Here I will post information on my expectations for papers (content, style, format, etc.) and the grading rubric for the class (i.e. what it is I will pay attention to when reading and marking your papers).
CLICK HERE TO SEE THE BASIC Grading Rubric FOR THIS CLASS.
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Short Paper Guidelines
To interact with the authors, texts, and themes of this class and to discover and develop your own ideas in relation to the above, you will write several one page, typed, single-spaced short papers. I will usually give you a prompt.
These responses should engage the ideas of the material in interesting and thoughtful ways. Their ultimate purpose is to allow you to process one or two texts in preparation for the composition of the main essays which will incorporate ideas from at least three texts for that section of the class. This is a good place for you to try out ideas, ask questions of the text, explore your response to the text, argue with the author(s), and highlight your areas of interest within the text and class themes so that you will be able to write excellent integrated essays about things you care about. Consider these responses to be extended, polished versions of our in-class free writes where you are exploring your understanding of the texts and your thoughts on the implications of the ideas.
I am certainly open to creativity and experimentation in these responses. You do not have to use standard essay or paragraph formats. These may be very free-form or stream-of-consciousness as long as you show your understanding of and thoughtful grappling with the text(s) and ideas at hand.
I expect that these responses will also stimulate discussion in class and may provide many of the questions or issues for discussion. As such, you should be prepared to share questions and ideas from your response papers in class in both small and large groups.
You are expected to quote and use parenthetical citations for each text that you discuss, but you do not need to include a works cited. I will not mark these for mechanics (grammar, spelling, punctuation, etc.), but I do expect them to be polished enough so that I can read and understand them without trouble. I will be paying close attention to your ideas and your engagement with the text in these response papers – what you are saying, not how you are saying it. The essays will be where we will focus on how to say something effectively.
Response papers will be marked on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being excellent and 1 not fulfilling the assignment.
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Formal Essay Guidelines, Tips & Expectations – PAY CLOSE ATTENTION TO THESE INSTRUCTIONS
Expectations & Hints
- You must quote from (with appropriate citation) and discuss at least three texts from this sequence (So for the first essay, you can choose from: Plato, Newman, Friere, Papyrus of Ani, New England Primer, Achebe, Gotama). To “quote” from a visual text, be specific in your reference to and discussion of the text.
- Do not spend too much time describing or summarizing; all description, as all quotation, should be thoroughly analyzed. Assume that for every line of quotation, summary, or description you should have approximately three lines of analysis.
- Be sure to show the connections you see between the texts that you use. Don’t expect your reader to read your mind. Lead the reader to see what you see.
- Consider how the texts illuminate or complicate each other. What do you understand from considering two or three texts together that you don’t from looking at each of them alone?
- Let the texts play off of each other, and discuss them in tandem rather than having one section for each. Use key concepts or logical progressions rather than the texts to organize your ideas.
- Be confident. All writing is persuading. Your reader is not likely to be convinced if you come across as wishy-washy.
- Have a thesis. It should be both arguable and supportable. State your thesis and explore it and support it by using the texts and your own sharp reasoning.
- Have an introduction and conclusion, but do not feel that these need to follow any formulas (forget about the five-paragraph essay). Remember what they say about first impressions and getting the last word. These will likely be the last paragraphs you write (you may have dummy paragraphs as placeholders to start with) and/or thoroughly revise.
- Be logical and thorough. If you skip a step in your argument, your reader may get lost. I can’t stress enough: do not expect the reader to read your mind. Do not assume that your reader thinks like you do.
- Don’t be over-concerned with spelling and grammar for the first two drafts. This is the time to develop and revise your ideas.
- The second and third drafts should be substantial revisions. Remember that substantial revision is a re-seeing of the substance of your paper. Don’t be afraid to drastically change your thesis from one draft to the next, so long as you make sure that the rest of the paper supports (or can be revised to support) the new thesis.
- Do thoroughly proofread and edit for the third (final) draft.
Format:
- MLA – see pages 725-734 of the text for in-text (parenthetical) and works cited citations as well as the overall paper format (no title page, double-spaced, header bearing last name and page number, heading modified as follows, title).
- For your heading (on the left-hand corner of the first page), please use the following information:
First and Last Name
English 121-38 Paliobagis
Essay # Draft #
Date (this should be the date you turn this particular draft in)
- Paragraphs should be indented but NOT separated by an additional empty line.
- Works Cited may appear immediately at the end of the essay. A separate page is not required, but this does not count towards the expected length of the paper.
In short, formal essays should have:
-
- title
- intro
- thesis
- support including examples
- quotes from the texts with citations
- analysis
- conclusion
- works cited
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SOME NOTES ON THE STRUCTURE OF THE CLASS:
- Postings will be due approximately once per week.
- Major essays, of which there are three, will be composed in three drafts. But before you have a draft completed, we will talk about ideas, particularly working theses, in class. If you want to discuss your paper ideas with me, please come to my office hours, make an appointment with me, or email me; I would be happy to discuss any of your writing steps with you.
Draft 1 will be brought to class and you will work in small groups or pairs on each others’ papers, looking at things, in particular, we have discussed in class. This will NOT be editing or proofreading, but commenting and questioning which should lead toward REVISION. This is where you have an audience who will tell you, “I’m not sure what you are trying to say here,” “Can you explain this to me a bit more,” “Great example!”, etc. They will ask lots of “how” and “why” questions; they will tell you what is wonderful about your paper, but they will also point out places where you go off on tangents or overgeneralize. And as you are learning to be a better reader and constructive critic of others’ writings, I hope that you can then transfer that skill to reading and critiquing your own writing.
So, after in class work on Draft 1, you will take home a (very) marked-up paper, and revise it. I will circulate the room during peer-revision, but I will not have time at this juncture to read and comment on all of your first drafts.
I will, however, thoroughly read your 2nd drafts (and I will have the 1st drafts also to refer to if necessary). I will then meet with each of you individually to talk about your paper; you will have some written comments and some verbal comments. Then you will REVISE again so that you have a 3rd draft. THEN, you should polish the paper (edit & proofread, if you will), so that it is extra shiny, and turn it in. This 3rd and final polished draft will be the only draft which receives a grade (although your grade will suffer if you have not put in the effort in your first two drafts); it will also be graced with more comments.
REMEMBER, ANY TIME YOU WANT TO TALK TO ME ABOUT WRITING, I WILL FIND A WAY TO MAKE IT HAPPEN.
I ALSO HIGHLY RECOMMEND A VISIT TO THE WRITING CENTER. SESSIONS ARE FREE, BUT YOU DO NEED TO MAKE AN APPOINTMENT AHEAD OF TIME (994-5315). Locations to serve you in Wilson Hall, Renne Library, and some of the dorms. This is an invaluable resource. Tutors will help you talk through and organize ideas, read your papers for such things as Focus, Support, Organization, Clarity, Completeness, Logic, but they will NOT edit or proofread for you. They may have some tips, but this is something you have to work on on your own. Do take the time to look at some of the handouts from other University writing websites. Some useful links are to the right of this screen.
