Note: Be prepared to discuss both the Du Bois essay and the first reading from Between the World and Me on Monday.
Reminder: Annotating does not merely amount to underlining a text. Per the course syllabus, underlining/highlighting only will earn you a D.
Also, as I said at the beginning of the term, zero tolerance for not doing homework and for lack of preparation for class. EVERY time you are missing materials required for class, you will be penalized. No apologies folks! We have big ole fish to fry!
1. 1984/SH5 First Draft! 4 pages! You should take care of the little things before we pair up on Monday. JUST SO WE UNDERSTAND: ADDRESS THE LITTLE THINGS BEFORE CLASS ON MONDAY. INCLUDING CIRCLING AND COUNTING TO BE/TO HAVE VERBS. The Little Things:
- Heading
- Topic=Observation + Opinion
- Use present tense when discussing the novel
- Always analyze your evidence
- Use normal font for your title (No underlining, bold, etc)
- Italicize book titles
- Spell names correctly!!!!!!!
- No contractions
- MLA Citations
- No 1st or 2nd person pronouns
- Page numbers starting with page 2
- To Be (am, is, are, was, were)/To Have (has, have, had) verbs (circle and count them before Class on Monday!)
General Formatting:
- Double-spaced; size 12 font; Times New Roman or similar
- .75 margins on both left and right sides. Justify margin. Indentations– .5” or 1 tab space.
- All pages beyond the first page should be numbered. Page numbers should be placed at the bottom right of each page.
- No Cover Page. Include name, class, and date (Single space the heading)
- Be sure TITLE reflects the theme of the essay (for instance, 1984: Hierarchical Hegemony)
- Include Title, Author, and General Theme of work in first paragraph of essay…For Example—Jean Paul Sartre’s Nausea
- Follow MLA guidelines
Order of Arrangement:
- Final Draft on top. Staple.
- 1st Draft—with significant corrections made + name and signature of reader
Avoid the Following:
- Avoid Pronouns: I, it, you, me, we, us
- Avoid Troublesome language. Do your best to avoid the following words: it, these, this, those, kind of, almost, seems, maybe, like, then, later, eventually, basically, so, many, a lot, things, due to the fact (or any variations of the fact that), in reality, very, really, forms of the verb “to be”
- In the intro, nix all book-review commentary—i.e. “is fascinating, interesting…”
- Avoid meaningless sentences–i.e. “Authors rely heavily on symbolism.”
- Contractions
- While I am not suggesting that you avoid all modifiers, you certainly should be conscious of how you are using them. Yet, definitely avoid the likes of really, basically, very, excellent, terrible, etc.
- Avoid misspelling proper nouns!
Remember:
- When writing about literature, write in the present tense.
- Active voice should be your default voice and only use passive when you are CHOOSING to use passive voice.
- Get comfortable writing in complex and compound sentences.
- Introductions and conclusions are factored into the grading of this essay.
- Read your essay aloud and you will hear many diction and syntax issues.
Keys to Good Writing:
- Cohesion—Every sentence fits together; paragraphs flow smoothly. Ensure that the entire discussion comes together as one unified discussion of your text and its context.
- Concision—Less is more. Use fewer words to explain yourself. Begin fusing sentences by merging ideas into tightly knit phrases.
- Precision—Accuracy. Use words that accurately capture what you mean. Don’t settle for words or expressions that come close.
- Coherence—Does your essay make sense? Are your ideas organized in a logical sequence? Do you prove your thesis? Do the parts contain the essence of the whole?