and without the initial grade from your professor.

 

© Alex E. Blazer 2024