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Assignment
| Requirements | Feedback | Sources
| Topics | Directions | Submitting Final Draft | Grading Criteria
Assignment
After choosing ONE of the questions below (or one of your own that you
have run by me before writing the rough draft), write an essay which
answers it. This is an argumentative essay, so you need to include a
clear thesis which states your point, and the three or four reasons
(taken from the story you're writing about) which led you to your
point.
Your
paragraphs should be constructed around your reasons, and each should
offer examples from the story to prove the validity of your claim, and
then a clear and detailed explanation of how and why these examples
support the claim in your paragraph.
While this
essay must include at least two secondary sources (see Secondary Sources
page), the main emphasis is on your own thinking: the research doesn't
determine what you say in your essay -- you do. The quotations from
literary critics, the author's letters, interviews, or other books from
the time period will support your own ideas.
While you can use sources from the assigned readings, at least one source will be from your own search.
Your rough
draft does not need to include your secondary sources.
Requirements
A minimum of 1250 words is required, as are a minimum of two secondary
sources (reminder -- general encyclopedias, dictionaries, and the
primary source itself do not count as secondary sources -- though if
used, they have to be cited).
Getting
Feedback
To help guide your revision, you will make an appointment with me to
review your rough draft. This needs to be done at least one day before
the final draft is due. Sign in on the sheet posted on my office door
(R211). If the times do not work for you, check with me as soon as
possible so we can make other arrangements. You should also make an
appointment in the Writing Center (R124 or call 732.255.0400 x2083) and
have one of the tutors review your essay.
Sources
The first place to check for sources is the library's databases
(accessed via the Library Link). History, psychology, anthropology, or
sociology textbooks are also very good sources. See me for several
other sources as well.
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To
make it clear, do not use quotes from the open web ( as in sources
found through an open web search via Google, Bing, etc.). Wikipedia is not
considered a scholarly source nor are general encyclopedias
(Britannica, etc.) and dictionaries. If you choose to use these
sources, the highest grade you can receive is a D.
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Naturally,
you must correctly document your sources using MLA parenthetical
documentation style.
Topics
- In an interview, O'Brien writes
that "If there is a theme to the whole book it has to do with the fact
that stories can save our lives" (qtd. in Publishers 202). How does the
novel show this? Trace out this theme in the novel by showing that,
indeed, the novel does argue that "stories can save our lives."
- Though ostensibly a war novel, the
stories touch on many other issues as well. What, for instance, does
the novel suggest about ideas such as love, or how people cope, innocence, guilt or
_____ (idea of your own)? Your goal in this essay is to narrow down to
one idea and then state this clearly in your thesis statement (i.e.
"the novel says that love helps by ____; " or "the novel says that
people cope by ________"), then argue how the novel illustrates this
single theme in your divisions.
- Much of the novel deals with
questions of truth: write an essay that first states O'Brien's
definition of truth ("For O'Brien truth is _______.") and then explains
how the novels illustrates this definition. (see readings under "Truth" on Sources for Body Paragraph 2). Another way of getting at this question is to explain how O'Brien fools readers.
- Connected to this idea of truth is
the idea of history. How does O'Brien undercut the idea of history as
fact in this novel? How does he get readers to question what they read
in the newspaper? How does he make it difficult to read an "eyewitness"
report or a historical overview of a topic and just accept another
person's conclusion or version of "what happened"? This will become
even clearer after watching Two Days in October.
- How does one of the questions
O'Brien raises in the novel -- the slipperiness of truth, the ease with
which people can be fooled, the apathy and willful ignorance of much
American society, etc. -- manifest itself in 21st century America?
Another way of answering this question is to ask yourself "How is this
novel still relevant?"
- The Vietnam War left O'Brien with a
variety of experiences, which in turn led to a novel, Things
They Carried, which can be interpreted in a variety of ways.
The documentary Two Days in October (OCC library)
and Hearts and Minds (OCC library, and the essays
"The
Whole Thing Was a Lie" and "The
Hollow Man" show that many others shared his view of the war
or experienced similar events. Write an essay that traces a single
thread through at least two of these secondary sources and the novel
itself.
- Another question you'd like to
explore? Check with me for approval.
Directions
Be sure you have read and understood the definitions of an essay,
thesis and division statement, topic sentences, introduction, and
conclusion included in "The Glossary."
Follow the
suggestions in "Planning
and Drafting an Essay." Remember to check with me if you have
any questions or concerns.
Remember
that while your final draft must include secondary sources, the bulk of
your quotes/examples must be from the primary source/s. If your essay
contains only a few quotes from the primary source, your grade will
reflect this lack of work with the issue at hand -- namely, the novel
itself. Submitting Final Draft
Click on the Assignments link from our Canvas page and then follow the instructions for Final Draft of Essay 2.
Grading
Criteria
To receive a passing grade, you must successfully complete the
following:
Organization: Have a clear thesis
statement which suggests how a particular question is valid. You must
also include a clear division statement which is then developed in
separate paragraphs with clear topic sentences.
Content: Paragraphs that use
specific quotes and examples from the story to prove your point -- AND
a full and complete discussion on why and how that particular quote or
word proves your point. REMEMBER: examples do not speak for themselves
-- the core of a good literary essay is in your commentary and
explanations of the examples.
Proofreading: Sentences that are
clear and no more than 4 major errors. Correctly documented sources: at
least two outside sources (such as literary criticism, letters of the
author, interviews, other works by the author) are needed.
Major errors: Sentence fragments,
run-on sentences, verb-tense error, subject-verb agreement error,
unclear phrasing/tangled wording, documentation, formatting, and
spelling/wrong word error.
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