Due date: Week 5 (no later than 12 noon, Wednesday, February 13)

Essay length: 600 words minimum

Choose One:

1. Identify a specific "issue" (pp. 26-33) or a single topic of literary investigation (pp. 49-55 - other than Hull's "The Night Waitress") in one specific poem or story in Chapters 1 or 2 of Part 1 from the textbook Making Literature Matter (pp. 3-56), and write a literary analysis explaining how the author or poet defines and argues that issue or topic.
2. Based on your reading of one specific poem or story in Chapters 1 or 2 of Part 1 from the textbook Making Literature Matter (pp. 3-56), identify the author's or poet's argument with reference to claims, persuasion, audience, evidence, and/or warrants (32-36). Be very specific with your thesis concerning one or more of these elements.

In addition to the general revision guidelines and avoidable fallacies presented in Schilb and Clifford's Making Literature Matter (78-84) for writing and revising essays or exercises, follow this triple-edged rule:

1. Choose a very specific thesis; expand, explain and analyze that thesis in great detail. Every sentence in the essay should explain or reveal or give support to your thesis. Make your thesis (an issue, an element of argument, or topic of literary criticism) or the author the subject of every sentence.
   
2. Do not summarize the plot or discuss the content of the story, poem or essay; focus instead on following your support with specific discussion, comments and analysis; do not generalize; be specific.
   
3. If you word-process your first drafts or exercises, print out and proofread the text for all typos, mechanics, style and clarity, including "be" verbs, passive voice, and usage with the guidelines below - eliminate inaccurate or informal phrasing. A spell check feature can only accomplish some spell checks - proofread for spelling independently with your eyes from a printout.

Submit all e-mails as ASCII or "unformatted text" (in Word: highlight the text, then Edit - Paste Special - "Unformatted Text" or "Unformatted Unicode Text") in your e-mail text box. Avoid attaching files as MS Word, or other program documents. Again, if you write with Word or another word-processor, cut and paste the revised text from your word processor into the e-mail text box as unformatted text (see above for Word documents).

Before you submit a writing exercise/short essay or major essay, please proofread and revise for the following items:

[NCH] = The New Century Handbook (4th ed.) references by chapter/section and page numbers(s) with extermal links to the handbook companion web site and additional help pages for selected markings. Grading markings appear in bold soft brackets: { }.

Clarity & Conciseness

{ PV }: Revise passive voice for active voice:  additional help [ NCH: 28a-4, pp. 616-7; 30g, pp. 657-9]

{ be }: Omit auxiliary or helping verbs (unless an ongoing action): is / are, was / were, be / being Revise or replace with active, concise verbs:  additional help [ NCH:  30c, pp.  647-9]

{ U }: usage

Avoid these inexact and ambiguous verbs: display,   exhibit,   portray,   seem,   show,   use / utilize / employ:  additional help [ NCH:  5c-4, pp.  97]

Revise and avoid these nouns as subjects for sentences: thing(s),  the reader,  the audience, today Keep the focus on the author and/or thesis, unless a prompt-specific question about "audience."

Revise and avoid these pronouns: I, me (my),   one, you (your),   we (us, our) Keep the focus on the author and/or thesis subject, - unless a prompt-specific personal experience question ("I," "me"). [ NCH:  6d, pp. 129-130, 17b-4, pp. 419]

{ logic } : reasoning, [ NCH:  7f-g, pp. 159-166]

{ phrasing } : informal or vague, [ NCH:  43c, pp. 756-8]

Organization & Content

{ analysis / develop }: Follow all examples and evidence with a well-developed discussion and analysis. [ NCH:  7h, pp. 167-9]

{ example }: Introduce appropriate examples and evidence, and document them - see MLA below; also check for plagiarism {PL ). - see course policies (left menu). [ NCH: 11, pp. 251-285]

{ combine }: Subordinate and coordinate sentences. Do not begin with conjunctions or conjunctive adverbs. [ NCH: 39, pp. 723-728]

{ MLA }: Paraphrase and parenthetically document examples and evidence according to the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers - document all textbook references to prose by page number and poetry by line number(s). Avoid quotes (paraphrase and cite), and check for plagiarism. [ NCH: 11, pp. 251-285; 13, pp. 313-364]

{ P / ¶ }: Paragraph length (4 to 7 sentences on average) [NCH 6f, p. 131]

{ thesis }: Define the thesis clearly. [ NCH:  7a,  pp. 139-144]

{ PS }: Do not write long plot summaries. Support your analysis with brief documented paraphrases. [ NCH:  11c,  pp. 264-9]

Basic Grammar

{ AGREEMENT }: Subject-verb / pronoun-antecedent. [ NCH:  31, pp. 662-8]

Sentences: { CS }: Comma splices { FRAG }: Fragments (incomplete sentences { RO }: Run-on sentences (no punctuation) [ NCH:  33, 34, pp. 678-699]

Punctuation: { a / no a }: apostrophes { c / no c }: commas { cap / no cap  }: capital letters for proper nouns { col  }: colons { p  }: periods { qm  }: quotation marks { sc / no sc  }: semi-colons [ NCH:  48-54, pp. 808-857]

{ SENSE }: Basic grammar and sentence structure (subject-predicate , etc.) [ NCH:  28-32, pp. 612-676; 35-37, pp. 689-710]

{ sp } : Spelling [ NCH:  47, pp. 793-806]