Instructor’s Handbook: Unit Three

Literary Analysis: Eh 200 Instructor’s Guide to Unit Three

Rationale and Overview:

In this unit, students are tasked with reading and responding to a short to medium-length novel and its major criticism.  The purpose of the curriculum is to provide students with practical experience in academic research as well as continued opportunities to refine their critical writing and thinking skills.

Unit Skills:

• Argumentative essay

• Professional oral presentation

• Close readings

• Use of definitions in argumentation, including “Social Issues” and “The American Dream”

Recommended Readings:

In addition to the novel, a review of all major readings completed in units one and two in light of new concepts and concerns explored in unit three.

Assessment:

Students will be assessed by a combination of major written and oral tasks. They will produce a mid-length essay that will undergo significant revision. There will be and at least two semi-formal oral presentations (see accompanying assignment sheet) and one major final presentation. Other assignments they must complete include regular journal entries, peer-reviews, and reflection assignments. For the student to be successful, he or she must demonstrate a facility and proficiently with the necessary texts.

Mini-Lesson Possibilities:

• Journaling

• Blogging

• Re-reading

• Revision workshop

• Peer Review

• Effective oral presentations

• Identifying thematic elements

• Idea generation

• Précis review

 

 Unit Three Paper: Literary Research Paper: (For distribution to students)

Your final writing assignment this semester will be a 7-8 page research paper, which will represent the final written product of the Eh 123, 124, 200 sequence.

It will argue for a persuasive reading of Stephen King’s Carrie, and will include numerous references to the text and to at least five approved secondary sources.

 Format

Papers must be typed in 12 point, Times New Roman font, using black ink and double spacing. Margins must be set 1-inch and in informal heading must appear at the upper left corner. The author’s last name and the page number should appear in the upper right corner on every page except the first.

 Audience

You are writing this paper for your peer and your instructor, as well as other students and instructors at Husson University. Use language and expressions that are appropriate for this audience and explain your ideas in great enough depth that someone who is not familiar with them can understand them as well as you do.

 Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to inform your audience on an interpretation of the novel. In order to accomplish this, you will need to plan your points, gather support for them, establish your credibility, and appeal to your audience in a variety of ways using your knowledge of rhetorical strategies. Secondary purposes include development and support of a thesis and the smooth integration of source material.

 Structure

Your knowledge of rhetoric should guide your organizational decisions, but some items are crucial. Your paper will need to include both introductory and concluding sections, as well as a thesis statement that frames your argument, but examples and claims should all be supported with evidence from your source texts.

 Sources:

5-7 Scholarly Secondary Sources. No Wikipedia. No digests. No causal news periodicals (Newsweek and the like). No newspapers.

Eh 200: Literary Argument Peer Review Sheet

Reader:_________________________

Writer:_________________________

1)      Please provide a brief summary of the paper. You may use the back of this sheet.

2)      Describe the organization of the piece. It is effective? How? How might the wrier organize it better? Be specific.

3)      Has the writer demonstrated a clear understanding of the conventions of argumentation? Explain in detail.

4)      What are your overall impressions of the piece?

5)      Please comment on the mechanics (grammar, paragraph structure, ect.) of the piece. What are the writer’s weak points?

 

EH 200 Literary Argument Rubric

Dimensions of Content	Exemplary	Accomplished	Developing	Beginning
Evidence	Text presents excellent evidence in support of the thesis. It addresses questions of audience and purpose in a sophisticated manner.	Text provides strong evidence in support of the thesis. Text adequately addresses questions of audience and purpose.	Text provides some appropriate evidence to support the thesis. However, detail may be lacking. Text does not fully address questions of audience and purpose in its presentation or investigation of evidence.	Text provides little reasonable evidence in support of the thesis. Detail is lacking. Text neglects questions of audience and purpose in its consideration of evidence.
Sources	Text thoroughly integrates appropriate sources that address the issues being raised in the argument Text addresses key implications of these sources in a detailed and precise manner.	Text adequately incorporates and develops secondary source materials. Text adequately addresses key issues/questions implied by these sources.	Text provides some development of the ideas raised in the secondary sources, but details may be lacking. There may be lapses in development/ incorporation.	Text provides little development of the secondary sources and/or misses key issues suggested by the source. Detail is lacking.
The Thesis	Text thoroughly develops a thesis by providing specific and detailed analysis specific evidence from the story in question.	Text develops the thesis of the article and adequately develops examples used to support that thesis.	Text provides some development of the thesis, but details may be lacking. There may be lapses in development.	Text provides little or no development of the thesis and provides little if any specific examples of support used by the author of the article.
Dimension of Process	Exemplary	Accomplished	Developing	Beginning
Process	Final draft of assignment is accompanied by at least three additional drafts demonstrating true revisions and effective editing strategies.	Final draft of assignment is accompanied by at least two additional drafts, though these drafts may demonstrate some struggles with revision and editing.	Final draft of assignment is accompanied by some draft work, though attempts at revision and editing are not always clear.	Final draft of assignment lacks draft work or drafts show no visible revision and/or editing.
Sentence Structure, Punctuation, and Surface-Level Issues	Text maintains appropriate Standard American English structure throughout essay and avoids major sentence errors. Text is clear of minor surface-level errors, such as misspelled words and typos.	Text usually maintains Standard American English structure but may contain a few major sentence errors. Text is relatively clear of minor surface-level errors, such as misspelled words and typos.	Text struggles to maintain Standard American English structure and contains a several various major sentence errors, though errors do not prevent basic comprehension. Text contains several surface errors but these do not affect comprehension.	Text contains severe struggles with sentence structure, and some errors affect comprehension. Text contains numerous surface-level errors.
Format and Documentation	Text maintains appropriate MLA format for page set-up, margins, headings, references, etc. Text provides proper in-text citation for both quoted and paraphrased material.	Text generally follows MLA guidelines for format, though there may be a few minor errors. Text attempts to provide proper in-text citations, though there may be instances without proper in-text documentation.	Text may struggle to adhere to MLA formatting guidelines, but clear attempts have been made. Text struggles to provide proper in-text documentation.	Text lacks MLA formatting as required by the assignment. Text does not provide in-text citations for any quotes or paraphrased material.

               

Three Suggestions for Revision:    1.   2.   3.

               

Score

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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