English Literature

freshman writing seminar (fws) taught by faculty from the literature department, develop students’ abilities in written and oral communication at the college level. topics include 1.art of the personal essay 2. blackness in American cinema 3. post-apocalyptic humanitywhat part of your personal experience- or your desire to know more about an area outside of your experience-best explains your seminar choice?

Description  The annotation assignment requires students, working in groups of 2-3, to select a passage from a course reading (Oroonoko, Robison Crusoe, Gulliver’s Travels, Pamela) and electronically mark up the text, adding interpretive commentary, links to relevant online resources, images, sounds, and explanatory notes.  Your selected passage should be between 200 and 800 words. The annotation should feature four analytical comments (150-250 words each) and three additional resources: images, links, or multimedia files. Your interpretive comments may focus on:  § The language, structure, and themes of the passage. What is significant about the figurative language (denotation and connotation of specific words, metaphor, repetition, rhythm, etc.) and structure (a stream of consciousness, dialogue, etc.)? How does the passage engage themes that resonate throughout the work?  § References—direct or implicit—to contemporary political, social, historical, and cultural contexts. How do these contexts shape the passage’s presentation of characters, themes, or ideology?  Your annotated passage should be followed by works cited list that provides MLA-format citations for the passage and additional resources.  Guidelines  1. In your interpretive comments, concentrate on the “so what?” Instead of simply identifying an allusion or symbol, analyze how this figurative language functions in the passage.  2. Your additional resources should be relevant to the passage rather than merely decorative. Ask yourself how an image, link or multimedia file offers readers a deeper understanding of the passage. Provide captions for images and brief descriptions of link and file content if necessary.  3. You may layer interpretive commentary and additional resources if you wish, linking to web sites or inserting images into your commentary, or expanding upon the information offered by a link.  4. The easiest way to compose your annotation is via Word. Use the “Comments” or “Footnote” feature to insert your analytical comments. Note that if you include a downloaded audio or video file in your annotation, you must submit the file along with your document.  5. Do not forget the arguments posed in class, textbook introductory materials or materials posted on Moodle. A review of lecture notes, readings, and postings will help you develop your analytical comments. You will, of course, cite specific words and interpretations borrowed from classmates or other authors.  6. If you’re having difficulty devising an approach to the assignment, or if you want to discuss ideas-in-progress, visit office hours or email me to set up an appointment.  Grading  I will grade the annotations using the following criteria. Annotations that fall in the A range excel in all criteria; those that fall in the B, C, and D range exhibit problems in one or more categories. F-range annotations represent another author’s work as the writer’s own, contain few of the required elements, or do not address the significance of the passage in any manner.  § Complexity: The analytical commentary exhibits depth, fullness, and complexity of thought.  § Organization: Body of interpretive comments has a logical structure, with each point connected to the previous and following points; the writer doesn’t offer a list of ideas related to the language, structure, themes or contexts of the passage.  § Completeness: The annotation includes all required elements.  § Connection: Additional resources have a clear relationship to the passage.  § Clarity: Writer expresses ideas clearly, and commentary contains few, if any, grammatical and mechanical errors.  § Citation: The writer correctly cites words and ideas borrowed from others.1

Read the assigned text carefully, then prepare a 2 page essay reflecting on, and responding to the text. No sources are needed for this, but you are advised to use what we discussed in class to ground your opinion and reach an educated reflection on the text. After presenting what you think to be the article’s main argument, find an idea or two that draw you to the article, present your idea(s) as best you can, then interact (critique, explain, refute, etc) with the idea(s) presented. As will all academic writing, this must be cohesive with a clear thesis statement in your introductory paragraph, a development of paragraphs that link to the thesis statement, and a conclusion. 10% Introduction: General to specific. Provides full name of author(s) and title(s) of primary source(s). Ends with clear, focused and argumentative thesis statement, in one sentence.  • 10% Conclusion: Specific to general. Provides brief summary of paper, highlights its relevance, invites reader to investigate further and/or look into certain other ideas on the topic  • 10% MLA: Adhere to MLA Style  • 10% Language: Academic, formal, complicated and well-styled  • 20% Topic: Offers interesting and creative analysis  • 20% Body: All paragraphs relate clearly to thesis, each paragraph begins with opening statement and ends with closing statement  • 20% Support: Offers adequate support in the form of direct and indirect quotations, offers input to the quoted information https://llk.media.mit.edu/courses/readings/Winnicott_ch1.pdf link for the article  please do follow the instructions as stated and do not use another source other than the site above  thank you

