Literature English research

English 102 Literary Research Essay: Paper #3 Dr. Milne

Rhetorical Précis pre-writing due – Monday, Nov 23, before start of class in ACE under Assignments.

First draft due – Friday, Dec 4, aim for 4-5 full pages

On Dec 4, post your first draft to the Assignments channel in ACE as a separate Word document (.doc or .docx) by the start of class, or your first draft will be late. You will ALSO print one copy to bring to class for peer review. Per the syllabus, if you do not bring a hardcopy to class on Dec 4, your grade will be negatively affected. Try to make this first draft as complete as possible to maximize your grade. (Use e-mail as a backup—following syllabus instructions—ONLY if you ACE is down).

Revision due – Friday, Dec 11, 4-5 full pages

Post your revision to ACE as a Word attachment (.doc or .docx) no later than start of class on Dec 11.

Formatting requirement – 12pt Times New Roman font, double-spaced, 1-inch margins. MLA format (see LIT 1247-1261) Refer to ACE or LIT on arranging your paper in MLA format. See the syllabus for details. Review your MLA formatting lessons from ENGL101 if necessary. You may use only one (1) block quote in this essay.

Purpose and Overview: In many ways, the biggest distinction between a literary research essay and the other papers you have written this semester is that the literary research essay requires secondary sources in addition to explication and argumentation. Incorporating secondary sources into your work helps you frame your thoughts and arguments in a larger context, showing how you such ideas add to the broader conversations going on about your topic and text. This essay also allows you to practice the close reading, note-taking, analytical, and interpretive skills you have learned this semester.

Steps to Completion:

Pre-writing :

· Find a theme that is loosely related to empathy and/or some of the other major issues we’ve discussed this semester. Your specific choice of theme is your first and best chance to express creativity. Be prepared to think a lot about your topic, and for your theme to change as you write and research. Start with an interesting question that came up in discussion, a subject that you have wanted to explore more deeply, or a captivating thought you wrote down in your reading journal. Find a text that you feel speaks to that theme in an engaging, complex, or even controversial way. Narrow your theme down (remember what we discussed in Paper #2: “Growing up” is not a complete theme, but this one is: “Smith’s short story shows how only those who also grew up in poor families could understand what it is like to live in a factory town in southern Illinois.”).

· Alternatively, start with a text(s) (i.e., primary source) that you think has potential for exploration and interpretation. Do a close reading for a thought-provoking and specific theme loosely related to empathy and/or one of our other main topics this semester that you want to examine and analyze, just as we have done in past papers. Take notes on literary devices and passages related to that theme. Group related notes together. Texts on which you can write: at most—one novel, one or two short stories, or one to three poems. You can also combine genres, but in that case, stick to two texts total (for example, one poem and one short story).

· Before you examine what others have to say about your ideas, take a moment to think on your own. Review all of your notes and craft a tentative thesis statement that ties the theme together with your text in a way that you think will be interesting.

· Explore both the text and the specific theme in more depth. Use Google Scholar and the library database. Scan titles of articles and abstracts. Get a sense of what people are saying about the text, and what people are saying about your topic. Use more than one search term to find what you are looking for. Don’t just settle on the first link you see. Evaluate your sources for scholarly value and quality. Once you have done some preliminary research and note-taking, revise your thesis statement.

· Rhetorical Précis : Typically, secondary sources in literature are: (1) literary criticism on the text, (2) literary criticism on how the text relates to larger issues (similar to what you are writing here!), (3) biographical sketches or interviews about a particular author, (4) examinations of a theme or literary/historical event that connects to a text or set of texts. Your secondary sources will often be a combination of the above. Scan titles for interesting options. Read abstracts (if available) for a summary of the article’s argument and evidence. Choose at least three for your rhetorical précis from the library database.

· IMPORTANT: Your articles do not have to exactly match your theme. In fact, it’ll be better if they are related, but not an exact match, since you want your own argument to be fresh and original. If you choose a review, make sure it is longer than a few paragraphs. Some review essays are simply summaries, which will not be helpful. Avoid E-notes, Shmoop, or websites like it. Choose good sources. If you stick to the library databases and Google Scholar, there’s a good chance you’ll be okay. If you choose poor articles, then your rhetorical précis and your paper itself will be much harder to write. Scan the Works Cited of your sources to see if they have other sources you can use as well.

