literature of american spiritual radicals & outsiders

 

Hello,

 

its a Thesis + outline….. and it will be continue for the next paper 

           

 1789: Olaudah Equiano/ Gustavas Vassa

* Historial intro(video): A Son of Africa. California Newsreel. (Watch segments 1, 3, and 11)

* Main text: Equiano, exerpts from The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavas Vassa, the African, Written by Himself. 1789 

  

 Video & Reading (for video, cut and paste URL, text is attached as PDF)

Historical background: A Son Of Africa. California Newsreel (Firm). n.p.: New York, N.Y. : Films Media Group, [2013], c1996., 1996. ST EDWARDS UNIV’s Catalog. Web. 28 June 2013.  (watch segments 1, 3, and 11)    https://ezproxy.stedwards.edu:2048/login?url=http://digital.films.com/PortalPlaylists.aspx?aid=14955&xtid=49763   (cut and paste this link into your browser).Main text:  Equiano, Olaudah. “The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavas Vassa, the African, Written by Himself.” 1789. Colonial Period to 1800. Ed. Paul Lauter and Richard Yarborough. 5th ed. Boston: Houghton, 2006. 748-81. Print. Vol. A of The Heath Anthology of American Literature.Optional Resources (both are PDFs, attached)Paratexts: excerpts from Equiano, Olaudah. The Interesting Narrative and Other Writings. Ed. Vincent Carretta. New York: Penguin, 1995. Print. Conversion narrative:  Chapter X of Equiano, Interesting Narrative. Additional resources: see Brycchan Carey’s compilation of resources –  http://www.brycchancarey.com/equiano/index.htm  

Thesis + Outline – Essay 1

Due: Tues, Jul 16, 12 pm – submit through Blackboard

Instructions:

Tell me your basic topic:
which text you will analyze
and which themes or topics you plan to discuss

Passages from the text: Identify 2-3 key passages from the text that you intend to discuss. Describe what aspects of these passages that you consider most important.

Literary / rhetorical features: Identify the literary or rhetorical features of the text you plan to discuss. For example, what literary or rhetorical strategies do you think the author is using in these passages? Or what features of the genre are important to understanding the text? Or what elements of the text’s structure shape it’s meaning?

Fact-checking / Spot-Research: Identify 1-2 historical, religious, or other issues that you might need to research.

Thesis: Draft a tentative thesis statement that contains your ideas. Remember that a thesis statement can be more than one sentence long. (I know, I know, this is hard! I expect that you’ll eventually change this. But it can help you to focus if you start out with a basic hypothesis.)

Outline: Based on what you have written in the previous paragraphs, outline your paper including a full-sentence description for each line in the outline.

Assignment– Essay 1 – pg 3

Essay 1

Due Dates

Thesis + outline
Tues, July 16, 12 pm

Final Draft
Sat, July 20, 5 pm

Summary

For this paper, you will analyze a course text using the concepts and techniques covered in class.

Goal

The goal of this assignment is to strengthen your ability to develop a complex, independent thesis, and to work closely and analytically with a text. You will also gain additional practice in doing a minimal level of research on some topic that’s important for understanding your text.

Requirements

· State a thesis. Your thesis should make a claim about what meaning, argument, or idea your text conveys, and how (that is, what literary techniques or features contribute to that meaning, argument, or idea).

· Support your argument with evidence. After laying out your thesis, you should proceed to support your argument with relevant evidence. For this course, two types of evidence may be necessary:

a) Evidence from the primary text. In literary analysis, your main evidence must come directly from the text itself. The details of the text must support your claim, and you must offer examples and quotations from the text to back up your claim.

b) Evidence from at least 1 secondary source
.
For this essay, I am requiring you to consult at least one secondary source for factual information about some issue related to your text, for example, an aspect of its historical context or the author’s religion. You will need to go beyond encyclopedias and dictionaries and seek out at least one scholarly book or article by a historian, religious studies scholar, or cultural studies scholar.

Make sure you offer enough evidence, and the right kind, for each argument you make.