The Research paper about the poem”Harlem” by Langston Hughes (page 1073) These poems from my textbook: “The Norton Introduction to Literature SHORTER 13TH EDITION Kelly J. Mays” All the information  and the sources about the research in the pdf file and I will upload her too Poetry Analysis Argument / Research Paper Assignment Sheet Note: Take this document with you to any writing lab appointment you make. Tutors need to know this information, in addition to seeing your essay in order to fully assist you in the writing process. Points: The final draft of this paper is worth 20% of your overall class grade. Maximum points: 100. Length: The paper should be a minimum of 4-5 complete pages (not counting the Works Cited page) and should not be more than 7 pages. Source Requirement: The Works Cited page must list 4-5 sources, primary and secondary; see note below for more details. Every source listed on the Works Cited must be used in the text of the paper. Your book’s biography of the poet may be one source; the poem will be another. Assignment: For this essay, you will focus on one poem and its poet. It must be a poem assigned in this class. PART 1: (50 pts) The first two pages will focus on the life and history of the poet. Choose a specific angle (relationships, education, family, thematic connection the poem, childhood, vices/problems, etc) to discuss in this portion of the essay. • Include details from your textbook (if available) and from at least two research sources (15 points). • Your life and history portion must be accurate, cohesive (not a list), detailed, and focused (15 points). • You must make and support conclusions about the author (15 points). • The paper should have an original title that is not just the title of the text you are writing about. State the author’s full name and title of the text in the introduction, and refer to the author by last name only thereafter. (5 points) PART 2: (50 pts) The second section (must be at least three pages) should argue your interpretation of the poem. Consider this to be a thematic analysis – it will be your job to support your reading of the poem, your interpretation of its theme and how its use of literary elements contributes to that theme. • Your essay should show a strong familiarity with the poem and should use literary elements and terminology to explain your debatable, interpretive angle and argument. (20 points) • Your introduction must have a debatable thesis. This should be the last sentence (or two, if necessary) of the FIRST paragraph. Underline your thesis/claim statement to make it stand out. (5 points) • Everything in your essay should work towards helping your develop and prove the literary argument as stated in this thesis sentence. This section of your essay should be paragraphs developed in support of your thematic interpretation of the poem. It should be organized by literary element or section of the poem. Each paragraph should be an organized, contained unit, using quotes from research and the poem to support your reading. Do not organize by summary. (20 points) • This section should use research to support its interpretative claims, integrating quotes into your own sentence. MLA formatting should be used throughout. (5 points) Source Details: You are required to use and document a minimum of four sources in this paper. • One of these sources should be the primary text (poem) you are discussing. • Another source may be the biographical information in the textbook. • The other two or three sources should be secondary sources in which scholars or experts have written their interpretations and analyses of the texts or topics that are relevant to your argument. • At least two of your secondary sources must be either database sources (journal articles that you can access through the library website’s database) OR print sources. • Additional sources can be any type (website, documentary, personal interview, etc.) as long as they are relevant and credible. Do NOT use Wikipedia, Ask.com, About.com, Sparknotes.com, etc. Note: • Each source must be listed on the Works Cited page that will be the last page of your essay. • Every source listed on the Works Cited page must be used in the text. • The in-text citations should take readers to the alphabetical list of sources in the Works Cited page and should lead them to the correct source by providing the FIRST word of the source entry (which will almost always be the author’s last name). • In-text citations must include page numbers when the source has numbered pages (as almost all of your sources will). • You should have a good balance of direct quotes and paraphrased information from your sources. • Every time you use any information from any source, you must credit the source with an in-text citation in the same sentence with that information so that it is very clear to your readers what information comes from you and what information comes from a source (and which source it comes from). • Read more about source documentation in your textbook and/or in the documents posted online. Format: Your paper and the Works Cited page MUST be submitted in correct MLA format. If your writing contains ANY plagiarism (if any source information is not credited to the source it came from), you will be given a ZERO on the paper. Final Tips: • Don’t try to cover too much information or use too many literary elements as the focus of your work; instead, choose one or two elements that work together to give an overall interpretation of the text; • Don’t use summary any more than you need to in order to make a point; assume your readers have already read the text; summary should only be used as support and for clarity; • Don’t use 2nd person “you” or “your” in your writing (1st person “I” or “we” is allowed IF it fits the tone and style of your work; • Do remember to underline your thesis statement and make sure your work stays focused on discussing and proving your main argument; • Do make sure your work is in MLA format and your sources follow MLA guidelines; • Do proofread and edit carefully

