English 1907 Assignments |
Assignment One
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Due Dates: | Requirements: |
Working DraftFebruary 20, 2002 Final DraftFebruary 27, 2002 |
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To analyze a poem and to make a persuasive case for your interpretation of its meaning and significance.
The poems we have studied are difficult to understand at first, but they definitely reward close consideration. Read through the chosen poem several times. Look up any words that (a) you do not know and/or (b) that might have complex alternative meanings that will expand interpretive possibilities.
Though you will have endless ideas in your notes about the meaning of the poem, narrow them down to a few that are particularly interesting and persuasive. Ground your conclusions about the poem's meaning in specific details from the poem. Use quotations from the poem to support your points, as well as individual words. Discuss structure as well as content.Identify the important ideas, structural qualities, images, etc. that make this poem what it is. Brainstorm possible meanings and details.
After deciding which details from the poem are the most distinctive and interesting to you, formulate a thesis statement about what the poem means. This thesis may change as you write your paper, and that is fine.
Write a draft of your argument about the passage. Refer directly to specific words and phrases in the chosen poem in supporting your argument.
Bring a word-processed, properly formatted draft to class on February 20 for peer editing.
Revise your draft after that class. Consider the feedback you have received from your classmate as well as your ideas as you rework your argument.
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 (Keys for Writers is one style manual that is easy to find on the UMD campus, but there are numerous others that will work just as well.)
If you wish, sign up to consult with me about this draft in a student conference.
Turn in the completed final draft and peer-edited working draft on February 27 in class.
I have based the following writing tips on common difficulties that students encounter when writing papers for this class.
Develop an arguable and interesting thesis statement that applies directly to poem (i. e., that you could not write about any other poem).
Example:
ARGUABLE THESIS: In his poem "In the Middle of the Road," Carlos Drummond de Andrade uses repetition to turn an otherwise banal instance into a life-altering event.
NOT AN ARGUABLE THESIS: Carlos Drummond de Andrade's poem "In the Middle of the Road" is repetitive.
ALSO NOT AN ARGUABLE THESIS: Carlos Drummond de Andrade's poem "In the Middle of the Road" is about a stone in the middle of a road.
Organize your argument around this thesis statement. Think of between two and four sub-points and structure your argument around them.
Sample Outline (for the above thesis):
Some grammatical tips:
First, a comma is a very fragile, spindly, little thing, and it is not strong enough to string two grammatically complete sentences together all by itself. When you use a comma for this purpose, it is called a comma splice.
Second, if the first word of your sentence is not the subject of the sentence, then it is a good idea to use a comma to separate the subject from whatever precedes it. If it only one word precedes the subject, then this rule is optional, but a whole phrase really does need a comma after it before you get on with the rest of the sentence.
Avoid using the passive voice whenever it is possible to do so. When writing in the passive voice, you remove the subject from the sentence or at least de-emphasize it. This makes writing less engaging to most readers.
AVOID CONTRACTIONS when writing college papers. Replace they're with they are and replace don't with do not (these are just a few examples of the numerous possible contractions out there.
Italicization is the best way to signal that you are referring to a word itself and not to the thing that the word represents. You should also italicize titles of books (even in parenthetical references and lists of works cited) and foreign-language words like je ne sais quoi and status quo.
The word it's (with an apostrophe) is a contraction of it is. The word its (without an apostrophe) is the possessive of it. Its and whose both deviate from the standard rule requiring you to indicate possession with an apostrophe-'s'.
A grammatically complete sentence has at least one subject and one verb. If it is missing a subject or a verb, it is a sentence fragment. Sentence fragments are sometimes acceptable, but only if you mean to use them.
In grading this assignment, I will use the following criteria. Late papers will lose points according to how late they are. Papers under three pages long will lose points as well.
A | Confident, persuasive written expression An original approach to the poem 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 in sentence clarity Somewhat original approach to the poem 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 confusing sentences Makes a clear argument about the meaning of the poem 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-a seemingly random arrangement of ideas Mechanical flaws throughout the paper No use of evidence to support the argument Plagiarized work |