Comp II: Read to Own

Bristol Community College

Instructor: Tom Grady Due: March 8 at the start of class

You are to examine one author we have read in class. Read another short story by that author. Come up with a theory (thesis) about the author’s depiction of the human condition based on the two stories you’ve read. Use evidence from both stories to support your theory. This is a short paper, so your writing will be judged on the clarity of expression and the level of specificity you share with the reader. I’ll be looking forward to reading your voice discussing another. Please attach a copy of your second story to your essay. 5 pages.

Getting there (suggestions)

1) Refer to your journal entries. Consider drafting another in your notebook for the second story.

2) Place the two stories beside each other and look for relationships between your findings. Spend some time here. Try to draw upon your honest intuition and basic critical opinions at this stage. It will make the process a whole lot easier.

3) Go further, and draft a table which shows the two stories side by side with respect to the aspects of storytelling (plot, setting, etc.). Again, look to see if there are relationships in your findings. “Theme” might be the key, but not always.

4) On a separate sheet, write down your findings: similarities, differences, tendencies, obsessions, emphases, weaknesses, strengths. Write them in sentence form.

5) Now, here is where you can get at your theory. Does the author espouse a belief, a politic, a value system? What is their aesthetic commonality?

6) Using your theory as a guideline, prewrite, outline and draft. Remember, I’ll be looking for your ability to go from the general (your theory) to the specific (citations from the text). Use MLA notation.

7) Your essay must refer to a Liger at some point, (joke).

LEARNING OUTCOMES - evaluation criteria[1]

• Writing: Students will move through the processes of writing: inventing, composing, revising, and editing according to the conventions of Standard Written English.
• Critical reading: Students will critically read and respond to a variety of texts.
• Audience, purpose, voice: Students will compose in a voice appropriate to the audience and purpose of the writing.
• Thesis: Students will formulate a thesis and support it with evidence.
• Organization: Students will compose coherent and cohesive essays and other texts.
• Research, documentation: Students will locate, evaluate, integrate, and document primary and/or secondary source materials to support a position.

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[1] Developed by the Writing Committee of Project Connect, a partnership of public higher education institutions in southeastern Massachusetts—Bridgewater State College, Bristol Community College, Cape Cod Community College, Massasoit Community College, and the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth.