Essay 2 and Note on the Rest of the Semester

Dear Students, This semester is very unprecedented, and the traditional organizational structure by week/time does not seem appropriate. If you have not noticed, the last sentence was the beginning of an argument: It was my claim, and my topic sentence. You should then expect me to develop my argument with supporting evidence and reasoning. In other words, you may ask why the traditional organizational structure does not seem appropriate. Because many students lack the reliable WIFI and privacy to attend class online synchronously, we moved to an asynchronous structure, with new material and assignments rolling out each Thursday. Beginning with Spring Recess, however, less writing was submitted and fewer students were “showing up” with journals and poetry analyses, and I got, personally, really depressed. It is not fun trying to teach writing about literature online. Literature is something that we make sense of by doing two things: researching contexts, arguments, and theories that help us understand where the writing is coming from and the ideas that are at play in the writing, and talking about the details so that the fullness and richness and ambiguity of the work becomes apparent. I learned how to read and write about literature through relations of mentorship with expert readers, and I want to be able to provide that to you. But, I don’t know how to do it in this online structure, so really I just want to avoid this class altogether.

But, that’s not an option!

So, for the rest of the semester, we are going to do a little thing called

triage.

In triage, we take an impossibility–there is more to do than can be done with the available time and resources–and we cut into it and carve out the most important things that must and can be achieved. Overview What can and must be achieved are: Three Essays. Most of you have written Essay 1. Please see the earlier post for the link to submit that essay. I will post the links and guidelines for Essay 2 below. Later this week, I will post the links and guidelines for Essay 3. I will probably post supplemental material to help in the writing, but these essays will be the remaining coursework required for passing the class. Keep in mind that a form of questions you will need to answer will be included in the work for Essay 3. Here are things I expect in your essays as minimum requirements for passing-level essays: In each essay, you are required to establish an insightful perspective about your exhibit text, including
  • an effective thesis statement about the central, assigned text that includes effective use of one or two literary elements,
  • paragraphs that develop your thesis in a few supporting claims, each supported by evidence and reasoning,
  • evidence that you have read the central, assigned text,
  • researched context and arguments that inform your perspective (2-3 sources), cited in MLA format.
  • 600 word minimum,
  • Works Cited section listing at least two sources,
  • A title that reflects your argument and “hooks” your reader.
You will be given an opportunity to revise your essay once for a better grade. Assignments: Essay 2 (Due May 19): Read these before completing the writing assignment. Watch this before completing the assignment: Finding sources for a researched argument about literature. When you have completed the above reading and viewing, click here to get to the assignment for Essay 2.   The link to turn in Essay 2 is in the assignment prompt for the essay, above.
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