Essays

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(Updated 2/10/2012)

You will write two, three- to four-page, typed essays this semester.  In both essays you should make an interpretive argument about the work that you support with direct evidence from the text and your own analysis and reasoning.  Your essay will be your opinion, but you must support your opinion with reasons, explanation, and quotations.  All essays should have an introduction and clearly stated thesis framing the argument.  Make sure your topic is narrow enough to develop in the prescribed length. See academic honesty statement below.

For the first essay I will give you ten topics from which to choose (see below). If none of them interests you, you may propose your own topic to me (I encourage you to do so).

Here are some possibilities for other topics: 

There are many other possibilities, but no matter what topic you select, make sure you answer the so what? question in your essay (subtly clarify why your topic is worthwhile).  For example, don’t just argue that Dickens uses indirect characterization, but explain how he uses this device for a particular purpose (to make a specific point about religion).  See me if you are uncertain about your topic. I strongly encourage you to submit your thesis to me before getting too far along.  Here's a link to a good sample essay that was written in a previous class--Shelley paper.

Topic selection/scheduling:

Major Errors

At this stage in your student career, you should not be making grammatical errors that significantly detract from verbal expression.  When these errors appear in resumes, they will send your application to the bottom of the stack, or when they appear in article submissions, they will send your essay to the rejection bin.  Essays which contain fragments, comma splices, and fused sentences; and also subject/verb agreement, pronoun/antecedent, verb tense, tense shift, and pronoun reference problems will be penalized by following the English Department's minimum standards guidelines.

General Suggestions/Guidelines for Writing about Literature:

  1. GET HELP FROM ME AT ANY STAGE IN THE WRITING PROCESS(PARTICULARLY THE TOPIC STAGE).
  2. Select a work and a topic in which you are interested; otherwise, the essay will be more painful than necessary to write.
  3. Examine the work carefully.  Review it several times, look for patterns or repetitions related to issues you’re interested in, and make careful annotations before you refine your thesis.
  4. Construct your argument with an organized plan or outline in which you determine 1) what you aim to do in each section; 2) how you will do it; and 3) what evidence/quotations you will use.  (This is part of the pre-writing process).
  5. Develop a clear, specific, unified thesis and argue for it; include the thesis at the end of your first paragraph or in a forecasting paragraph that follows your introduction.  (You may decide to change your thesis after drafting a couple of times.) E-mail your preliminary thesis to me, so I can give you some feedback.
  6. Use specific quotations to argue for and develop your thesis.  Clearly explain the importance of your evidence to your discussion.  Avoid strings of quotations that you fail to explain and relate to your topic. 
  7. Write beyond an obvious discussion; avoid plot summary and simple explication.  Remember, your audiences (your peers and I) have read the work. (Note: some teachers ask you not to make this assumption (which is certainly acceptable); however, be aware that I do.)
  8. Discuss your topics/essays with me during office hours before you get too far along.
  9. Write with a variety of clear, concise, grammatically correct sentences.
  10. Use clear topic sentences for paragraphs. 
  11. Use effective transitions between sections and points.
  12. Write literary analysis essays in present tense.
  13. Write a few drafts and wedge time between revisions. Ask peers to review your papers before you submit them. Don’t start the essay the night before it is due.
  14. Get help from the writing tutors in Mellinger Learning Center.
  15. I expect you to spend at least six to eight hours on each of the essays.

Do not use any outside sources on short essays without my written approval (dictionaries, biographical information, historical information excepted).  You may not use or consult Cliffs Notes, Sparknotes, or any comparable study guide.  You may not use ANY web source or conventionally written source.  If I determine that you have consulted a study guide on either essay, you will fail this course.

Academic Honesty:  In order for an academic community to thrive, members of that community must be able to trust the honesty and sincerity of communication between members. The very integrity of a college is grounded in academic honesty. One form of academic dishonesty that can undermine this integrity is plagiarism, intentionally or unintentionally copying the words or ideas from another source without giving that source credit. Because of the serious harm plagiarism causes an academic environment, I have zero tolerance for it: students who plagiarize will likely fail the class. Other form of academic honesty (including but not exclusive of, cheating, double submission, inappropriate collaboration)  may result in a range of penalties between zero on an assignment or failure of the class).  Do not hesitate to consult with me if you have questions about academic honesty.(For more information, see "Academic Dishonesty" in the college's catalog and pages 575-80 of Bedford.)

