Required Paragraph Outline
Essay #1
You will be using Love Minus Eighty as your source text for this paper. This is a comparison/contrast essay, and your topic is:
· You will choose three characters from this story and compare the following:
1. How does this character face injustice? In what way? How do they respond to that situation? Does the character eventually find justice? What is revealed about this character’s morality over the course of this journey?
IMPORTANT:
· No personal references (“I” “me” “my” “in my opinion” “one might have the opinion”)
· 1 quotation, supporting an interpretive idea only (not factual)
EXAMPLES:
· Rob commits injustice when he hits and kills Winter with his car. He then seeks to atone to Winter for what he has done.
· Sunali faces injustice when she is placed in the Bridecicle program, and then revived out of spite. She responds by trying to end the entire unjust system of the program, seeking justice on behalf of many women beyond herself.
· Winter experiences injustice when she is killed and placed in the Bridecicle program. To try to surive she has to lie about her feelings and enter into a toxic marriage.
Remember – each of these examples is just a starting point – how they are facing injustice, and the beginning ideas for how they are responding to that situation. Consider – do each of these characters eventually find justice? And what is revealed about each character’s morality over the course of this journey?
PARAGRAPH LAYOUT
1. Thesis (blueprint, guide)
2. Character A faces injustice and responds HOW, revealing WHAT
3. Character B faces injustice and responds HOW, revealing WHAT
4. Compare Character A’s response to injustice/morality to Character B’s
5. Character C faces injustice and responds HOW, revealing WHAT
6. Compare Character C’s response to injustice/morality to Character A’s & Character B’s
7. Conclusion (final reinforcement of what was proven in these body paragraphs)
English 101M: Essay #1
Comparison and Contrast
Essay Topic
You will be using Love Minus Eighty as your source text for this paper. This is a comparison/contrast essay, and your topic is:
· You will choose three characters from this story and compare the following:
1. How does this character face injustice? In what way? How do they respond to that situation? Does the character eventually find justice? What is revealed about this character’s morality over the course of this journey?
Assignment Details:
This essay must be five pages. It does not have to be five full pages – just touching the fifth page is acceptable.
Use one direct quotation from McIntosh. Review quotation handout and class notes carefully.
Follow all rules listed on the assignments guidelines sheet handed out in class. Pay particular attention rules regarding font, size, spacing, and margins.
This assignment is worth a maximum of 150 points.
Any paper that does not meet at least 3/5th of the assigned minimum page length will receive a 0. This 0 is permanent.
Any paper that does not achieve the minimum page length, but is at least 3/5th of the assignment will receive 90 point and be eligible for revision.
Things To Keep In Mind
Remember that by the end of the first paragraph, I must know what your thesis is. Your thesis is the idea that you are proving to me. Remember that you aren’t just explaining how three characters (for example: Rob, Winter, and Sunali) each experienced and responded to injustice – you are also comparing them. This means that you need a larger thesis argument that will be supported and proven by analyzing and comparing these characters. What is your larger idea about injustice and how people respond to it? What is your idea about what this reveals about morality? I need to know by the end of the thesis paragraph what that larger concept is, as well as which characters you will be comparing.
Here’s a way to look at this: in our first assignment you had to prove who was more racist, Julian or his mother. In doing that, you weren’t just comparing two characters – you were also making a larger argument about what makes one type of racism worse than another. Use that as a guide when you consider how you will approach this topic.
Support all interpretive statements with clear and persuasive examples. “Rob hit and killed Winter with a car,” is a factual statement, and needs no support. “Rob is able to atone for his injustice because of how much he sacrifices to try to save Winter” is an interpretation, and needs to be solidly supported from the text.
You may not use personal examples or references. This means that the words “I” or “you” are off-limits. If you are trying to refer to the author’s intended audience, write “the reader.” Remember, you are focusing completely on the text – don’t spend a page writing breezily about your general feelings or impressions on a topic. Use and analyze the text.
Avoid long summary and presentation of content. Remember, I have also read this book. There is no need to provide a full summary. Focus on your comparison points and expand. Analyze, don’t summarize.
Follow the paragraph organization that I have provided in the essay lecture.
What I’d like to see
A grammatically clean essay with sentences that flow naturally and with a logical path. Please remember to use spellcheck, and always read your final draft before you hand it to me. It can be very helpful to read your essay aloud to yourself – something that you might’ve typed hastily and awkwardly will sound awkward to you. If you are having ongoing problems with your grammar, please refer to your Hacker or make an appointment with the Academic Support Center. They will want you to come in with a substantively complete draft.
A focus on structure. Organize ideas clearly, and always outline carefully before you begin writing. Always expand on ideas and explore them thoroughly – don’t rush through concepts without proving them.
Analysis. Don’t summarize, analyze.
If you would like help or feedback on essay drafts or in selecting your characters or topic, please make an appointment with me.
EMBEDDED STUDENTS: Please pay attention to the supplemental exercise content file. You will also have priority on several individual meeting slots.
Revisions
For this essay, every paper graded above a 0 will be available for revision. Papers can be revised for a possible increase of the maximum amount of points available. For example, a paper turned in on time that received a 50 can be revised once, for up to a 150. But a paper that was turned in late can only be revised up to a maximum of 113 points.
Essay Rubric
A
Meets all basic guidelines.
Excellent use of analysis, with little to no reliance on summary.
Student showed excellent understanding of source text.
Thoughtful and restrained use of examples from the text.
Correct grammar, few to no typos.
B
Meets all basic guidelines.
Good use of analysis, with little to no reliance on summary.
Student showed very good understanding of source text.
Thoughtful and restrained use of examples from the text.
Correct grammar, few to occasional typos.
C
Meets all basic guidelines.
Some analysis, but a reliance on summary.
Student showed good familiarity with source text.
Some use of examples, though a tendency toward underuse or abuse.
Some ongoing grammar problems, but the paper itself remains readable.
D
Does not meet basic guidelines.
Little to no analysis, excessive reliance on summary.
Student was not familiar with source text, and made clear factual errors.
No use of examples, or:
Excessive abuse of examples.
Large and ongoing grammar problems that impacted the readability of the paper.
F
Student failed to turn paper in by midnight, May 9th .
Paper did not reach 3/5th of the assigned minimum page length.
Student engaged in plagiarism.