Article writing homework help
Article writing homework help. ACMB01 – (PRELIMINARY) Research Essay – Spring 2020
Theatre, Atrocity, and Memory: Jackie Sibblies Drury’s “We Are Proud to Present a Presentation about the Herero of Namibia, Formerly Known as Southwest Africa, from the German Sudwestafrika, between the Years 1884-1915”
“You guys just did some amazing work.
Really great.
But we can’t keep stopping like this.
We need to stay in it and move
Or we’re never going to figure out this whole genocide thing.” (Drury 82)
| But First…. A Note from the ACMB01 Curricular Coordinator, Dr. Sarah Lynn Kleeb: Dear Students, We are currently living in an exceptional time, where many changes are taking place – some quickly, some less so – both within the course and within the university. The original draft of this assignment guide has been prepared for some time, to be circulated in class the week classes were moved online. However, the past few weeks have required some reconsideration of how to conclude the course. All ACMB01 instructors have met to decide on some modifications to trajectory and details of this assignment (e.g., length requirements). These have been incorporated into this document. However, please do note that some things (e.g., due dates) may yet be subject to change. It is still unclear whether the university will extend its time for submission of term work. As of today (March 22), the due date for this assignment remains unchanged: April 3, 2020, 11:59pm. If this changes, you will be notified by the university, and your instructor will reach out with any needed specifics. As well, I am in continuous contact with our departmental administration, looking into the possibility of sharing some recorded segments of the play’s performance, for those who were unable to attend. Just which and how many clips to be made available is yet to be determined, but you will be updated as soon as there is information to pass on, and any videos will be made available to you on Quercus. If you were unable to retrieve a copy of the text from the campus bookstores or campus library system, do note that Amazon.ca has a Kindle version (electronic, delivered to your device immediately), for just over $10. I truly hope that you are all well, and that you are faring as well as can be hoped under this added stress. I know every ACMB01 instructor is looking forward to seeing our students reflect on this phenomenal play and their independent research. Please know that we all value your thoughts and reflections immensely and are immeasurably proud of the work you’ve done – and continue doing – this term. Please do not hesitate to reach out to your instructor for support. Your instructor should be in regular contact with you, but if you think there is something specific I can do to support you, you are welcome to contact me at sarah.kleeb@mail.utoronto.ca . With my warmest regards, Dr. Kleeb |
Prompt
Jackie Sibblies Drury’s play, “We Are Proud to Present a Presentation about the Herero of Namibia, Formerly Known as Southwest Africa, from the German Sudwestafrika, between the Years 1884-1915”, covers a lot of difficult, turbulent ground. At once a work of metatheatre and a postdramatic lesson on the complexities of unfolding genocides – complexities felt by both victims and perpetrators of such genocides – Drury’s play encourages the audience to reflect on issues of genocide, memory, and human complicity in atrocities, while also disclosing a little-known history. By reading and viewing Drury’s play, and by researching themes related to the play, you are able to make unique connections for your reader, showing them how scholars have thought about the issues raised in this play, and how the play itself communicates such information in an artistic format.
Instructions:
For your final two major writing assignments for the course, you have composed an annotated bibliography, and will now write a research essay (due April 3, 2020). These two assignments are connected: the resources you explored in your annotated bibliography will likely become the sources you use to support your thesis and claims in the research essay. Building on the research you have done in your annotated bibliography, bring your sources into conversation with one another, to present your reader with a researched essay that enables them to see the connections between your research and the play itself.
Like an argument essay, a research project provides a thesis and supports that thesis through research, observation, and analysis/claims. A research essay in this context will bring together multiple sources that address a common theme (or set of themes) relevant to the play and the thesis you want to support, based in the research you have done for your annotated bibliography. The thesis will draw on this research, demonstrating how it has shaped your understanding of “We Are Proud to Present…” and the kinds of issues it raises. What do you want readers to understand about this play, this history, these patterns, and what scholars have had to say about these? What kind of thesis – about the play, and/or about the issues raised in the play – can you build, based on the scholarship you have reviewed for your annotated bibliography?
Content Notes
Due to the recent and unforeseeable circumstances with COVID-19, students unable to see the theatrical performance of the play may refer exclusively to the textual version of the play. As noted above, we are also trying to secure some recorded segments of the performance (though a full recording is not going to be possible). Updates on this will be made as soon as they are available to you.
As well, you have some decisions on how you approach this assignment. Usually, in ACMB01, this final theatrical performance is the core object of engagement in the research essay. This may not be possible in the same ways this term. You can certainly make the play (performance and/or script) the centerpiece of the essay, to which you apply insights collected from your scholarly research in the annotated bibliography. If you would prefer to focus on developing the issues you discovered in the annotated bibliography more deeply, the play can act more as one point of reference among others. The play remains a required resource, but you may use it as an object to which you apply analysis, or you may use it as an example of a media text that represents issues found in your research.
Assignment Details
Length: 1300-1750 words, including a separate Works Cited page. Do not include a title page.
Sources: Your research essay should bring together no fewer than 7 academic sources, in addition to the play itself (text, performance, or both), for a total of 8 minimum sources (9 sources, if you use both the text and performance of the play). Many or all of these sources should carry over from your annotated bibliography. Note that there are fewer sources “required” for the essay. As you get into the process of writing, you may find that a few resources are not as useful as you initially thought they would be, as you refine your thesis and argumentation. This is simply part of the process of writing – sometimes, you get rid of a few sources; sometimes, you add a few sources. You simply need to see where the essay takes you, and what you need to support your ideas. Just note that cramming in a source simply because it was in the annotated bibliography is not required; just as every paragraph, sentence, and word in your essay should serve a particular purpose, so should every resource.
Format and Citation: Your essay must follow MLA 8 guidelines for both citation and page layout (formatting). A complete resource for MLA 8 essay formatting and citation is available here, in the Purdue OWL:
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/
If we receive videos from the performance, the Purdue OWL has specific notes on citing multimedia recordings:
https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/chicago_manual_17th_edition/cmos_formatting_and_style_guide/audiovisual_recordings_and_other_multimedia.html
A guide for citing a live theatrical performance in MLA 8 can be found here:
https://guides.lib.monash.edu/c.php?g=219786&p=4061371
Note that the text of the play can be cited like any other book.
Incorrect formatting and/or citation will result in a deduction of up to one full letter grade.
Other Resources that May Help You:
Along with the research you have done, to help expand your intellectual repertoire, you may also want to review the following document (especially if you did get to attend the play, [or if we are able to see substantial recorded portions of the play]). This will help you think through the general structure and approach you might want to utilize in the assignment, as a research essay that may have an analytic review component to it.
https://writing.wisc.edu/handbook/assignments/playreview/
Due date: April 5, 2020, 11:59pm (Due date updated March 26). Essays should be submitted on Quercus. Submissions must be in .doc, .docx, or .pdf format. No other formats will be accepted. Note that April 3rd is (currently) the last day to submit term assignments, per UTSC policy. Students will be updated if this changes.
Works Cited
Drury, Jackie Sibblies. We Are Proud to Present a Presentation about the Herero of Namibia, Formerly Known as Southwest Africa, from the German Sudwestafrika, between the Years 1884-1915. Bloomsbury, 2014.