· The rhetorical précis format is in the Assignment Sheets folder in ACE Resources. The précis is very formulaic: Stick to the formula to gain the maximum points and to show your understanding of your articles. Start with your tentative thesis, your citation, and the five sentences delineated in the example. Put all three précis citations and paragraphs in alphabetical order by author last name. As much as possible, each of the sentences should be in your own words!!! If you find yourself quoting too much, it means you don’t understand the text you are trying to analyze. Make this part of the prewriting as useful as possible.

Drafting :

· While your précis pre-writing focused on three secondary sources from the library page, remember that they are just that: secondary. Your argument is what matters most to this paper; the sources are there for support and to uphold your credibility as a reader and researcher. With that in mind, reread through your notes and your precis, and revise your thesis statement based on what you have discovered. Your thesis statement should be narrow, precise, and specific. It should make a debatable argument related to our class discussions. Avoid observation or summary; make a point. Take a risk! And have fun!

· Examples:

· Observation: In James Baldwin’s short story, “Sonny’s Blues” the title character Sonny struggles to explain his life to his brother. In turn, his brother struggles to empathize with Sonny.

· Argument: In James Baldwin’s short story, “Sonny’s Blues,” Sonny’s struggle to explain his life to his brother, the narrator, represents a gap between empathy and experience, one further represented in their clash over the jazz musicians, Louis Armstrong and Charlie Parker. While unable to express his frustration through language, Sonny communicates his experience through jazz, encouraging his brother’s empathetic response.

· While the first example above is possibly factually true, the most one can do with this is read the text and confirm the statement. Is there a struggle? Yup. Well, what else is there to discuss? The first example is more of a summary or an observation. It doesn’t show the writer’s voice, or give a sense of an original argument. The second example, however, has some intriguing and unexpected details. How do the two brothers connect to Armstrong and Parker? And how does jazz music assist in empathy and understanding? The questions make me, the reader, curious to keep on reading. The second example is also debatable: Someone can argue that the mother’s story about their father is more important to the brother’s empathetic response than Louis Armstrong ever was. The debatability shows that there is a potential conversation here, and it’s an interesting one!

· Be creative with sources. In the above example, you might find one source related specifically to “Sonny’s Blues,” one related to Louis Armstrong, one article about James Baldwin’s connection to music, etc. All are potentially useful!

· Begin your body paragraphs with topic sentences that preview your paragraph’s specific focus. Treat each paragraph as a mini-argument that supports, clarifies, and expands upon your thesis statement. Include evidence (quotes, specific examples, etc.) and explication that support your main points in each paragraph. Carefully balance your explication of your primary text with analysis of the three secondary sources. Keep each paragraph tied to your thesis statement. Revise your thesis statement! Write up an introduction that specifically looks at your theme and your text together and leads up to your thesis statement.

· For your conclusion, avoid bringing up brand new sub-arguments. Instead, use this as a final space to contemplate an important point or two about your theme and/or your text.

Revising:

· Set your paper aside for a least a day before you revise. Consider revising with a friend and/or reading your paper aloud.

· Highlight your thesis statement. Does it focus on one narrow and specific aspect loosely related to empathy? If not, you must rethink your main argument and revise. Sometimes, looking back at your paragraphs allows you to discover a focus.

· Review each paragraph. If you cannot find a good connection between the point of the paragraph and your thesis, then you should consider omitting or revising the paragraph! Consider doing a reverse outline.

· Check for connections between paragraphs and between your ideas and evidence. Always introduce and interpret evidence.

· Underline all the quotes you have in your essay. If you have a paragraph that is made up mostly of quotes or other people’s ideas or words, then you must revise that paragraph. Your voice is the one that counts here, so let it shine through! (

· If you have time, reread for grammar, spelling, and punctuation. As we did in class, skim LIT 1231-1266 for assistance.

Tips:

· Samples are on ACE for the rhetorical précis as well as the research paper itself. Scan these examples for help!

· Be creative! Don’t choose the first idea that springs to your head if it’s not original or unique. Don’t rely on the first source that pops up in Google. Think outside the box!

· Keep an open mind and an open heart. Don’t forget that discomfort can be a really important part of learning. Embrace it! And of course, never hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or concerns. (