Rationale:
Many literature courses require final papers where a student will select one text they studied during the term and make an argument about it using contextual research to support a close reading argument. However, due to our course subject matter and our project to expand our perception of ourselves and our community, our job is to zoom out rather than zoom in. Instead, we’re going to look at the “big picture” of what we studied in our myriad readings, assignments, projects, and discussions and try to make an argument about those. Specifically, for this essay, you will use all of (or most of) our readings, your notes on our readings and discussions, and our writing assignments to make an argument about the significance of what you learned from studying women’s prison writing, writ large, in this course. What are the consequences for you of what we read, discussed, and produced as a class?
Drafting schedule:
- Introduce in class, Wednesday 12/4, full class free-write workshop on connecting big ideas and texts we’ve studied
- Friday 12/6, last class, writing workshop, evaluations
Due Date: Friday, 11/13, by 9:10am
Technicalities:
Final Length: 6 pages (practice being concise – do not exceed this page count), double spaced, Times New Roman or Garamond (or similar serif font), 12 pt. font, 1-inch margins
You will use the texts on our syllabus as secondary sources to support your argument.
Turn in: Upload to Camino in Assignments as a .docx or .doc
You will need to cite a lot in this essay since the body of your essay will detail how the texts (writing and video) we studied were meaningful for you. Follow MLA style (8th edition):
MLA citations mean that each time you discuss a text and ideas that are not your own, it has 2 required components in your essay: a parenthetical citation within the sentence and an entry in the works cited list at the end. First, you must end the sentence with ([author] [pg #]). Second, at the end of the paper, each of the citations in parentheses must point to an entry in a Works Cited list, organized alphabetically by author last name. If you run into questions, ask me for help and/or visit the Purdue Owl MLA Guide and follow the instructions carefully or, even better, see me for help! https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/
Grading Rubric: Your final essay grade will be comprised of: 25% on your thesis statement or the main point of your essay that you state in your introduction; 40% on your discussion of the many sources we read and discussed throughout the term to support your stated argument; 25% on your organization and editing of body paragraphs; and 10% on your works cited list.