CCLA01: Strangers to Ourselves: the Critical Study of Narrative

Presentation of Assignments

When submitting assignments, please follow the guidelines below suggested by the University Scholars' Programme Writing Programme:

1. All essays and writing activities should be printed in a size 12 font, in non-erasable black ink, double-spaced, on one side of white paper.

2. Use a 1.5-inch margin on ALL sides.

3. For all essays, insert in a single-spaced block in the upper right- hand corner of your first page:

• your name as it appears on your matriculation card
• the course code and title [CCLA01: Strangers to Ourselves]
• your tutor's name
• your seminar group number (if applicable)
• the essay number.

Centre your essay title two double spaces beneath this single-spaced block of information. Begin your opening paragraph two double spaces beneath your title. Number the pages of your essay and staple the pages together, rather than using a paper clip.

3. Proofread your work carefully after you have run a spell-check, since the computer doesn't know you meant two not too or to; knot instead of not; or fill rather than full.

4. Always keep a back-up of all writing that you submit to your tutor.

5. Use MLA Style consistently to document references in your work.

6. You can submit your work as an MS Word Attachment by e-mail.

Additional Requirements for Assignment 1

In CCLA01, we will be moving towards producing your second project in HTML, so that it can be displayed on the USP website. For assignment 1, we will begin to get used to using html by incorporating html tags into our essays. These tags are easy to learn.

Paragraphs

At the beginning of every paragraph, write <P>

At the end of every paragraph, write </P>

Title

At the beginning of the title, type <H4>

At the end of the title, type </H4>

Works Cited

You will need a list of works cited at the end of your assignment, even though in your first assignment this is likely to only consist of the short story you have chosen and the articles you are referring to. Format the works cited as follows:

<H3>Works Cited</H3>

<BLOCKQUOTE>

<P>Bibliographical information for first short story or article</P>

<P>Bibliographical information for second short story or article</P>

<P>Bibliographical information for third short story or article if necessary, and so on..</P>

</BLOCKQUOTE>

Here's an Example

<H4>The Fictive Documentary: Maxine Hong Kingston's "No Name Woman"</H4>

<P>Throughout the story, three distinct filter characters are used in the repetition of the aunt's tale, all bearing different insights into her character and providing different perspectives on the social situation of the time. As mentioned earlier, the mother's version is tinged with conservative disapproval, possibly a result of her direct involvement with the events and their unpleasant consequences. Despite her traditional viewpoint (which might be seen as narrow and bigoted in a modern context), her version is interestingly the most objective one of the three: her own opinions only make themselves felt at the end of her otherwise purely narrative tale. In the next change of filter, the narrator then puts forth her own speculative version of events, portraying her aunt as the proverbial victim of circumstances. Adopting this filter of the passive aunt gives us an insightful look into her surroundings, proposing a degree of identification with her, and inducing a temporary familiarity with the period's oppressive attitudes for modern readers. In effect, this passage makes accessible two potentially alienating elements: the social and temporal context of the setting, as well as the psyche of the character in question. This level of personal identification is taken a step further when, later in the story, the narrator indulges in wild speculation of her aunt playing a potentially active role in the events. The conveying of a modern mindset upon her aunt may seem jarring in the context of such an oppressive society, but it is precisely this discordance that allows the character to be highlighted. This third filter of the active aunt gives us yet another deeper glimpse into her mind; the mirroring of our contemporary sexual expression in the aunt removes yet another psychological barrier, and we identify even more deeply with this otherwise unlikely character.</P>

<H3>Works Cited</H3>

<BLOCKQUOTE>

<P>Chatman, Seymour. Story and Discourse: Narrative Structure in Fiction and Film. Ithaca: Cornell UP, 1980.</P>

<P>Reading Narrative Fiction. Ed. Seymour Chatman. New York: Macmillan, 1993.</P>

<P>Kingston, Maxine Hong. "No Name Woman." The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts. London: Longman, 1980. 1-22.</P>

</BLOCKQUOTE>

Additional Requirements for Assignment 2

Alternatively, you can submit Assignment 2 as a HTML document, using the linked template. Note that HTML should be coded using a basic html editor such as Home Site: if you do use a WSIWYG editor such as Microsoft Front Page you'll need to manually remove the extra code generated.

If you would like to make your assignment a series of linked html documents, rather than a conventional essay, incorporate this suggestion into your proposal.