Documentation/Works Cited/Format

Use Modern Language Association (MLA) parenthetical documentation and a Works Cited page. Visit Bedford’s wonderful website at http://www.dianahacker.com/resdoc/humanities/intext.html for guidelines on in-text citations—pay special attention to item #10 on novels, plays, and poetry.

Common Mistakes:

Putting the period in the quotation instead of after the parenthetical note.

Failing to include slash marks to indicate line breaks.

Failing to block quotes of four or more lines.

Water, water every where,
And all the boards did shrink;
Water water, every where,
Nor any drop to drink. (119-22)

Note that there are no quotations around block quotes (unless there are quotes around the original quote as in dialogue. Also note that the period follows the quote and there is no period after the parenthetical note.

Essay Evaluation Sheet
English 221—

Name: Grade:

Grading Checklist  √+ = very good    √ = adequate    √- = needs work           - = poor

The writer. . .
Topic/Thesis

√ chooses a significant, meaningful topic
√ defines key terms
√ has an effective introduction which sets forth the gist of the argument
√ has an arguable thesis
 

Development/Analysis

√ uses specific evidence from the text (quotations) to argue for the thesis 
√ is logical in making assumptions about the text
√ uses reason effectively to argue for and explain points
√ reinforces the thesis when necessary

Organization

√ divides the essay into paragraphs with topic sentences and uses effective transitions
√ avoids letting the plot/chronology drive the essay so that it becomes an explication and not an analysis
√ has ordering that seems purposeful

Sentence Structure/Mechanics/Diction

√ uses a variety of effective, grammatically correct sentences
√ stays in present tense and avoids needless shifts
√ uses precise diction
  uses correct documentation and integrates quotations effectively

Overall Impression

√ meets the requirements of the assignment with the essay
√ answers the “so what?” question
√ achieves what s/he sets out to achieve

Possible Topics for Essay 1

Use the following questions as triggers to help develop your thesis and essay. JUST ANSWERING THE QUESTION WON'T SUFFICE---YOU NEED TO GENERATE A THESIS FROM THE QUESTION.  (You may propose other topics to me if none of these appeals to you.)

  1. Argue for whether Barbauld's "To the Poor" is a conservative or progressive poem and show how she uses poetic devices to make this case (make sure to present a plausible definition of terms in your introduction).
  2. Argue for how Blake uses poetic devices to criticize conventional education systems in "The School-Boy."
  3. Coleridge comments on the relationship between work and hope in his sonnet "Work Without Hope." What point is he making about this relationship and how does he use poetic devices to make this point?
  4. In "The Fornicator" Robert Burns writes about a confessed fornicator.  Explain how this Burns uses poetic language to develop a particular attitude or position on fornication.  In other words, what overall point about fornication does he try to make and how does he make it?
  5. Several readers have viewed William Wordsworth's "Nutting" as about a sort of rape of Nature and the guilt the speaker feels after defiling the environment.  Explain how Wordsworth's language enacts a sort of rape of Nature and explain what point Wordsworth seems to be making with this poem. 
  6. In the sonnet "The world is too much with us" Wordsworth offers a commentary on the materialism that is becoming prevalent in the early nineteenth century.  Argue for how he uses natural imagery and allusions to make a specific point about materialism.
  7. Dorothy Wordsworth writes about sickness in "Thoughts on my Sickbed."  Explain how she uses poetic devices to describe a sort of healing.  What enables her to heal from this sickness?
  8. Byron's "On This Day" is a mid-life crisis poem in which the speaker (it happens to be Byron in this case) tries to find a reason for living.  What does he think will give life meaning and how does he use poetic language to convey that idea?
  9. Felicia Hemans depicts the life of young women in "Evening Prayer, at a Girls' School."  Argue for whether the poem is conservative or progressive in its view of women's positions in society and explain how she uses poetic devices to express this view.
  10. The speaker of Keats's "Ode on Melancholy" sees a particular value and power in experiences of deep sadness.  Argue for the general point Keats seems to make about melancholy and explain how he uses poetic devices to make that point.

Works for Essay 2 Choose one of these works to write essay 2 about--see basic guidelines above. If you want to write about another work, you need to ask my permission. I encourage you to show me a tentative thesis statement before you get too far along. 

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