Write a well-organized, effectively developed 3-5 page
analysis of a story or novel we discussed in Weeks 1-4. The paper should
critically analyze the way the text engages a significant issue of social
responsibility. You should anchor the papers argument with a clearly
articulated thesis statement and use careful analysis of textual evidence from
the story to support your claims. While you analyze the story, you should
consider how the social issue from the story relates to a local issue in your
own community or to a significant regional, national, or global issue. How does
the story help you understand better the social issue or the issue of social
responsibility in the contemporary world? Do you observe similarities or
differences or both between the social issue in the story and in your own
world?
Possible Areas of Focus:
Colonialism and/or empire; cultural difference, cultural
negotiation, and/or cultural discrimination; religious discrimination; class
and/or economic oppression; national identity controversies; globalization
and/or neo-colonialism; gender equality; tradition vs. modernity.
Minimum Requirements:
our essay should be a
Word document that is double spaced, with 1-inch margins, in 12-pt., Times New
Roman (or some other easily readable) font. Follow the MLAs recommendations
for formatting, citation, and style.
In order to receive a passing grade on the signature
assignment, students are expected to:
write an essay that is at least 3 pages long, but no more
than 5.
integrate two appropriate sources.
have a thesis.
have a title.
incorporate evidence (i.e., quotations) from the literary
text.
have a Works Cited page.
Other requirements:
Put an MLA heading on the left-hand side of the paper.
Give your paper an original title which hints at your thesis
or reflects your argument; highlight or underline your thesis statement.
Support the thesis in several body paragraphs by analyzing
specific details, examples, and quotes from the story.
Document sources (e.g., quotes) using MLA Style.
Provide a List of Works Cited; the Works Cited page does not
count toward the length requirement for the paper.
Submit your essay as a Word document using Unicheck in
Lesson 3; the Unicheck Tool monitors for plagiarism.
The essay is due by 11:59 p.m. on Sunday of Week 3.
Critical thinking and communication skills
For this essay, you need to form an opinion/make a claim and
develop an argument about a social issue in a story or novel we discussed in
Weeks 1-4. Your opinion or position will be formulated into a thesis statement,
and you need to defend your position using textual evidence examples and
quotations from the story and from outside sources.
In your introduction, you will create interest and provide
the context for your argument and present your thesis statement. Your thesis
will provide an interpretation of the texts main theme by explaining what the
story suggests about a particular topic (e.g., colonialism, cultural change,
tradition, etc.) through an aspect of the work (e.g., character/s, symbolism,
motif, title, imagery, etc.).
In the body of the essay, you will discuss specific points
that support your thesis, elaborating on your interpretation with examples and
commentary. You will analyze your examples and quotes by explaining their
significance. Dont assume that your reader will know why you find a specific
quote or example significant; you need to explain why it is significant or what
it reveals about a symbol or character or a theme. You will also integrate
outside sources to support or develop your points about the story, to engage in
a conversation with critics you agree or disagree with, and/or to provide
historical context relevant to your argument about the story. Keep the use of
outside sources and the length of quotes from outside sources to a minimum;
this is your paper and should mainly focus on your argument about the story.
Always follow a quote with a commentary of your own linking the quote to your
own argument.
Each body paragraph must begin with a topic sentence. A
topic sentence is an idea or a claim that explains what point you will be
arguing in that paragraph. You can think of a topic sentence as a mini-thesis
statement for that paragraph. Notice that a topic sentence is not a statement
of fact. Rather, a topic sentence is a claim about the story directly related
to your thesis.
In the second part of the essay, you will explain how the
story sheds light on a contemporary social issue or on contemporary attitudes
about a problem of social responsibility. You may discover that even though
story you are analyzing is set in a different epoch or a different culture, it
helps us understand similarities or differences across culture and time.
In the conclusion, you will summarize your main points and
discuss the larger significance of the text for todays readers and end with
something memorable.
Personal responsibility
Responsible integration of sources
Students must
properly integrate material from two secondary sources into their analysis in a
way that gives credit to the authors whose ideas and language they are
incorporating. This is not a research paper or a summary of the work of
literature, but a paper in which you draw on secondary sources to communicate
an interpretive argument about your chosen text through the lens of social
responsibility. Instructors may wish to require their students to take the UTA
Librarys plagiarism tutorial available at
assignment, not part of the signature assignment.
Secondary sources
You should use two
secondary sources to support your own claims, to engage in a conversation with
other critics who you agree or disagree with, and/or to provide historical
context relevant to your argument about the story. Make sure you keep the use
of secondary sources and the length of quotes from these sources to a minimum.
Always provide a commentary/analysis of your quote. This is your papers and
should mainly focus on your argument about the novel!
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