Assignment
First Essay (850 words, citations in MLA style (remember the Works Cited list at the end of the paper), double-spaced, posted on LEA in .docx or .pdf format by 11pm of the day it is due) Marking criteria: content, organization, written expression and formatting. Your essay must include one secondary source besides the original text which has been independently researched and is not included in those we have already used in class. This assignment is worth 25% of the final grade
· Write an essay that analyzes how Hettie Jones describes the difficult position of the women of the Beat Generation in the excerpt from her memoir How I Became Hettie Jones. Remember to refer to specific examples in the text that you will properly introduce and analyze. Use the essay outline (see documents section on LEA) before starting to write the essay. Leave 10 minutes at the end to revise for grammatical/syntactical mistakes.
Essay Outline
Introduction
A. Opening (Introduce the name of the author and the title of the text you are analyzing, then provide a minimal background of the story in order for your reader to understand your thesis (NOT a summary); make sure you use present tense when refe
ing to the story. This tense will be used in your analytical sections throughout the essay. It is called analytical present.)
B. Thesis statement (Argument specifying the main theme of the essay and the 3 sub-themes deriving from it that you are going to develop in the body of the essay. Here use one interesting example or quotation from the text and relate it to the main theme to foster your thesis and better explain it to the reader.)
The final sentence of your introduction should be logically linked with the first one of the first paragraph, in order to create cohesion. These linking sentences will also be present in-between paragraphs in the body and conclusion of your essay.
MAIN THEME__________________________________________________________
3 SUB-THEMES _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
THESIS STATEMENT
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I. First Body Paragraph (Textual Analysis: Point A that supports your thesis)
1. Topic sentence (Just like the thesis statement does for the whole essay, the topic sentence introduces your sub-theme)
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A. Refer to/Introduce 2-3 passages/examples in the story that explain your sub-theme, consider quotes that reveal both the sub-theme and the use of interesting literary devices (imagery, symbol, metaphor, parallelism, personification, etc.)
B. Quote the passages or paraphrase them
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C. Analyse the passages in order to explain to the reader how they exemplify your chosen sub-theme
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D. , Only in ONE paragraph of the essay (whichever you want) -- use one external source to strengthen your argument (i.e. the author’s biography/journals/letters or a monograph/academic journal or scholarly article focused on your chosen text/author and/or main thesis)
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Remember: The final sentence of your first paragraph should be logically linked with the first one of the second paragraph, in order to create cohesion.
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II. Second Body Paragraph
1. Topic sentence (Just like the thesis statement does for the whole essay, the topic sentence introduces your sub-theme)
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
A. Refer to 2-3 passages/examples in the story that explain your sub-theme, consider quotes that reveal both the sub-theme and the use of interesting literary devices (imagery, symbol, metaphor, parallelism, personification, etc.)
B. Quote the passages or paraphrase them
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
C. Analyse the passages in order to explain to the reader how they exemplify your chosen sub-theme
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
D. Only in ONE paragraph of the essay (whichever you want) -- use one external source to strengthen your argument (i.e. the author’s biography/journals/letters or a monograph/academic journal or scholarly article focused on your chosen text/author and/or main thesis)
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Remember: The final sentence of your second paragraph should be logically linked with the first one of the third paragraph, in order to create cohesion.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
III. Third Body Paragraph
1. Topic sentence (Just like the thesis statement does for the whole essay, the topic sentence introduces your sub-theme)
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
A. Refer to 2-3 passages/examples in the story that explain your sub-theme, consider quotes that reveal both the sub-theme and the use of interesting literary devices (imagery, symbol, metaphor, parallelism, personification, etc.)
B. Quote the passages or paraphrase them
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
C. Analyse the passages in order to explain to the reader how they exemplify your chosen sub-theme
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
D. Only in ONE paragraph of the essay (whichever you want) -- use one external source to strengthen your argument (i.e. the author’s biography/journals/letters or a monograph/academic journal or scholarly article focused on your chosen text/author and/or main thesis)
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Remember: The final sentence of your third paragraph should be logically linked with the first one of the conclusion, in order to create cohesion.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Conclusion
A. Do not just quote the thesis statement you used in the introduction, try to rather fully rephrase it and describe how your main argument gave an innovative perspective over the work and author you chose. Remember to keep your style impersonal and formal throughout the essay (avoid expressions such as “I think”, “In my opinion”, “I believe”, etc.).
B. Refer to one final example taken from the text in order to strengthen your conclusion and awaken the reader. This does not mean introducing a completely new argument, but rather a different way of tackling the thesis of your essay.
FINAL EXAMPLE (that you are going to use in the conclusion, see above paragraph)
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Conclusion _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
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