English

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ENG 1301 Profile Guidelines

Purpose The purpose of this profile assignment is to give your reader new insight into a public figure of importance to your personal growth and/or professional future. You will clarify why this individual is of importance to you while also considering what truths a broad spectrum of readers can take from this individual’s life. You will also demonstrate your ability to ethically incorporate and analyze sources about this person in your essay.

Course Learning Objectives Objective Activity Respond to different rhetorical situations. Write an informative essay that provides

new insights into a public figure of importance to you.

Summarize and respond to sources. Cite and analyze at least three credible sources about your subject.

Practice writing processes of invention, drafting, revision, editing, and proof- reading.

You will revise your Profile rough draft for your Profile final draft submission.

Cite sources according to an established documentation style.

Cite sources in MLA style.

The learning objectives in this unit align with course learning objectives 1, 2, 3, and 4.

Brainstorming and Drafting It’s important to write about a public figure that affects you personally or impacts you directly. However, it’s also important to confirm that you will be able to locate credible sources (articles published in credible newspapers and magazines or books) on this individual, since these sources will help you construct a picture of the individual for the audience.

Take notes on who comes to mind as you ask yourself the following questions:

• Who has lived through an important historical event (war, Civil Rights era, Depression, etc.)?

• Who has been through challenging experiences (survived major health crisis, difficult childhood)?

• Who has an unusual job or job, talent, or special skill? • Who has a unique personality (eccentric, funny, selfless, energetic, artistic, etc.)?

Developed by Amanda Monteleone For internal use within the Department of English at Texas Wesleyan University CC BY-NC-SA to Amanda Monteleone

You must locate at least three credible sources to help you construct a picture of this individual for the reader.

Arrangement Begin the essay with an original title that engages your audience and is relevant to your subject.

As you prepare a draft that you’ll share with your audience, begin with an introduction that accomplishes the following goals:

• Capture your reader’s attention with vivid or engaging statements that allow your reader to relate to the subject of your profile.

• Briefly explain why this individual is of importance to you. • Clarify what truths your reader can take from learning about this individual.

Your profile should include at least five body paragraphs as follows:

At least two body paragraph should center on key subtopics regarding your subject. Each body paragraph must begin with a clear topic sentence and must include evidence from cited sources relevant to the subtopic. Each piece of evidence must utilize the “quotation sandwich” style discussed in class and follow with plenty of your own commentary that clarifies the relationship between the evidence and the subtopic.

At least one body paragraph should address the topics from our class conversation about Bryan Knight’s TED Talk, “Understanding the Personhood of Historical Figures” regarding your subject. First, summarize these ideas from Bryan Knight’s talk for your reader’s understanding, directly referencing the speaker and title. Then, objectively analyze how the sources you have referenced in this paper, have shaped this individual into a specific kind of figure (i.e., “hero” or “villain”). Provide close reading of statements from at least two of your sources in the “quotation sandwich” format, clarifying the following with your commentary:

• What qualities about the individual does this source emphasize? • What human weaknesses, struggles, or other sources of complexity do you believe this

source may be leaving out?

At least one body paragraph should center on your close reading of a primary source related to your subject. It could be an interview with the subject or a product of their work, such as an art work, a passage from a literary work or speech, or a video in which they have performed.

At least one body paragraph should center on why this individual is of importance to you personally and what important ideas the reader can take from learning about this individual. This section should come entirely from your own perspective. Don’t reference other sources. Instead, within this paragraph/these paragraphs:

• Address how you came to learn about this individual.

Developed by Amanda Monteleone For internal use within the Department of English at Texas Wesleyan University CC BY-NC-SA to Amanda Monteleone

• Describe why you were drawn to write and research about them. • Explain the role that this person has played in your knowledge or worldview.

You must also provide a conclusion to your essay that clearly responds to the following prompts:

• What are the most important insights about the individual from your essay? • Why is learning about this individual valuable to the reader?

Style Your audience for this essay is your classmates and instructor. Therefore, your writing style should be semi-professional. Make a point to use vivid or more specific vocabulary words to make your work more interesting to the audience.

Each paragraph must have a clear topic sentence. Each paragraph should have a clear purpose in the essay and relate to a specific point or main idea specified in the “Arrangement” section.

Your essay must be double-spaced, with 12-point font size and one-inch margins all the way around. Your header, heading and title should be formatted in MLA style. See the Purdue OWL website (https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/purdue_owl.html) for more information on formatting your essay in MLA style.

Proofread your work carefully before submission. Use spell-check and grammar-check resources before submitting your work. I strongly recommend reading your paper aloud before submitting it to catch missing words or run-on sentences that error-checking resources cannot detect.

Grading Your essay will be assessed on a scale of 0-100 according to the following criteria:

• inclusion of an engaging, relevant title • inclusion of all required elements in the “Arrangement” section • well-developed paragraphs with clear topic sentences • proper MLA formatting and citation styles • professional formatting and proofreading practices

Your essay must be a minimum of four pages long, not including a Works Cited page, to be eligible for a grade of 70 or above. To meet this requirement, you should have a substantial amount of text on page "4" of the draft. Extra spaces between lines, paragraphs, or before or after the title, and lengthy quotes within the paper will not count toward this length requirement.

Make sure to include all required elements in your essay. Make these elements clearly identifiable by using language that repeats the question or prompt along with your answer. Any degree of generic, “AI-style” writing, fake quotes, or false or off-topic content will automatically

Developed by Amanda Monteleone For internal use within the Department of English at Texas Wesleyan University CC BY-NC-SA to Amanda Monteleone

receive zero credit and a plagiarism referral. Protect your integrity by clearly referring to the specified elements (why the person is of importance to you, truths your audience can take from learning about this person, etc.) with key words and by demonstrating your knowledge of your primary and secondary sources and our class conversation about Bryan Knight’s TED Talk. When quoting from other sources, use the “quotation sandwich” style discussed in class, sandwiching quotes with important contexts and following with plenty of your own commentary relating the quote back to the paragraph’s topic.

You must provide Works Cited entries for all works quoted or paraphrased in your essay.

The Profile essay is worth 20% of your total grade. Your submission will receive a 10-point deduction for each day late. Your submission will not be accepted after three days past the initial due date/time.