Discussion board  Peer Revision and Rough Draft paragraph   After completing your rough draft of your research paper, choose a paragraph you’d like peer feedback about. It can be a paragraph you think is unclear, or maybe one you think need more information. It’s up to you which paragraph you submit.  2. Create a discussion board thread and post the paragraph. In your post, include (a) the paragraph (b) where the paragraph belongs in your essay – is it the intro, from the bio, from the poem analysis, or the conclusion? (c) two or three questions you have for your peers – things you’d like their feedback about.  3. Reply to one classmate and provide them with feedback on their paragraph. Do not reply to a classmate who already has a response – choose a paragraph that has not yet gotten any feedback. For this discussion board, no post should have more than one response. If someone already has a reply, choose a different person to respond to.    I choose this poem   “Harlem” by Langston Hughes (page 1073)   Harlem   What happens to a dream deferred?   Does it dry up   Like a raisin in the sun?   Or fester like a sore—   And then run?   Does it stink like rotten meat?   Or crust and sugar over—   Like a syrupy sweet?   Maybe it just sags   Like a heavy load.   Or does it explode?   These poems from my textbook: “The Norton Introduction to Literature SHORTER 13TH EDITION Kelly J. Mays”   I am going to upload pdf for the articles   after I receive the discussion board I will send my classmate’s discussion to do respond to the assignment.  The article is: Movies, Modernity, and All that Jazz: Langston Hughes’s Montage of a Dream Deferred Author: Bartholomew Brinkman The work cited for the article is:   Works Cited   Brinkman, Bartholomew. “Movies, Modernity, and All That Jazz: Langston Hughes’s ‘Montage of a Dream Deferred.’” African American Review, vol. 44, no. 1/2, Spring/Summer 2011 2011, pp. 85–96. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=lfh&AN=70640256&site=ehost-live&scope=site. My class book work cited   Hughes, Langston. “Harlem.”  Mays, pp. 1073. Mays, Kelly J., editor. “The Norton introduction to literature.” Shorter 13th ed., W.W. Norton, 2018. EBook

How does the story reflect the aspirations and conditions of the lower classes or upper classes? Is tension created by juxtaposing privileged, powerful positions to subordinated, dominated positions? What information about the historical context of the story helps explain the character’s motivations? Who benefits from the outcome of the story or from a given character’s motivation?

Prepare a PowerPoint about you as a learner-past, present, and future. This presentation should be a minimum of five slides, and include: Your Core Values (the ones you discovered in class) Your personal mission statement, (what you set out to do in life, in school, or both) Your VARK scores (see link for assessment below), and ideas about you as a learner in past, present, and future (note, each of these can be on their own slide)  Elements may include visual art, poetry, music, photos-GET CREATIVE! You will present your PowerPoint in class. Submit your completed PPT as an attachment. Describe in detail personal preferences indicated by your learning style results (VARK), definition, and a personal example of your style(s). Be sure and use the grading rubric for this assignment to make sure you are meeting the criteria for completion.  VARK: http://vark-learn.com/the-vark-questionnaire/?p=questionnaire Rubric: Me As A Learner PPT Rubric.pdf  This assignment is worth 20 points.

