ENGL 386.001/.002 American Women Writers of Color
-- Paper # 1 Assignment --

Dr. Nick Melczarek | anmelczarek@salisbury.edu | 410-546-6203 (66203)

• Assignment
• What I'll look for in your paper (content-wise, writing mechanics)
• Due dates and activity dates
• Troubleshooting & therapy (where to go for answers to your questions)

List of themes:

women of color placed in confinement or in isolation (from each other, from the world, etc.)

modes or conventions of "femininity" that don't translate into a new environment

construction of "women of color" by a dominant gaze (racist, patriarchal, classist, sexist)

the importance of "telling" and speaking/writing (storytelling, personal history, etc.) to connect generations of women of color

»» Content-wise:

• Be sure that your paper makes an argument or states a claim. Clearly state this argument or claim in your introductory ¶.
• Make sure that you actually compare and contrast your chosen works -- I will count off if you simply discuss the three distinct from each other, without drawing any relation between them.
• Use analytical concepts/terms and critical vocabulary where pertinent. (See the Terms and Concepts site, as well as your class notes, for reminders.)
• Use those concepts and terms in ways that show you understand what they mean.
• Refer to and quote your primary sources: substantiate your argument and illustrate your claim by quoting the essays, poems, short stories, or novels you choose.
• Quote sparingly but judiciously: pick quotes that actually apply, but do not expect quotations to do your work for you. Use them only to illustrate a point you have already made.
• Pay attention to historical context (don't ascribe events or motives to the wrong time period).
• Distinguish when you're discussing a poem, an essay, a novel, or a short story; these genres are not interchangeable. Get titles correct, and punctuate them correctly. (Titles of poems, essays, and short stories go between "quotation marks", while titles of novels are underlined or set in italics.) Spell author names correctly; convention dictates that you use the author's full name the first time you mention her in a body ¶, and then use her last name in a signal phrase thereafter. Mistakes of author name, work title, and genre of works is inexcusable, and will fail your paper.
• Never write about a piece of literature without having that literature and your notes on it open in front of you.

»»Writing mechanics & technical guidelines:

• Pay attention to spelling, punctuation, grammar, word usage, basic proofreading and editing.
• Type or computer print anything written outside the classroom.
• Maintain margins at 1" all around
• Type/print on only one side of each page
• Use black ink only, and make sure print is dark and legible
• FONT: use only Times, Times New Roman, or Palatino fonts; maintain font size 12
• Double-space all type
• Use a separate cover sheet, including the following information, centred on the page:

  your paper title,
  whether it is the prospectus or Paper #1
  your name
  course and section #
  date submitted

• Begin page 1 at the top margin
• No header/number for page 1; every page after page 1 should carry a header including your last name and the page #, starting with page 2
• All pages and cover sheet should be stapled, in correct order, BEFORE you come to class; papers submitted with pages in the wrong order will be read in that order and graded accordingly; papers not stapled will be returned unread
• Papers should adhere to MLA format guidelines for in-text citations and for Works Cited entries. Consult an MLA guide or the MLA section of a writing handbook for help. Papers that do not adhere to MLA format will be returned unread, counted late, and penalized.
• Include a properly MLA-formatted Works Cited Page.

• Friday 10/15: in class, submit a detailed prospectus of your paper. The prospectus should include a thesis statement that clearly states your claim or argument, a detailed outline of your project, your rationale for the works you chose, and a list of what works of literature you intend to use. The prospectus should include a cover sheet (see above).
• Monday 10/18: in class we'll workshop Paper #1 in groups -- bring in a draft of Paper #1 for peer discussion.
• Wednesday 10/20: in class we'll workshop Paper #1 in groups -- bring in a draft of Paper #1 for peer discussion.
• FRIDAY 10/22: PAPER #1 DUE IN CLASS

• reread the assignment first to see if the answer's there already
• see the syllabus to see if the answer's there already
• ask others in the class for peer help
• then and only then e-mail me.