Resource Author
DonohueResource Description
Instructor Lacey Donohue
E314L-Fall 2006
Unique: 34455
T Th 8:00-9:30 MEZ 1.122
PAPER ONE: These stories are sorta similar. My question is…so what?
Thursday, September 14 – Thursday September 28 – I highly suggest you go out of your way to meet me in my office hours (T Th 9:30-11:00 or by appt) to discuss topics, thesis statements, or the general direction of your paper. Also, consider making an appointment at the UWC. If you start this paper the night before, it is likely your grade will reflect your effort.
Tuesday, September 26 – OPTIONAL first draft due. If you would like my written feedback on a completed first draft, you must turn one in at the beginning of class.
Tuesday, October 3 – PAPER ONE DUE
We have spent several weeks of class discussing short stories and poetry written by Sandra Cisneros, Helena Maria Viramontes, Ray Gonzalez, and raulsalinas. We have read, we have discussed, we have briefly written, and we have, hopefully, had some fun. Now what?
Assignment:
Choose two texts we have read this semester (and by texts I mean one individual story or poem). Make sure you choose two texts that genuinely interest you, though you may not discuss the same two texts from RR#2 (though one may remain the same). Remember: if you find the texts boring, imagine how boring I will find your paper.
Decide what kind of critic you will be for this paper: will you look at a formal aspect of the text? Cultural? Historical? Once you decide what kind of critic you will be, choose a specific topic to focus on: for instance, you may look at narrator, narrative structure, use of language, word choice, American history, Mexican American history, Chicano politics, American politics, gender, family, sexuality, art, religion or any infinite number of issues explicitly forming the text, surrounding the text, or embedded within the text (sound familiar?). After you choose your topic, begin analyzing the ways in which this specific topic plays out in both texts.
What separates this paper from RR#2 will be the addition of an argument that answers the question “So what?” To begin with, both texts use, analyze, discuss, or incorporate “X” (“X” is your topic). So what? Potential “so what?” questions to answer in your paper are: how does this affect your reading of the texts? The audience reception? How does it dialogue with readers? With popular culture? With literary form?
Your goal should be to develop an original and interesting thesis regarding one aspect of two different texts and why it is even important and / or interesting to put the texts in dialogue with each other.
Example thesis: In Cisneros’s Woman Hollering Creek and Viramontes’s Birthday, both main characters struggle with the implications of impending motherhood. As a result, the authors, though their characters ultimately make different decisions, portray the difficulty facing young mothers / women in the US.
Finally, the one last thing you will have to do in this paper is answer in ONE SENTENCE (either after your concluding paragraph or on a new page) the following question: Why did you choose to write your paper on this topic? Though you will put this at the end of the paper, I suggest answering it before you start writing. Knowing there is a reason you are writing this paper will keep you focused and interested.
Requirements:
1. The essay should be 2-3 pages.
2. Your paper must be formatted according to MLA guidelines (this means 12 point Times font, 1 inch margins, no title page, etc).
3. Papers turned in on time, stapled, black ink, NO EXCEPTIONS.
4. You must have a works cited page that (correctly) cites your sources, though I highly encourage you to not use any outside sources for this paper.
5. It should follow the conventions of standard English and grammar.
6. You should render your argument in stylish and interesting prose.
7. You should consider visiting the Undergraduate Writing Center.*
8. You must turn in copies of the articles used to write your paper if you really feel you must rely on secondary sources.
Final Reminders:
1. Remember: stick to the text. Let your text help you make the argument.
2. Use explicit textual examples in your analysis (this means use quotes.)
3. You are smart and clever and fully capable of doing this assignment on your own. Resist the urge to do internet “research.” It is you I want to hear.
*Undergraduate Writing Center: The UWC is a resource available to all undergraduates. You’ll spend 45 minutes with a consultant working on your writing. If you go, bring hard copies of your assignment sheet and draft. They help with all phases of composition, including brainstorming. The earlier you go, the more they can help. They’ll see you up to three times for the same assignment, but they won’t see you less than two hours before an assignment is due. They take walk-ins but recommend that you call ahead of time to make an appointment (471-6222). Location: FAC 211. Hours: Monday-Thursday, 9-8. Friday, 9-3.