The Language of the City
Rough Draft Due: Mon. 8/1 for in class peer review.
Final Draft Due: Wed. 8/3.
Length: 750 words
In your essay, you will assert an argument analyzing the language of Manhattan in at least two texts that we read. Your essay will be at least 750 words and analyze quotations from the text you have selected to prove your thesis. You will need to select a narrow focus that you can analyze in depth. It may help to examine a particular character, moment, or set of moments in the text. You could also compare characters, moments, or aspects of New York life. Tracing the use of a word or phrase in the text might also help to focus and anchor your analysis.
Topics you might address include: social life, the workplace, poetic form, technology, change, the past, family, the body, and art.
You can build from your blog postings, maps, or class work, including aspects you have noted in mapping New York, but make sure that your essay reads fluidly.
Your essay must demonstrate correct use of MLA style and a correctly formatted list of works cited, including the course text you are addressing. While you are not required to consult additional sources, you must cite all sources that you consult, including webpages. Use parenthetical citations to acknowledge when you are quoting or citing others’ ideas. It is plagiarism to use others’ words or ideas without citing them.
Remember, you do not need to summarize course texts in your essay. Assume your readers have read the novel and only tell them what they need to know to understand your points.
Your essay must be typed, double spaced, in twelve-point, and Times New Roman font.
Submit your rough draft and final drafts in a Word document on Google Drive at least thirty minutes before class on the dates indicated above.
Developing Your Argument
Essay Structure
Rough Draft Due: Mon. 8/1 for in class peer review.
Final Draft Due: Wed. 8/3.
Length: 750 words
In your essay, you will assert an argument analyzing the language of Manhattan in at least two texts that we read. Your essay will be at least 750 words and analyze quotations from the text you have selected to prove your thesis. You will need to select a narrow focus that you can analyze in depth. It may help to examine a particular character, moment, or set of moments in the text. You could also compare characters, moments, or aspects of New York life. Tracing the use of a word or phrase in the text might also help to focus and anchor your analysis.
Topics you might address include: social life, the workplace, poetic form, technology, change, the past, family, the body, and art.
You can build from your blog postings, maps, or class work, including aspects you have noted in mapping New York, but make sure that your essay reads fluidly.
Your essay must demonstrate correct use of MLA style and a correctly formatted list of works cited, including the course text you are addressing. While you are not required to consult additional sources, you must cite all sources that you consult, including webpages. Use parenthetical citations to acknowledge when you are quoting or citing others’ ideas. It is plagiarism to use others’ words or ideas without citing them.
Remember, you do not need to summarize course texts in your essay. Assume your readers have read the novel and only tell them what they need to know to understand your points.
Your essay must be typed, double spaced, in twelve-point, and Times New Roman font.
Submit your rough draft and final drafts in a Word document on Google Drive at least thirty minutes before class on the dates indicated above.
Developing Your Argument
- Select quotations to analyze. You only need to quote when the language of the quotation matters to your argument. Otherwise, you can put a quotation in your own words.
- As you return to the text, begin to formulate an argument by asking what links the evidence that you have selected. Ask yourself how they differ from each other and from other moments. These questions will allow you to answer why each instance is significant to the novel as a whole.
- Also consider the form and style of the examples you select. Analyze the word choice and tone. Where in the novel do the instances that you note take place? Why is this significant?
- Be creative and take intellectual risks. Show readers of your essay what you want them to see. Remember that each reader interprets a text differently.
Essay Structure
- As you are planning your essay, consider analyzing two to three quotations or examples per paragraph. If quotations are more than four lines in length they need to be indented as a block quotation. Be selective and only quote the words, phrases, or lines that are necessary to your argument. In addition, fully analyze the quotations you have selected. Sometimes you might deal with only one quotation or example in a paragraph if it demands that much explication.
- Your introductory paragraph should introduce your claim and why it is significant. Remember that your introduction can change up until the last minute and often it is a good technique to make your conclusion your introduction.
- Each topic sentence should assert the argument in the body paragraph it begins. Your analysis in each paragraph should support the topic sentence. The topic sentence of each paragraph should support your claim in the introduction.
- The conclusion of your essay does not need to repeat what you have already said. In light of what you have argued, make a connection to a larger context and suggest ideas for further research.
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