Project ¡Yo! - Topic and Thesis

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You should be well on your way with reading ¡Yo!

This week, please write a brief paragraph in which you propose your paper topic to your Instructor for feedback.
Immediately following your paragraph, insert your idea for a thesis statement. The thesis statement brings focus to your topic by narrowing your paper to one or two issues.
Sample Topic: Yo's family. (Explain why you want to write about these characters.)
Sample Thesis (from topic): Yo and her three sisters have the same cultural roots, but they are different due to _A__ , __B__, and _C_.
Topic Suggestions (Feel free to use these topics or to devise your own topic):
1. Yolanda Garcia's struggle to be a loyal family member and a successful novelist
2. The Garcia family's experience of a "mestiza" existence, or a life in the "borderlands," no longer fully Dominican and not quite US American, either. (Check out further notes on this in Week 05.)
3. Comparison and contrast of gender roles in the "old country" - the Dominican Republic - and the United States.
4. Form and Narrative Structure - how is the novel organized, how is it narrated? What are the effects on the reader?
5. Fictions of "America" - what types of "American Dreams" does the novel feature? Who is able to live/achieve their "American Dream"? Who fails? How? Why?
6. Compare and contrast Alvarez' novel with another author's work you have studied so far in this course. Use one of the points listed above as the central focus of your comparison or select another specific, narrow focus.

Your Instructor must approve your topic and thesis before you write your paper. As soon as you have received approval, look over any feedback or required changes and then begin preparing for next week when you have to develop your outline and introduction (where you insert your new thesis). See the Week 03 Project ¡Yo! - Introduction for complete details.

Submit your completed assignment to the drop box below. Please check the Course Calendar for specific due dates.

Save your assignment as a Microsoft Word document. (Mac users, please remember to append the ".doc" extension to the filename.) The name of the file should be your first initial and last name, followed by an underscore and the name of the assignment, and an underscore and the date. An example is shown below:

Jstudent_exampleproblem_101504

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Week 03 - The Harlem Renaissance

The Big Picture

In Literature of American Minorities, you are reading selected works by several groups of so-called minority authors of the United States. The intent is to learn about some of the important literary movements and themes within their cultural contexts. To apply your learning, you will read and study the novel ¡Yo!, by Julia Alvarez from the Dominican Republic.

Goal

Write a 6-7 page research paper in which you critically evaluate the novel, ¡Yo!, on a structural or thematic level. You may also choose to compare and contrast the structural or thematic elements of the novel with those of another fictional text you have read, either in this course or elsewhere.

Due

Project ¡Yo! is due at the end of Week 11, but preliminary pieces of the assignment are due during Weeks 03-10, according to the following Time Line. You will receive feedback along the way to help you do the best job possible.

Time Line

Week	Assignment
03	Profile
04	Topic and Thesis
05	Thesis, Introduction, Outline
06	Annotated Bibliography
07	Write
08	Peer Review
09	Rough Draft
10	Revise
11	Final Paper

Technical Requirements

Original research paper that is a minimum of 6-7 pages in length. In general, pages consist of:

Title Page - Captivating title, your name, title of the course, date
Body - 6-7 pages in length. Follow this rough outline:

Introduction - Introduce topic - Bring focus to your study through dramatic opening, leading into thesis statement.
First Point coming out of thesis statement
1. Support #1 from research
2. Support #2 from research
3. Personal observation, backed by facts/text passages
4. Transition to next point.
Second Point coming out of thesis statement
1. Support #1 from research
2. Support #2 from research
3. Personal opinion, backed by facts/text passages
4. Transition to next point.
Third Point coming out of thesis statement
1. Support #1 from research
2. Support #2 from research
3. Personal opinion, backed by facts/text passages
4. Transition to conclusion.
Conclusion - restate thesis and close with striking point or quotation.

References page - in APA format.

Proper mechanics: clear, concise, complete sentences and paragraphs, proper spelling, grammar and punctuation.
Quote regularly from the primary text ¡Yo! for the paper. In addition, incorporate information from at least four to six secondary sources. (Primary texts are by the author. Secondary sources are critical books and essays about the author.) For an excellent source of material, visit your college's Online Library, which is accessible through the Resources tab . For such academic research, it's best to avoid Internet sites that end in .com, as well as Wikipedia. Any questions on research, consult your Instructor or the online librarian. See also Notes on Quality Research in Course Materials.
Use statements and ideas that are your own writing and blend these in with your research. Do not plagiarize. If you want to use actual words from a source, put them in quotation marks with the source. Summarized and paraphrased ideas from sources need to be cited as well.
Follow APA format for citing your sources. For APA guidelines, go to your college's Online Library, which you can access through the Resources tab.

Evaluation

Your instructor will use the following guidelines to evaluate your final outline and paper: Rubric for Project ¡Yo! Look for it in Course Materials.

Throughout this project, should you have any questions, please ask your Instructor. Post ideas and questions for your classmates in the General Course Questions forum in the Getting Started folder of this course.