Assignment Two
Character Analysis
Due Dates: Requirements:
Working
Draft—December 2, 2010 ¥ 4-6 pages, typed,
double-spaced
Final
Draft—December 9, 2002 ¥ MLA Format
Objective
To
construct a persuasive, engaging argument about a chosen character from one of
the prose works that we have studied this semester using references to specific
quotations as evidence in support of your claims.
Overview
Whereas
the first paper required you to focus on a single passage for your argument,
this paper will require you to consider the work as a whole in which the
character appears. This means that
you will include many quotations to support your argument. Such quotations might be from the writer's
description of a character, things the character does or says, settings, or
even dreams. Focus on a few
concrete examples and trace the development of your topic through comparison,
opposition, and cause/effect relationships. You have already written a paper
about a poem, so please restrict yourself to the prose works on the syllabus
when choosing a topic.
Some Possible Thesis Statements
What
follows are nine possible thesis statements (or fragments of possible thesis
statements). Choose from one of
them or choose an argument of your own.
Just be sure that you can come up with an arguable thesis statement and
avoid merely summarizing the work in question. I have left some blanks in these
statements for you to fill in as you adapt the sentence into a thesis
statement. You will likely have to
revise the thesis statement even further in order to make it workable.
1. Charlotte LewesÕ experiences
in Marianne WigginsÕ novel John Dollar
add up to a persuasive critique of the British Empire.
2. Menaka
is a heroic character in Marianne WigginsÕ novel John Dollar because she is not completely British.
3. David Lurie, the main
character in Disgrace by J. M.
Coetzee successfully redeems himself over the course of the novel.
4. Lucy LurieÕs decision to
remain on her farmstead at the end of J. M. CoetzeeÕs novel Disgrace represents a logical response
to life in post-apartheid South Africa.
5. _________ is
the most memorable character in Raymond CarverÕs short collection What We Talk about When We Talk about Love,
because . . .
6. Over the course of On the Road, the most important lesson
that Sal Paradise learns is . . .
7. Dean MoriarityÕs
influence on Sal Paradise is generally (positive/negative), because . . .
8. This character only gets to
know himself/herself when . . . (insert a key moment from the story that is the
turning point in the characterÕs development).
9. _______________Õs development as a character reveals that ______________ is
the key to the empowerment of women in a world that had previously given men
most of the power.
Questions
for Development
Do
not attempt to answer all of these questions in your paper. These are just to give you some ideas as
you attempt to develop your argument.
If you do answer some of these questions in your paper, make sure you do
so in a way that is consistent with your overall argument.
¥ How
does the character regard his or her own actions? Is this the same as how other characters
in the work regard these actions?
¥ What
is this character's community like?
What are its standards governing behavior? How well is the character integrated
into his or her surrounding community?
How is this community different from our current community?
¥ Does this character have any
idiosyncrasies that are worth our attention?
¥ What
is the character's gender and how does this gender restrict or liberate this
character?
¥ What
are the defining moments in the life of this character? Are there any
defining moments in this character's life that take place outside of the
literary work in question (i.e. before the beginning of the story)?
¥ Why
should an audience of readers in the year 2010 care about what happens to this
character?
¥ What
does the author of the work think of this character? (Often, though not always, authors
reward virtue and punish evil in their characters, so the story's outcome tips
us off as to their attitudes toward these characters.)
¥ What
distinguishes this character from other characters in the work? What distinguishes this character from
other characters in literature?
Does this character have any doubles or counterparts in the work?
Procedure
1. Take another look at the book
you will be writing about for this assignment. Look back over your notes and reread
important sections of the book.
2. Develop a thesis statement
that addresses those of the questions above that are the most interesting to
you. Of course, this thesis will be
subject to revision once you have written an argument.
3. Write a draft of your
argument in support of your thesis.
Refer directly to specific words and phrases in the chosen work in
supporting your argument. At some
point, write an outline of your argument, so that you can make its structure as
clear as possible to your readers.
4. Bring a word-processed,
properly formatted draft to class on December 2 for peer editing.
5. Revise your draft after that
class. Consider the feedback you
have received from your classmate as you rework your argument. Of course, nothing obligates you to
follow every suggestion you receive from your classmate.
6. Having completed your
revisions, proofread your paper.
Watch out for typos, incorrect punctuation and other problems. Do not hesitate to consult a style
manual if you have questions.
7. Turn in the completed final
draft and peer-edited working draft on December 9 in class.
More
Writing Tips
I
have developed these tips from comments I had about Assignment One when I
graded it.
1. Do not simply summarize the
book when writing this paper. A summary is an overview of events that
take place in the book. Since your
intended readers have already read this book, they will find a mere summary
extremely dissatisfying. A summary
will just tell your reader what he or she already knows about the book.
This paper is an analysis of the work in question. This means it interprets the work and
argues for a particular meaning.
What happens in the story is usually fairly straightforward and not
subject to debate, but why it happens and what it means is not
straightforward. People can argue
about the importance of a work, or its meaning, for
hours, and your paper should present itself as part of such a debate. Your thesis statement needs to adopt a
stance on this work, and that stance needs to be open to argument. The above suggested topics should move
you toward such a stance, but using them is no guarantee that your paper will
get beyond mere summary.
Some summary in
any paper is necessary to provide a clear context for your own observations and
remind your reader of the important events in the book. Keep this summary to a minimum (perhaps,
relegate it to your introductory paragraph) and devote most of your paper to an
interpretation of the work that challenges your reader with ideas that he or
she would not have considered before.
2. Follow the MLA format for
citations. Include a list of works
cited at the end according to MLA format as follows.