· Analyze and Explain. It is not enough to include quotations. You need to analyze and discuss them, explaining why and how they support your thesis. It is usually best to discuss a few important passages in detail, focusing on the words, tone, images, metaphors, arguments, information, formats, or other literary/ rhetorical devices your text uses in order to convey its meaning.

· Follow an organized sequence.

a. An introduction that captures your reader’s attention and guides him or her into the topic and thesis of your paper.

b. A well-organized body that lays out your points in a logical order, with focused paragraphs, and with clear transitions between ideas.

c. A conclusion that discusses the implications of your observations. Drawing on your ideas for item #5 above, explain how the strategies you have identified help the author to make an important point about his settlement or colonization in America.

· Use standard English, including correct grammar, spelling, and punctuation.

· Use the following format:

a. Contain 900 words not counting the Works Cited page (~ 3 pages – use Word Count.)

b. Use Times New Roman 12 pt font, double-spaced lines, and 1” margins

c. Cite all in-text sources according to MLA format

d. Include a Works Cited page in MLA format using NoodleBib (through the Library)

Step-by-Step Instructions for Getting Started

1. Choose a Text:

Choose any text we have read in class. Then pick a section or two of the text to focus upon. You need to select sections which we have not extensively discussed in class. Thus, you should either:

–pick sections that I did not assign for class reading, by reading other portions of the text provided in the reading or checking the complete text (on reserve at the library)

–pick a section that I assigned but that we did not extensively discuss in class.

2. Read the text through thoroughly.

3. Focus in on some specific passages.

Identify 2-3 key passages that you think are important. In a short paper, you really can’t discuss more than a few specific passages, so don’t try to analyze the WHOLE text. However, if you’ve picked good passages, you should be able to make some true statements about the text as a whole, based on those specific places.

4. Research any factual issues you need to know – either related to history, religion, or literature.

For example, if you want to reference Apess’s Methodism, you should find out a little more about Methodistm in the early 19th century. For this essay, you should consult at least one outside, academic source that discuss some aspect of your text. It cannot be an encyclopedia or dictionary entry. You may also consult a web source if and only if it is associated with a credible institution or publication.

Can you use Wikipedia? Yes and no. It’s a great place to start out as you try to get a grasp of the issue you’re trying to read about. So sure, look up the “Methodism” entry there. You should also check the “reference” section of the “Literature” research page at the library.

But you can’t cite Wikipedia (or other encyclopedias) in your Works Cited page. That is to say, it’s never good enough as your final source. After you have read an overview of the issue that interests you, you need to find a more in-depth source written by a scholar.

5. Now for the hard part:

draw out the implications of what you have observed.

Based on your observations and your research, explain how these literary features shape the overall meaning of the work.

Name:_______________________

Grading Criteria for Paper 1

Your Introduction_____________________

Guides the reader into the topic and thesis of
Weak
Competent
Above&Beyond
Great

your paper

Offers a clear and interesting thesis statement
Weak
Competent
Above&Beyond
Great

that a) makes a claim about the meaning, argument

or key idea conveyed by your text; and b) states

how your text conveys that meaning or idea.

Your Analysis and Discussion ____________

Closely analyzes 2-3 passages in the text
Weak
Competent
Above&Beyond
Great

Draws on relevant outside sources
Weak
Competent
Above&Beyond
Great

Offers a conclusion that discusses the implications
Weak
Competent
Above&Beyond
Great

of your observations

Your Essay Structure:______________________

Organizes each paragraph around one central
Weak
Competent
Above&Beyond
Great

claim or idea

Orders the paragraphs in a logical way
Weak
Competent
Above&Beyond
Great

Pulls together key points in a concluding para-
Weak
Competent
Above&Beyond
Great

graph

Your Grammar and style:________

Uses an appropriate style
Weak
Competent
Above&Beyond
Great

Uses academically-standard grammar
Weak
Competent
Above&Beyond
Great

Your Adherence to formatting guidelines:

States name, title, and other front page infor-
Weak
Competent
Above&Beyond
Great

mation in a professional format, and uses ap-

propriate headers on subsequent pages

Adequately cites sources in MLA format
Weak
Competent
Above&Beyond
Great

Includes a Works Cited page
Weak
Competent
Above&Beyond
Great