Analyzing Ophelia: Justifying a Mad, Contradictory WomanA lot of new information comes during Act 4. However, the saddest character and turn of events in the play so far has to be Ophelia. She has gone from a kind, sweet, innocent lady of the court to a crazed, stark raving mad woman.Is she justified in her craziness? What has caused this major shift in Ophelia’s character? In your response, be sure to analyze her words and actions throughout the play thus far as you prove how they have contributed to or convey her craziness.Be sure to PROVE her craziness with STRONG evidence from No Fear Shakespeare–the original text! Be sure to follow the expectations outlined in the attached rubric.This is the link to the NO FEAR translation for Act 4 and the scenes: https://www.sparknotes.com/nofear/shakespeare/hamlet/page_212/So this link has the original text and modern text. It is required to you text in the essay, please use the original text and put the scene it came from. Do Not use the modern text , the modern text is just there for you to understand the original text.This is the link to the summary of act 4 and the 7 scenes: https://www.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/hamlet/section10/This is the link to the graphic novel if it helps and makes it faster to read:

The White CapsAuthor: Felix Martínez Date:1890Document: Mr. chairman and gentlemen, I coincide with both speakers who have preceded me. This meeting has a two-fold object, to devise means to stop the wrongdoing, and do the right. The people are to rise in their might and squelch the land grabber as well as the fence-cutter, the fence-cutting which was begun with the plea of giving the people their rights, has, in the heat of passion, been permitted to go too far. The fence-cutters in their lawlessness must be suppressed, but the land-thief in his evil-doing must also be put down, and put down to stay. Many of you present are down on both alike. If the tax-payer and prosperous citizen of this county were to join hands and cooperate with the poor people, a conclusion would soon be reached. Politics can not be allowed to enter this question at all and it can not be traced out as the source of this trouble. It is to be traced to the landgrabber at the beginning. On the one hand you have the power of money, the rich landgrabbers, on the other hand, the physical might of the people. True, the innocent with good titles are made wrongfully to suffer on account of the land thieves. The good decision of a just judge was that the Vegas grant belonged to the town…[but] to what result? The man Millhiser is more than the community, because he is guarded by dogs. The people must be suppressed, but Millhiser, under the protection of his bloodhounds, holds the community at bay. He, and other landgrabbers are not greater than the mighty will of the people and should be ordered by the courts to vacate. Then there should be no fence-cutting, but peace.Source: Las Vegas Daily Optic, August 18, 1890.Questions (1 full page, single spaced)1) What is the author trying to do in this document?2) Is he successful in his argument?3) Based on your reading of this article, what are the White Caps?Document 2

Writing Assignment #2: Incarnations of Burned Children by David Foster WallaceLength: 1 page, plus a bibliography on a second pageWhy do you think David Foster Wallace chose to end his story the way he did? Does the ending feelanticlimactic? Why or why not?Remember, we are practicing using Parenthetical Citation (refer to the handout), and be sure to includea Works Cited at the end of your essay, on a new page. The bibliographic information for the story weread is as follows:Wallace, David Foster. “Incarnations of Burned Children.” Oblivion. New York: Back Bay Books, 2004.Print.Writing Assignment #2: Incarnations of Burned Children by David Foster WallaceLength: 1 page, plus a bibliography on a second pageWhy do you think David Foster Wallace chose to end his story the way he did? Does the ending feelanticlimactic? Why or why not?Remember, we are practicing using Parenthetical Citation (refer to the handout), and be sure to includea Works Cited at the end of your essay, on a new page. The bibliographic information for the story weread is as follows:Wallace, David Foster. “Incarnations of Burned Children.” Oblivion. New York: Back Bay Books, 2004.Print.