ENC 1102.1729 Paper #2 Assignment

Nick Melczarek, instructor	Department phone: 392-6650
Office: Turlington 4357	e-mail nickym@melczarek.net (send no attachments!)
Office hours: MW Per 4 (10:40-11:30 a.m.) & by appt.	Office phone: t.b.a.
course listserve: FALL-1729-L@lists.ufl.edu

Contents (click to jump to the following sections)

Assignment (includes assignment description, topic options, rationale, and thesis help)
What I'll look for in your paper (content-wise, writing mechanics)
Due dates and activity dates (includes dates for drafts, conferences)
Troubleshooting & therapy (where to go for answers to your assignment questions)

Paper 2 Assignment (read all the way through -- new material and helpful tips throughout):
»» (Marxist critique paper): Compose a 4 - 5 page Marxist analysis from your choice of one of the following options

Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun
Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun and Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery" or Ursula le Guin's "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas"
Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun and one of the poetry selections

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Rationale:
Basically, in 4-5 pages, analyze any aspect(s) of your chosen selection through Marxist critique. Use terms and concepts from the critical/theoretical material we've read in Austin's chapter when/where/if they apply.
Remember the Marxist concepts and thinkers you have at your disposal:

Marx: proletariat, bourgeoisie, alienation, base, superstructure (also "commodity fetish," "lumpenproletariat," and Antonio Gramsci's "subaltern" from my e-mail, if you like)
Lukacs: reflection
Althusser: base & superstructure (ammends Marx)
Benjamin: text as product
Jameson: political unconscious

(As well as any concepts/thinkers from the Reader Response section as well.) Employ critical literary vocabulary (from the Terms site) when/where/if they apply.
Remember that Marxist critique analyzes both

story: what happens in the story, character motivations, class relations, etc.
text: the text itself as a product, as reflecting its times, as a work of "political unconscious" (or that instead subverts or challenges that role, and strives to make readers/viewers "conscious")

Caveats/cautions:
-- Again, this is not an exercise to see how many terms you can cram in your paper, nor will you receive extra credit for doing so. Use the literary and/or critical terms and concepts at your disposal only when/if they help you explain your ideas.
-- By "4-5 pages" I mean 4-5 pages; 3 pages plus two lines on page 4 doesn't count! (Nor does enlarging the font size, nor enlarging the margins.) This is not an invitation to pad you paper with needless material; rather, this is an opportunity for you to fully explain your ideas and illustrate those ideas with examples from the original texts. If you're padding, waffling, or tangenting, I'll know it -- and it'll count against you.

STRONGLY ADVISED: reread your final draft of Paper #1 to see what writing elements you need to work on for Paper #2 (e.g. basic proofreading, stronger verbs, clarity, adequate quotation, adequate explanation, limiting paragraphs to one topic, etc.)

Thesis note: Be sure that you state clearly and directly your thesis -- i.e. the point of your paper, which is what you consider is/are the ultimate effect(s)/outcome(s) of the elements you analyze in your paper. As such, try not to phrase your thesis as "In this paper I will show that ..." -- your reader already works from the assumption that you're going to show her something. Instead, in your introduction simply present your paper's thesis, indicate what pieces of literature you're going to discuss, whom they're written by; indicate also that you're performing a Marxist analysis; and indicate what concepts from which critical writers (Marx, Lukacs, Althusser, Benjamin, Jameson -- all as cited/quoted by Austin) you use in your paper.

Need a little help with your thesis? Before you start writing, have a look at "timesaver #3 (a)," "timesaver #3(b) and "timesaver #4" on the writing tips site -- these items will help you AND save you oodles of time!!!

Be sure to consult the writing tips site!
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»» What I'll look for in this paper: (Paper 3 will have additional requirements)

Content-wise:

a clear, strong thesis statement in your introduction
a sophisticated introduction that includes your thesis statement
a clear topic sentence for each ¶
whether you define/explain special critical terms/concepts that you use -- so opportunities here to quote those sources
examples from the text(s) to illustrate and explain the concepts you present
use of writers' full names, qualifications, and source titles the first time you mention them in the body of your paper; use of last names and signal phrases when/where appropriate for each use thereafter
proper citations for each quotation, paraphrase, or general idea that you borrow or derive from one of our texts; I'll look for a mix of parenthetical citation and signal phrases.
a correctly-formatted works cited page with alphabatized entries that correspond to the citations in your paper (NOTE: the Works Cited page does not count toward your 4-5 page requirement!)

Writing mechanics:

whether you actually follow format guidelines (see on Course Policies section of syllabus, as well as example cover sheet on packet p.35)
attention to spelling, punctuation, grammar, word usage, basic proofreading and editing (see appropriate packet pages)
whether you actually try to explain yourself as you go along by showing examples of what you're talking about (e.g. if you claim something's an element of a superstructure, that you actually show how/why it is . . . as well as explaining what "superstructure" means)
whether you follow MLA format for citations, and for works cited entries
whether you've both edited and proofread your paper before you hand in the final copy
you're limited to only six (6) forms of any version of the verb "to be" (this rule does not apply to "to be"s that occur in quoted material)

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»» DUE DATES AND ACTIVITY DATES: (see regular schedule site as well for corrolary assignments)

Monday 10/22: bring tentative thesis statement and example outline to class (one for me and a few for peer group review)
Tuesday 10/23, Wednesday 10/24, and Thursday 10/25:CONFERENCES: bring in any revisions made to thesis statement and/or outline in light of peer group review; bring in a sample page or two from Paper #2 for us to go over; bring in any questions you may have.
Monday 10/29: ROUGH DRAFT PAPER #2 DUE: bring to class a pre-edited and -proofread full rough draft of Paper #2 for peer review (a copy for me and a few for your group); include three (3) different introductions for paper #2 on a separate sheet; use peer group comments/suggestions to start revising this draft on your own over the weekend while waiting to get my comments back on Wed 10/31.
Wednesday 10/31: revise Draft Paper #2; bring in copy for peer review (I DON'T NEED ONE THIS TIME)
Wednesday 11/7: final peer review of Paper #2: bring in any revisions made in light of both peer and my comments
Friday 11/7: PAPER #2 FINAL DRAFT DUE IN MY MAILBOX BY 4 P.M. (in folder with previous drafts that I've marked, stapled, proofread and edited, with cover sheet -- see example cover sheet in packet)

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»» Troubleshooting & therapy: If you have questions about the assignment or your paper that we don't address in class or during conference times,

reread the assignment first to see if the answer's there already
see the syllabus and course policies to see if the answer's there already
e-mail to the course listserv for peer help
then and only then e-mail me.

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Ciao, Nick