First Essay Summer 2020

750-1000 Word Essay

 The purpose of this essay is to analyze one of the following texts

1. 1. “I’m Nobody! Who are you?” by Emily Dickinson
   2. “I measure every Grief I meet” by Emily Dickinson
   3. “Mother to Son” by Langston Hughes
   4. “Theme for English B” by Langston Hughes
2. Your essay should be approximately 750 to 1000 words long.
3. Your essay must include an introduction, three body paragraphs (minimum), and a conclusion. You essay must include a thematic statement, which should appear as the final or the penultimate sentence of your introduction.
4. You will develop the thematic statement yourself. Remember that a thematic statement must present a complex, nuanced, arguable interpretive claim about the text’s theme(s). It should be insightful and specific enough that you can actually develop and explore and complicate the ideas in the space of this relatively short essay. Avoid vague, general thematic statements.

2. This essay will be turned in by midnight July 3rd.
3. You will receive three sub-category grades (for Content, Organization, and Expression) and a cumulative total grade.
4. You may not refer to outside resources. If your paper contains any plagiarized ideas or phrases, you will fail the paper (receive a zero).
   1. NB: We will cover these texts together in class. You are allowed to use any ideas we discuss together in class. You are not allowed to get ideas or phrases from outside sources (the internet, friends, paper mills, family, etc.).
5. If you want feedback, please do not ask me to look at your writing and tell you if “it’s good.” That question is too vague. Instead, try to focus your questions on specific aspects of your drafts.
6. I cannot evaluate ideas/writing by MIO. I’m happy to discuss your ideas during Thursday’s writing workshop or in one-on-one conferences on Zoom.
7. You may use your class notes, readings, dictionaries, and anything that we’ve discussed together as a class.
8. There is no need to use the internet for supplementary research. I want to see your ideas, and your ideas only. If the phrasing or ideas of your essay bear a marked similarity to an online source (or to another student paper), you will receive a zero for plagiarism. The best way to avoid this is to avoid online sources.

DETAILED INSTRUCTIONS ABOUT THE ASSIGNMENT

Write a 750-1000 word analytical essay that develops a thematic statement about one of the poems mentioned above. In your supporting analysis, be sure to explain how the author uses literary techniques or devices to construct, develop, explore, or complicate that theme. Make specific, detailed references (with quotes) to the reading to support your interpretation.

This essay is worth 20% of your final grade.

Your essay should include the following:

INTRODUCTORY PARAGRAPH

• Use the first 2-4 sentences to bring the reader in (without using a broad and irrelevant hook). Think about these first few sentences as your chance to “frame” an issue that you are thinking about (and that you’d like the reader to think about) in preparation for introducing your actual argument.
• Then, at the end of the introductory paragraph, you must include a thematic statement, which should be one or two sentences and should:
• Identify the title of the text
• Identify the author’s full name
• Offer a complex, specific, coherent, and nuanced thematic interpretation of the work.

THREE BODY PARAGRAPHS. Each body paragraph must include:

• A topic sentence that presents the main claim of that particular paragraph—the specific interpretive insight/angle you’ll be focusing your analysis on. The claim should be nuanced & specific enough that you can develop it in the space of the paragraph. The claim in the body paragraph’s topic sentence should provide logical support to the claim in the thematic statement. The claim in the topic sentence also sets the “agenda” for the body paragraph. It tells your reader what you’ll be attempting to demonstrate and explore in this focused, unified paragraph.
• Specific, relevant evidence (ideally quotations, but also—to a limited extent—examples, summary and paraphrase) from the text to support your claim. Each paragraph must explicitly analyze at least one Do not just “drop” quotes into the text. Frame the quotes with relevant information like, “When the couple enters the room, already arguing and displaying signs of stress, the husband chides the wife by noting…” or a similar statement to set up the quote.
• Where possible, identification of relevant literary techniques and devices used by the author in the selected evidence.
  • Many literary techniques and devices are listed on the handout on Léa. There are many that you could consider. Some that we’ve talked about in class include:
    • Looking at how the author uses allusions or analogies to complicate and express the theme.
    • Looking at how the author uses alliteration, rhyme, dissonance, assonance, onomatopoeia, line breaks, enjambment, etc. to complicate and express the theme.
    • Looking at how the author uses specific elements of personification or characterization (for the speaker or for the figure being addressed) to complicate and express theme.
    • Looking at how the author uses specific elements of imagery to convey the theme.
    • Looking at how the author uses irony to convey the theme.
    • Looking at the tone of a given passage.
    • Looking for any figurative language the author employs—such as metaphor or similes.
    • Looking for any repetition, oxymoron, paradox, patterns, contrasts, catalogues, lists, enumerations, or contradictions.
    • Looking for the effect of structure—how different pieces of the poem follow one another, how the poem progresses or shifts from beginning to end, whether the poem is divided into meaningful sections, etc.
  • Interpretation and analysis of the text. Basically, you need to be sure that you actually analyze your quotes in a way that highlights their significance. So you need to use interpretation and analysis in order to reflect on the evidence: you need to show your thinking on the page. Perhaps most importantly, you need to reflect on the importance of specific language choices made by the author. So, explain why the author uses these certain literary techniques, descriptions and details. How do these elements contribute to the development of the theme in the story and how do they support your claims about what the story is trying to say?
  • Concluding sentence that summarizes the main idea/contribution/insight of the body paragraph and explains how it connects to the overall thesis of the essay.

