CHOOSE AN ESSAY: Following are six critical essays about six of the texts we have read this term. Choose one to read carefully. Take notes
"Bradstreet's The Author to Her Book"
by Lisa Day-Lindsey
"Frederick Douglass' Narrative and the Subtext of Folklore"
by Kelly Rothenberg
"Mary White Rowlandson Remembers Captivity: A Mother's Anguish, a Woman's Voice"
by Parley Ann
"The "Bedeviling of Young Goodman Brown"
by Thomas F., BoswellWalsh Jr.
"`Now, gods, stand up for bastards': Reinterpreting Benjamin Franklin's Autobiography"
by William H. Shurr
"'The Cask of Amontillado' A Case for the Defense"
by Patrick White
SUMMARIZE: Fully summarize the argument made by the critic. When necessary for explanatory purposes, convey also the details/evidence used to support that argument. This should take you a page and a half to two pages.
EVALUATE: Evaluate the essay based on the elements of 1) the credentials of the author; 2) the medium of publication; 3) the respectability of the publisher; 4) the currency of the source. You will find further explanations of these criteria in Writing about Literature, page 114-115. You may find that you have to do a little research to be able to complete this part of the assignment. You can start by googling the author and/or the publication in which the essay has been published. This should take you a well-developed paragraph.
RESPOND: Do you agree or disagree with the writer? Is there anything that you are confused about? Is there something that you respond negatively to in terms of the presentation of the argument? Is writer suggesting a different way of looking at the text than the way that we discussed it in class? How does the writer's interpretation of the text compare to the class interpretation or your personal interpretation? This should take you anywhere from 3-5 paragraphs.
CONCLUDE: Leave your reader with some kind of final statement. Overall how useful did you find this critical essay? Did it change or enhance your understanding of the text it was discussing? Did you learn something from reading it? Did you ultimately not find it helpful? Why or why not? Go beyond just summarizing what you have said previously in the paper--instead, try to synthesize the experience of reading this critical essay.
Of course, essays should be formatted as requested in the syllabus and you should cite, correctly in MLA format, any sources that you use (including your critical essay and the original text, if you refer to it).
**There will be copies of the articles in folders next to my door for BORROWING (not enough for each of you to take them away for good) tomorrow (Tuesday) morning.
**Be sure to email me any questions or have them ready for me in class.
DUE: Thursday, December 15th by noon.
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ReplyDeleteI can't access most of the texts because of a password requirement from the site. Where can I get the password we are supposed to use?
ReplyDeleteYour passwords should be your Clark College ID numbers. (And usually you will be propmpted to put in your first and last name as well.) If you are having problems accessing the site, you may need to call the library to have them help you troubleshoot. You can also access them on campus, and remember, I have print copies for borrowing in folers outside my office!
ReplyDeleteActually you can just access the articles through Articles and Databases in Clark's Library website and typing what you would usually type for other websites you use. Then you could just look up the articles posted here on the blog since the author is provided. Well, that's what I did...
ReplyDeleteJust so you don't get lost like I did click on Literature and Resource Center in Clark's Articles and Databases and not Gale Virtual Library otherwise you'd be looking for articles in the wrong database.
ReplyDelete