Grading Criteria for English 206 and 207 Essays

Paper No. 1. This paper assignment will help you accomplish the following learning outcomes for sophomore literature courses at Ferrum College:

1. Read, comprehend, analyze, interpret, and evaluate primary literary texts as forms of cultural and creative expression

2. Write about literature with unity of purpose, coherent organization, and effective use of English consistent with standard rules and ordinary conventions

3. Demonstrate independent critical thinking

• Required length of paper: three double-spaced typed pages (at least 750 words)

• This short length means that as you choose your topic, you must refine the focus and develop a very specific thesis that can be supported adequately with only six to ten paragraphs of discussion. Your paper can be longer than the minimum requirement, but don’t pick a focus that would require eight or ten pages.

• Deadline: Tues., Feb. 20. Turn in the essay on paper at the beginning of class. (Be sure it is printed, stapled, with page numbered, before class begins.)

• Review the paragraph guide and general guidelines on literature papers before, during and after writing your paper (They have not been revised for this particular course but contain some useful general instructions). I would be glad to help with focusing topics, or developing outlines or drafts, any time before the paper is due. The Writing Center is also open for assistance with writing papers. Handbooks on writing about literature and samples of student essays are available in the Writing Center.

• Topics: Choose one of the following:

1. Discuss the function of details of setting in the stories by Jewett or Crane, or details of just one setting in The Awakening or Huckleberry Finn (e.g., Jackson Island, the Phelps farm, one town)

2. Analyze the "trade off" involved when Sylvia keeps the heron's location secret or when Huck decides to protect Jim or when Edna Pontellier leaves her family.

3. Analyze the role of the ornithologist in relation to Sylvia in "A White Heron."

4. Discuss the function of details from Sylvia's or Edna's everyday life in Jewett's or Chopin's story.

5. Analyze the relations between main character and nature in "A White Heron" or "The Open Boat."

6. Discuss the significance of the pin tree in "A White Heron" or the sea in "The Open Boat."

7. Analyze one character as he or she relates to the character of Huckleberry Finn or Edna Pontellier, or compare two characters from "The Open Boat." (If you pick a major character like Jim or Tom you will have to limit the focus to one aspect of their relationship.) You could focus on what Huck learns from observing or interacting with that character, or a major point of comparison or contrast between Huck and that character.

8. Analyze one character or one incident in Huckleberry Finn as it develops one theme of the novel. For example:

1. the Grangerfords and "family values"

2. a trick Huck plays on Jim and friendship, or Huck's developing conscience/humanity

3. one scene that satirizes customs or "civilized" manners (such as funeral customs)

4. one scene that shows the importance of nature to Huck

5. a scene on the raft and the theme of freedom

6. a scene that shows the development in Huck's views of slavery

7. the view of superstition or organized religion in one scene or chapter

8. one scene in which Huck uses a disguise of lie (for what purpose? with what effects?)

9. Analyze one theme or image in one or two poems by Emily Dickinson. For example:

• the snake in "A narrow Fellow in the Grass"

• the view of death in "Because I could not stop for Death" or "I heard a fly Buzz"

• the bird in "A Bird came down the Walk"

• the animal imagery in "I like to see it lap the Miles"

• images of drink and inebriation in "I taste a liquor never brewed"

• the view of religion in "Some keep the Sabbath going to Church"

• Thesis: Be sure you have a precisely worded thesis in the introduction of your paper, and that each paragraph contains clear ideas and specific examples from the text to support the thesis.

Remember that a thesis must be more than an announcement of your topic. For example, if you are discussing "A White Heron" by Sarah Orne Jewett, your introductory sentences will probably identify the author, title and subject of the short story. This sentence might appear in an introduction but it is NOT an acceptable thesis because it contains only obvious facts: “"A White Heron" by Sarah Orne Jewett depicts a girl living in the country who is tempted to help an outsider find a rare bird.” Your thesis must state your main idea about the theme of the story or poem. This sentence would be an acceptable thesis for this assignment: "In 'A White Heron,' when Sylvia learns that conflicting values sometimes require difficult choices, her decision in the end reveals her loyalty to the natural world."

Another example of a thesis statement: “Poems 130 and 324 by Emily Dickinson reveal that she views the natural world as sacred and compares its influence to traditional religious experiences.”

Be sure to develop your own precise thesis. Do not copy one of these examples.

• Editing: Follow the instructions for editing and proofreading your paper on the general guidelines on literature papers. Use spell check but use it carefully and do not expect a grammar or spell checker to catch all your errors, since only a human can read your sentences to make sure they have the structure you need and you have typed the right words in the right places. Leave yourself enough time to edit and proofread carefully after you have composed and printed the paper. If the paper is submitted with an excessive number of mechanical errors, I may not be able to read it all or grade it.

• Documentation: You are not required or encouraged to use secondary sources in this paper. Your primary source is the story or poem(s) you are discussing. If you quote directly from the text, give the page number(s) in parentheses from the book. If you discuss a poem that fits on one page, use line numbers instead of page numbers to identify quotations. At the end of the paper give a complete citation for your primary source(s), using MLA documentation style. If you do refer to any other sources, it is your responsibility to add complete documentation to them. If sources are misused or documentation is incomplete, I will not be able to grade the paper.

Be sure to read the Grading Criteria for English 206 and 207 Essays.

Don't turn in your paper without revising and editing it, asking yourself the following questions:

• Where is the thesis? Is it a clear, specific main idea that I can prove thoroughly in a paper of this length?

• Does every paragraph have a main idea that supports the thesis?

• Does every detail in the paper support the thesis? Is the main idea the same from beginning to end?

• Do the introduction and conclusion have consistent observations about the works of literature the paper discusses?

• Are any quotations handled accurately with all needed documentation for quotations or other material from outside sources? Is there a Works Cited list in MLA format?

• Have I corrected all errors in sentence structure and mechanics? Will every word and every sentence and mark of punctuation make sense to someone reading this paper?

02/15/2007

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