English homework help

English homework help.

Major Paper #1 for ENC 1102 at MDC WOLFSON with Prof. Natasha Hammond: Short Story Analysis Essay

 

Assignment as paraphrased from the Allyn and Bacon’s Guide to Writing:  Your goal is to pose an interpretive question about a short story which is quickly answered in the form of your thesis statement in your introduction and is responded to analytically throughout the remainder of your essay where you show your readers where and how the text of the story supports your interpretation.”

 

You may use any short story of your choice WITH EXCPETIONS: The story of your choice is fine  AS LONG AS WE ARE NOT not covering the short story in our short story class activities this term: in other words, DO NOT use “Sweat” by Zora Neale Hurston, “The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allan Poe, and “The Gospel According to Mark” by Jorge Luis Borges. You also CANNOT USE “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” by Ambrose Bierce of “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin since they are both used at samples and/or are used in Online Activity Seven.

 

“In the introduction to your essay, pose an interesting, problematic, and significant question about the story, one that can be answered several different ways according to the evidence in the text.  Look for a question that might lead to differences in opinion among your classmates and that offers readers new insights into the story.  Your task in this assignment is not to discover the right way to interpret the text, but to explain and defend your way of reading some aspect of it.

 

Using a closed-form structure, present your thesis about the story and provide your supporting arguments.  Before you give your thesis, make clear just what question you are putting to the text and why.   It is this question that engages your readers’ interest and makes them look forward to your analysis.  (In other words, no one should ask, “Who cares?” after reading your introductory paragraph).

 

Then, in the body of your paper, explain your own responses to this question, contrasting your answer with other possible interpretations that (may) have been proposed by your classmates (or others) or that you yourself have considered.

 

You need to provide the citation/integration of at least two secondary sources which provide a critique regarding the story.  This DOES NOT include the short story, which is a “primary source!”  You should dispute “alternative interpretations” but “concentrate the majority of your paper on showing your reader how you arrived at your interpretation and why you think that interpretation is valuable.  Use details from the story (and appropriate secondary sources) for support.”

 

Some good questions can arise from the elements of fiction discussion in Chapters 1-7 of your Backpack Literature textbook as well as the general questions one can ask of literature involving text, author, culture, and reader.    You also might want to look at the various class notes I have mentioned under our “Class Notes” section on Blackboard.

 

Evaluation Criteria

 -Provision of a fairly original interpretive question about a short story with an analytical response to it showing readers where and how the text of the story supports your interpretation through the use of both details from the story itself and secondary sources.

-The consideration and integration in writing of the ideas of at least two outside/secondary sources, which provide a historical, cultural, and/or critical context, which provide support in formulating a debatable thesis/argument about a short story.

-Few grammatical errors; adherence to MLA style.

 

Requirements and GuidelinesAll drafts and the final product must be typed, doubled-spaced, Times New Roman (or other acceptable 12 pt. Font).  Your margins must be one inch, and you must have a proper MLA heading of four lines and a centered title with all pages numbered as per MLA stipulations (consult either of your texts).

 

DUE DATES The final product in the form of a hard copy on due on Tuesday, June 23, 2020 by 6:30PM and must be 4-6 pages in length not including the Works Cited page to the Turnitin.com section of Blackboard on our class website under “Major Paper ONE.”  If this section has not been created already (“Turnitin.com”) on Blackboard, it will be soon—located within the left hand menu of our Blackboard class website. 

 

ALL CLASSESThe FINAL VERSION (final draft only) must also be submitted to my e-mail account at nhammond@mdc.edu

 

THEREFORE: YOU MUST TURN IN TWO ELECTRONIC COPIES:  ONE TO TURNITIN.COM VIA BLACKBOARD AND THE OTHER TO MY E-MAIL ACCOUNT AT: nhammond@mdc.edu

English homework help