Examples:
Kerouac, Jack. On the Road. New
York: Penguin, 1957. Print.
Pinter, Harold. The Homecoming. New York: Grove
Atlantic, 1994. Print.
3. Some grammatical tips:
a. Remember the pointers that I gave you with Assignment One:
¥ Avoid passive
voice.
¥ Avoid
contractions in academic writing.
¥ Italicize
words that you use out of context. (What does iniquity mean?)
¥ Remember the difference
between its and itÕs.
¥ Avoid sentence fragments.
b. More about commas. When using a conjunction (and, or, but, because, yet, etc.) you
must often put a comma before the conjunction. This decision depends on whether or not
there is a second subject-verb pair after the conjunction. If there is a second subject and verb,
then you need to put a comma before the conjunction. If there is only a
second verb, but for the same subject as before, then you should not put a
comma before the conjunction.
NO COMMA: Erica went to Cloquet
and ate a nice meal.
COMMA: Erica went to Cloquet,
and Fred stayed home.
COMMA: Erica went to Cloquet,
and she ate a nice meal.
c. Type a hyphen (-) to produce
a dash (--). In Microsoft Word¨
a double hyphen will become a dash automatically, if you—trust me on this
one—set it to do so in ÒAutoformat as you typeÓ
under the ÒAutoformatÉÓ menu. However, it is a good idea to avoid
using too many dashes in a paper.
Commas often accomplish the same thing more gracefully.
d. Transitions. These are
words that serve as signposts pointing out the direction of your argument to
your readers. Some of these
transitions are like ÒOne WayÓ signs leading your reader on to the next
point. Others are like ÒU TurnÓ
signs indicating a reversal of direction.
There are other more subtle transitions that alter the tone or indicate
approval or disapproval of what you are discussing.
One Way Signs (leading from
before to after or from cause to effect)
Henry
has an extramarital affair with Annie.
Subsequently he divorces
Charlotte and moves in with Annie.
Dean
can never stay in one place for very long.
Consequently, the women in
his life become extremely frustrated with him.
Victor
Frankenstein never tells anyone about the existence of his creature. Therefore,
he must confront the creature all by himself.
U-turn Signs
(establishing a contrast between ideas)
Whereas Chad King and his gang
are beginning to settle into more reserved, adult lifestyles, Sal and Dean
strive to remain detached and free to wander from place to place.
Henry
is a brilliant playwright. However, he does not understand the
motivations of the people nearest to him in the real world.
Though Victor Frankenstein has
promised a bride to the creature he has created, he ultimately lets his fears
of creating an unstoppable super race prevent him from fulfilling this promise.
These
are just a few examples of the numerous transitions out there that can help you
arrange your ideas. Most style
manuals will give you a more exhaustive list of options and fuller explanations
of how to use them. Your best
resource, however, is your own experience with written and spoken language.
Keep in
mind also that these transitions are often the most important as you move from
one subtopic in your paper to the next.
Very frequently, the first sentence in a new paragraph needs to provide
the reader a clear transition between ideas in the previous paragraph and ideas
in the new one. Think of that first
sentence as a bridge between topics.
e. Verb tense. Though it
may seem peculiar at first, it is customary to refer to events in a story in
the present tense. In discussions
of the literature in class, you will notice that we tend to follow this rule as
well. Keep to the present tense in
your papers.
Sometimes, this
is hard to do, especially when discussing the authorÕs life: ÒTom Stoppard grew up in various parts of the world that suffered the ravages of
a world war.Ó It makes sense to
refer to authorÕs life in the past tense in this case, but return to the
present tense when addressing events in the story: ÒHis play The Real Thing tells the
story of a playwright and actresses he loves.Ó
Every once in a
while, it is necessary to refer to past event in the story that you are
discussing in the present tense.
The present perfect tense is perfect for this problem: ÒHenry becomes more suspicious of Annie
when she tells him she has taken the
overnight train back from Glasgow and lied
about it.Ó
Paper Grading Standards
In grading papers for this class, I will use the following
criteria:
A Confident,
persuasive written expression
An original
approach to the work in question
A strong thesis
statement that is arguable and interesting
Exemplary in the
clarity and organization of its argument
Engaging to its
audience in a manner that commands attention
Consistently good
use of evidence in support of your contentions and in accordance with MLA
format
Nearly flawless
mechanically (format, spelling, grammar)
B Clear written
expression with a few minor breakdowns
Somewhat original
approach to the work in question
A strong thesis
statement that is arguable and interesting
Well-organized
argument that signals its structure to readers by way of effective transitional
sentences
Good use of
evidence to support your contentions and in accordance with MLA format
Only a few
mechanical flaws
C Satisfies the
basic demands of the assignment
Generally clear
though with some breakdowns
Makes a clear
argument about the meaning of the passage
A thesis
statement that is arguable and interesting
A well-organized
argument
Use of evidence
in support of your contentions and in accordance with MLA format, though not
consistently
Several
mechanical flaws, but not so many that they confuse the meaning of your paper
D Almost satisfies the
basic demands of the assignment
Numerous
breakdowns impairing the clarity of your argument
Thesis statement
is either not arguable or is uninteresting
Argument has
minimal organization
Use of evidence
to support contentions is wildly inconsistent and/or not in accordance with the
MLA format
Numerous
mechanical flaws interfering with paper clarity
F Does not
satisfy the basic demands of the assignment
Unclear writing
style
Lacks a thesis
statement
No clear
argument—seemingly random arrangement of ideas
Mechanical flaws
throughout the paper
No use of
evidence to support the argument
Plagiarized work