CONCLUSION PARAGRAPH

• You could simply, sum up and repeat all your points, but given the fact that this is a relatively short essay there’s no real purpose to mechanically repeating what you’ve just said. The reader doesn’t need a dull, formulaic recitation of your paper. So, think about how you can instead use this paragraph to consider the implications, significance, or impact of your preceding analysis. For more ideas on what to do in the conclusion, read through this document to the end.

 Your essay should feature strong writing, which ideally includes:

• Clear expression of your ideas using accurate and concise wording
• Proper integration of quotes into your sentences
• Proper grammar and spelling

I will grade your essays according to the following criteria. These are the same criteria used to grade the English Exit Exam.

USE THE FOLLOWING FORMATTING STYLE

[Type your name here; remove the square brackets]

Mr. Adam

Class name:

27 June 2019

TITLE of your essay goes here

This is your introductory paragraph. Rather than using a broad and goofy “hook” (like “Since the dawn of time, humankind has used drama to understand who we are”) to engage your reader, think about how you can frame the issue in a focused way that draws the reader’s attention to the specific fissures and complexities you’ll be exploring in your analysis. Is there maybe a tension or contradiction that catches your critical eye? Maybe something that readers tend to overlook or, alternatively, struggle with in the text? Why not use your first few sentences to highlight that problem, so that you can gracefully background your thematic statement? Your thematic statement (a full sentence or two identifying the author’s full name, the title of the work, and presenting a complex, nuanced, specific statement of the story’s theme) appears here.

Topic sentence of the first body paragraph goes here; it organizes this paragraph, presents a clear claim about a unique aspect or feature of the story, and logically supports the thematic statement. Now, in the second sentence, you’ll prepare us for your evidence (likely a quote, possibly a very focused paraphrase). Here’s comes your first quote, which you’re setting up by noting that so-and-so does “blah blah blah.” This sentence right here begins the analysis of the quote. Your analysis of the quote may point out a specific literary device or technique we’ve discussed in class (some aspect of characterization, plot, dialogue, repetition, setting, irony, pattern, contrast, etc.) or may simply make insightful observations about how the language used by the author provides support for your claim (contained in the topic sentence of this paragraph). In this, your concluding sentence, you state an insight or observation or perspective that has been gained by your analysis.

Topic sentence of the second body paragraph goes here; it organizes this paragraph, presents a clear claim about a unique aspect or feature of the story, and logically supports the thematic statement. Now, in the second sentence, you’ll prepare us for your evidence (likely a quote, possibly a very focused paraphrase). Here’s comes your first quote, which you’re setting up by noting that so-and-so does “blah blah blah.” This sentence right here begins the analysis of the quote. Your analysis of the quote may point out a specific literary device or technique we’ve discussed in class (some aspect of characterization, plot, dialogue, repetition, setting, irony, pattern, contrast, etc.) or may simply make insightful observations about how the language used by the author provides support for your claim (contained in the topic sentence of this paragraph). In this, your concluding sentence, you state an insight or observation or perspective that has been gained by your analysis.

Topic sentence of the third body paragraph goes here; it organizes this paragraph, presents a clear claim about a unique aspect or feature of the story, and logically supports the thematic statement. Now, in the second sentence, you’ll prepare us for your evidence (likely a quote, possibly a very focused paraphrase). Here’s comes your first quote, which you’re setting up by noting that so-and-so does “blah blah blah.” This sentence right here begins the analysis of the quote. Your analysis of the quote may point out a specific literary device or technique we’ve discussed in class (some aspect of characterization, plot, dialogue, repetition, setting, irony, pattern, contrast, etc.) or may simply make insightful observations about how the language used by the author provides support for your claim (contained in the topic sentence of this paragraph). In this, your concluding sentence, you state an insight or observation or perspective that has been gained by your analysis.

This is your conclusion paragraph. Rather than “summing up” (i.e., mechanically repeating) everything you’ve said above, think about the conclusion this way: it is your chance to consider the collective impact of the preceding analysis. If you’ve made your body paragraph points cogently and compellingly, the reader won’t have forgotten what you’ve said. This means the reader really doesn’t need to be reminded of everything you said in the previous 500 words. Instead, think of the conclusion as your chance to reflect on and digest the implications of your insights. You just used the body paragraphs to lead the reader through a compelling and nuanced and artfully connected analysis. Where do those points leave us? Discuss the most urgent implications here in your conclusion paragraph.