1. Slaughterhouse Five–Read and annotate up to p. 107
2. Goodreads–Remember to bring a printed copy to class.
3. Vocab Quiz–Wednesday, 12/18 for both classes
4. 1984 Essay (4-5 pages)–Final draft due 12/19 for both classes. You must also turn in your peer-edited first draft. Be sure to print out and read the rubric closely. Note about the rubric: The presentation category on the rubric actually includes issues of grammar and style. Finally, waiting until Wednesday night to fine tune your essay is a recipe for failure.
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 syntactical 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?
