In
a 4-5 page, double-spaced essay, please answer one of the following
prompts:
1)
Although Dana lives in 1976, echoes of the time of slavery surround her. What
are some of these echoes, and what do they tell us about the relationship
between the present and the past?
2)
What specific truths about slavery can Butler’s time travel novel teach us that
a more straightforward, linear novel cannot? How does the novel teach these
truths?
3)
Dana discovers that slavery is not as simple as history books present it. The
relationship between master and slave is actually extremely complicated. What
makes this relationship complicated? Use Dana and Rufus' relationship in
particular to explore this idea.
- Present your paper using times New Roman or Cambria 12 font; use 1" margins on all four sides of the page. You will need to re-set your margins if using MS Word, for the Word default is 1.25" margins. You also need to use "format paragraph "to eliminate the extra space that Word automatically puts after each paragraph. Put your name, the course, my name, and the date of submission in the upper left hand corner of page one. Do not use a title page; instead, simply center your title on page one a few spaces above your initial paragraph. Of course, paper titles capitalize the first letter of each word [except for prepositions]; your title should NOT be underlined or put in quotation marks.
- Introduce the story title, author, and year of publication in your opening sentence or two. In other words, include a sentence beginning "Octavia Butler's Kindred (1979)..." early in your essay. Provide a brief plot overview keyed to the specific issues that you will discuss. Your opening paragraph (or at the very least second paragraph) should end with a specific thesis statement that explains or identifies the purpose of the essay, what will be proved, and how it will be proved through identification of topics to be discussed.
- Begin body paragraphs with topic statements, statements of opinions about story facts (interpretations), and NOT with the next item in the story sequence or with a wordy delay phrase like "Another way that the concept that I am discussing is shown in the way that the story was written is..."
- Italicize the titles of novels and place quotation marks around the titles of stories.
- When you summarize plot, use present tense.
- Introduce your quotations, establishing the speaker and context, and document properly using the MLA format:
An
early indication of the importance of the belly as an image of both illness and
healing occurs just before Tayo plunges a broken bottle into Emo’s gut and Tayo
realizes that “the space to carry hate was located deep inside, below his lungs
and behind his belly; but it was empty” (63).
Additional
examples of MLA documentation can be found in any undergraduate guide to
writing papers, such as the OWL AT PURDUE website. Of course, the
majority of your writing should be your own analysis and language, but you do
need to support your argument by presenting and discussing key passages in the
novel. You should do this throughout the essay, by including paraphrases and
quotations in each body paragraph. If the quote itself is a question, the
end punctuation remains inside the quotation mark. Periods, however, are placed
after the parentheses.
- After presenting a quotation, be sure to discuss its significance or to explain how the quotation furthers your argument, unless the quote is simply illustrating a point made in the material immediately preceding the quote.
- Never end a paragraph or an essay with a block quote, or any undiscussed quotation.
- Avoid the following wordy delay structures: In my opinion, I think, I feel, I believe. .Do not open sentences with wordy phrasings like "Another way that..." or "One of the reasons that" or any similar structures. Make subjects act through verbs in the beginning of your sentences. Instead of "There are many ways that Gillis affects the colony's chances for survival." write, "Gillis affects the colony's chances for survival by consuming 20% of their stored food during his 32 years alone on the Alabama." Note that the second version of the sentence includes specific details of Gillis's actions, while the "There are" opening tends to lead into vague references to his actions--"many ways." List or name the ways instead of writing general references.
- Make sure that your paper is, at minimum, four FULL pages. That means you go all the way to the bottom of that fourth page. I mark down significantly for short papers; this class has a certain page count requirement by law for accreditation, but beyond that, the questions that are posed in the prompt require ample analysis, and evidence from the book (support). In other words, the questions the prompt asks should require the full page count to answer fully and deeply. Always think of how you might go deeper into a question, how you might make your connections more complete and complex.
- You will need to include at least two outside, scholarly library-based sources in your paper, beyond simply including Kindred itself. Depending on which prompt you choose, these might be scholarly writing on Kindred, or historical research into slavery or present day racism in the US (particularly as it relates to the experience of African Americans). Make sure your research fits with your topics and the main idea of your paper. Give yourself enough time to find good research via the library's databases; don't try and cram something into your essay at the last minute.
Make sure to include a Works Cited page with your sources. This includes Kindred and your 2-3 library sources. The Works Cited page, while its own page entirely (do not include it as part of your other pages) does not count toward the 4-5 page minimum page requirement.
No comments:
Post a Comment