English 300C, Spring 2002 Requirements for Paper Based on Lives
Although we are using Lives as an introduction to issues of concern in American education and as an illustration of effective narrative and academic writing styles, you are also going to write about the book as a book.
Treat this book as you would a piece of literature and write about it as you would about a piece of literature. For the purposes of this class, you may do one of two things in response to your reading of Lives:
(1) you may write a critique (a review) of the entire book, discussing the connections you see between his message(s), his writing style, and his audience and purpose,
(2) or you may analyze some aspect of the book, either a single chapter or a single element (theme, point of view, structure, writing style, etc.).
Your paper will have a strong, argumentative thesis (an informed, supportable opinion), and it will be developed using a blend of interpretation, explanation, and supporting evidence from the text. Quotes will be followed by parenthetical page references, but no Works Cited page is needed because we are all using the same book.
I will be the primary audience for this paper. I am interested in your understanding of this book, in what you found compelling, disturbing, or inconsistent in it. Your paper does not have to be a positive one; you are encouraged to point out weaknesses in Rose’s arguments and/or in his stylistic and structural decisions.
This paper is to be an academic essay, which means that the emphasis is on how well you present your "case," that is, how compellingly you are able to persuade me that you have formed a thoughtful understanding of some aspect of the book.
Remember that your control over the mechanics of written English significantly affects your credibility; thus, poor control of grammar, usage, punctuation, and other conventions of standard written English will lower your grade.
Length: 3-5 pages, double spaced
Due Dates: Thesis: January 31 in lab
First Draft: February 14 in lab
Second Draft: February 28 in lab
Created February 8, 2001
by Michael Day
Updated January 24, 2002
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