Audience: the class members who have already read your short story (summary is
unnecessary).
PURPOSE: to RESPOND with a narrative to the theme, plot or a character from one of the four short stories that we have read and discussed in class.
Length: Have at least two-to-three, FULL, typed, double-spaced pages of text
without counting the heading information on the first page. MORE is OK.
****Pre-Writing****
--Pick ONE of the four stories read by the class and from your class textbook.
--Find a connection with the story because either you are female and the narrator is female or because the story speaks about something you know well. (For example, my Irish background might help me connect to “Araby” or my relationship with my older brother might help me connect to “Sonny’s Blues.”)
--Use careful annotations to make sure you understand all the intricacies of the story and how these parts of the story trigger your response. (Use pp 92-101 in Responding to Literature for help.)
****Drafting****
--Make sure you have a title for your essay, other than the story’s title. Use your
connection with the story as a “hook” for your reader, to pull them into your essay.
--State a clear point/thesis somewhere in the beginning of the essay, which clearly establishes your response to the story. Be sure this thesis is clearly stated and obvious to any reader. It doesn’t have to be the last sentence of the fist paragraph—a traditional place—but it should be up front somewhere.
--Use the body of your essay for evidence which supports your response to the story you have chosen (remember that a quote from the story should be followed by the author’s name and the page number(s) from the class text in parentheses).
--Use the conclusion to reiterate your thesis--not verbatim--and to wrap up your argument, making a final point in YOUR OWN WORDS.
--Use the model essay draft and revision on pp. 96-7 & 99-101 for help in writing your own draft for peer-critiquing and for revising.
--Follow the calendar attached to your syllabus for all due dates.
****Revising****
--Start with your peer-critiques and the critiquers’ suggestions and see Chapter 3 in our class text for help here.
--Use the MLA paper format listed in either of the class texts (MLA format means one-inch margins, 10 or 12 point font, regular typing or computer paper, no title page, 4-part heading in the upper left, etc.) (See LB Brief Handbook.)
--DO NOT USE ANY OUTSIDE SOURCES FOR THIS ASSIGNMENT!!!!!!!!!!!! AVOID
PLAGIARISM!!!
--ALSO, BE SURE TO USE A PROCESS TO WRITE THIS PAPER AND BE READY TO TURN IN THE WHOLE PROCESS ON THE DUE DATE. (FOLLOW THE SUGGESTIONS ON THE WRITING PROCESS IN Chapter 4 of our class text. A final draft withoUT process will NOT be graded. SOME EVIDENCE OF PROCESS MUST BE PRESENT. SEE YOUR SYLLABUS FOR MORE INFORMATION.)
NOTE: Remember to trust the instincts you have
developed from reading and annotating stories and discussing them in class
these past weeks. If you have any
problems along the way, stop by my office and see me or go to the