Fiction Essay
(Total value: 9%)
I have seen some D2L issues with regard to some text on a given page
loading properly. I suggest that you immediately use your F5 key and refresh
this page now, and each subsequent time you view it.
|
Due in D2L drop box ten minutes
prior to the beginning of class (to the minute, or it is one calendar day
late). Moreover, it must be turned in as a MS Word DOC, DOCX, or RTF file. |
Due
Date: 2/17/10
General Guidelines:
·
Required
word count is 750 to 1000 words. If your paper falls short of the minimum
required word count the grade will certainly suffer.
·
A
works cited page is required.
·
Work
in a Times New Roman 12 point font, and use all formatting guidelines
established during class lectures.
·
Use
MLA Style Guidelines.
·
Remember
to title your essay in the form of a two-part title. The two parts should be
separated by a colon, and neither part should read Fiction Essay.
·
This
is an argumentative paper, so you must have a strong thesis and you must
advance an argument.
·
Use
a document header, as you should on all assignments, regardless of their
length.
·
Review
the lectures under the content tree of Desire2Learn. I suggest that you read
them very carefully.
·
Do
not use humor in your title, or in any other part of the paper.
·
Locate
a minimum of two scholarly articles, which you must quote and paraphrase from
in your paper. We will spend time going over this in class.
Prompt:
Choose ONE work of fiction that we have read or will read from our
course book, Literature: Craft &
Voice, vol. 1, and write an argumentative paper over it. Using the Temple
College library resources, either online or at the physical facility, locate two articles that relate to the story
you have chosen to write about.
·
Below
I list the criteria for what constitutes a valid article.
·
Use
scholarly articles, not books.
·
Devise
your own argument.
Remember:
·
Use
direct quotes throughout your essay, which must be followed with an in-text
citation and a corresponding citation on your works cited page.
·
Your
works cited page will cite a minimum of three texts: Literature: Craft & Voice, vol. 1 (for the short story), and both of your scholarly sources.
·
Review
all relevant materials in the "Course Documents" folder on
Desire2Learn, particularly the handout "The Signal Phrase."
Other
Important Points:
·
Remember
that MLA Style Guidelines is a critically important element of this course, and
if you negotiate them at an exceedingly low skill level this paper will receive
an unsatisfactory grade at best.
·
Remember
that you are to write an argumentative paper, which means that you must have a
thesis, which is defined as a debatable claim. Frame your thesis as the final
sentence of your introductory paragraph, and write a persuasive paper about it.
Criteria
That Determines a Valid Outside Source:
·
You cannot use magazines, newspapers, websites, or
any web-related material that can be reached with just an Internet connection.
In other words, you must use the Temple Library interface to use databases to
which the Temple library subscribes.
·
Your outside source must be an article from a
peer-reviewed scholarly journal, and the article must have the equivalent of a works
cited section at the end, which might also be titled as one of the following:
references, bibliography, sources cited, and so on. Alternatively, there may be
no such section at the end, but the article might be footnoted throughout,
which is also acceptable if the footnotes give the publication information that
is typically found in a works cited citation.
·
The
article must be a minimum of four pages in length, or it will be considered
invalid.
·
Do
not use articles from anonymous authors, or they will be considered invalid.
Additional
Sources (optional):
·
Students
may use additional outside sources beyond the two valid sources, and they may
come from newspapers, magazines or websites, but do not use these to replace
the two articles.
How to turn in this essay: Must be turned in to the D2L drop box by 5:00 p.m. on or before the due date, after which the assignment will begin to accrue a late penalty, per late work policies on the course syllabus. Must be turned in as a MS Word doc, docx, or rtf file.
Another
important point: Remember
that you and I have the same goals: you should gain worthwhile skills from this
course; you should finish the course with a nice grade. If you have questions
or concerns, please talk to me, for I want to help you. I want to see you do
well, so my best advice to you is to come to class, do all the coursework, give
everything your best effort, turn in work on time, and be prepared for class.
Grading Criteria for your paper’s prose style and
formatting:
·
Use
a document header, as you should for all assignments.
·
All
course work must be word-processed; never turn in handwritten work, for it will
be returned at the earliest opportunity, and cannot receive credit.
·
The
formatting guidelines on the syllabus/class lectures must be observed.
·
The
paper should meet the page count requirements, and all other requirements of
this prompt and the syllabus.
·
Writing
must be free—or predominantly free—of typos, awkward/unclear phrasing, and
sentence level errors.
·
Do not
use contractions.
·
Do
not use first person pronouns such as “I” “me” “my.”
·
Do
not use second person pronouns such as “you” “your” “yours.”
·
Do
not engage in personal stories, meaning stories of your own life experiences,
or the experiences of friends, family, and so on.
·
Do
not begin sentences with conjunctions: but, and, or, nor, for, so, yet.
·
Do
not pose any questions in any assignments. This means, quite literally, not to
use questions. Make statements instead.
·
Do
not quote the bible or make allusions to religion in any way.
·
Avoid
any form of direct address to the reader, such as "think about the fact
that . . ."
·
Avoid
too casual of a prose style, such as sentences that begin with words like
"well, sure, now, yes, no."
·
Do
not use the phrase “a lot,” which can usually be replaced with one of the
following words: many, most, much.
Due
Date: 2/17/10