For this assignment, please compose your rough draft of Essay 1 Short Fiction. Reference the instructions included

For this assignment, please compose your rough draft of Essay 1 Short Fiction. Reference the instructions included in the module and below. YOU WILL BE REQUIRED TO REVIEW A CLASSMATE’S ESSAY. A checklist to guide your review is provided in the module. After reviewing your classmates’s comments, revise your essay. This step is part of the writing process. The final deadline of this essay is due Thursday, November 4th by midnight.

Instruction for Essay 1:

English Composition II Short Fiction Essay Assignment

“If you cannot write well, you cannot think well,

and if you cannot think well, others will do your thinking for you.”

-George Orwell

One of the greatest benefits of college courses is learning to think independently.  With that thought in mind, the short stories we have read and discussed present thought for many different topics for the short story assignment. The objectives of this assignment are to demonstrate critical thinking skills by using sound reasoning to specify multiple solutions and their consequences and to demonstrate effective communication through the ability to effectively convey though in a clear, well-organized manner to persuade, inform, and exchange ideas.

In a thorough discussion in an essay using MLA parenthetical citations and a work cited page, please choose any of the following topic ideas for your submission.  The essay will be graded on depth of content, argument of an original thesis, and correct use of evidence and inference through MLA as support. The paper should be written in the third person using the present tense.  You should include all parts of an academic essay including a meaningful title, a compelling introduction with a strong thesis statement, purposeful and organized body paragraphs, and a conclusion that addresses the significance of the text.

You should avoid plot summary, engage in text-based analysis, and demonstrate college-level grammar and mechanics. Do not consult outside sources. Only interpret the text that you choose

You should support all claims with evidence from the text in the form of summary, paraphrase, and direct quotation. You should cite all evidence that you use, via both in-text parenthetical citations and on a Works Cited page.

Essay should be written in respect of one of these topics using any of the assigned short stories.

1. Write an idea using a thesis based upon your own interpretation.
2. Write an essay showing how or why a particular character or our vision of that character (and/or his or her worldview and values) develops and changes over the course of the narrative. For example, an example of a thesis may explore the stages a character or our perception of that character goes through, such as “At the beginning of the story, Character X is (or seems to us) a Y, yet by the ending of the story, Character X has become Y.  Do not use plot summary to support, but rather one should explore to focus on the attitudes the author embodies in a character.
3. Write an essay showing how a central conflict in the narrative is dramatized through the use of literary devices, such as symbolism, irony, or metaphors.
4. Write an essay showing exactly why and how a seemingly minor character, a character, who is not obviously a protagonist, an antagonist, or foil, plays a crucial role in a given text. A thesis could consider how this seemingly unimportant thing or character is really central to the story.
5. Some stories are very specific about when and where they take place while some may allude to history, culture, or social issues. Others are sparing in details and may seem magical, abstract, or as if they could take place anywhere at any time.  Write an essay discussing the significance the setting, the historical context, or other references in a story and reveal the way that the presence or absence of such details contributes to each story’s effects.
6. What you see is not necessarily what you get in a story. Consider possible buried symbolism in any of the stories discussed and to what effect did they influence the story. Grab reader attention with an opening line about your chosen theme and/or text.

Essay Breakdown

Paragraph One should serve as the intentions of your assignment. The first paragraph should

• Cite the author’s full name, short story’s title (within quotation marks), and the general ideas of the story itself.
• Outline the essay’s key ideas through concise statements or quotations; do not cite the author’s examples or supporting ideas unless they are central to the main idea.
• Remain neutral and make no judgments; should state the facts.

After mentioning the author’s full name in the first sentence, refer to him or her by last name only or by pronoun throughout the remainder of the essay.

• The last sentence of the first paragraph should be the thesis.

Paragraphs Two, Three, and Four should serve

• Response should be persuasive to support each of your points and should cite specific passages from the story that supports your assertion.
• Remember:
• Refer to reference the thesis and the point you are addressing in each topic sentence.
• Each paragraph should have evidence, which is a parenthetical citation. Find a passage in the short story that supports your idea and cite it using MLA methods discussed in class.
• To maintain focus, regularly reference the author throughout the body paragraphs.

Paragraph Five should return to the thesis and provide reader with other insights about your thesis. Again, you are supporting your interpretation of some literary device of the short story. The conclusion should tie together the main points, but it should not be simply and copy/paste of the essay’s thesis and topic sentences.

Extra Tips

• Make your essay interesting and opinionated!
• Use critical thinking to make your assertion and support.
• Vary sentence structure.
• Write in third person; use the control key (ctrl-f) to find uses of “you.”
• Avoid “I think” or “I believe” This is your essay, so reader knows it is your belief.
• A Work Cited page is required!

To review, your essay should:

1. Identify one major assertion of a literary text
2. Demonstrate strong paragraph structure (that uses the claimsupportexplanation model)
3. Integrate direct quotations effectively
4. Include at least one citation in each body paragraph
5. Include strong topic sentences that (1) make a claim that the paragraph will address, (2) tie into the thesis statement, and (3) transition effectively between ideas
6. Use accurate MLA formatting and citations (in-text and Works Cited page)
7. Demonstrate an organized approach to argumentative analysis
8. Demonstrate rhetorical knowledge
9. Use correct grammar and mechanics

Take time to proofread and edit your essay. Please submit your essay via Canvas as a saved file (save file to desktop; upload file into Canvas).