| Instructor: Dr Kenneth
Chan |
Essay One
Content Instructions
This first written assignment constitutes 25% of your total course grade. The length of your essay should run between 3-4 typed pages (between 750 to 1000 words). The purpose of this essay assignment is for you to put into practice the strategies of close reading in order to produce an essay that offers an interpretation of a literary or filmic work.
The Writing Process:
1. Choose a scene from Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho, or a scene / segment
from Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. You may use the same scene that you
have chosen for the pre-writing assignments on close reading that you have
done on these works. Keep in mind that you should base your choice of the scene
on the following criteria:
The scene should offer some kind of insight into or provide a basis for your
theory of monstrosity (or an aspect of monstrosity).
The scene must be complex enough for you to close read. Look out especially
for odd, contradictory, or puzzling moments in the film or text. Scenes that
seem critical or crucial to the agenda or narrative of the work may also be
good choices.
Be careful to identify the “limits” of the scene. In other words,
understand where the scene begins and ends. Do not choose scenes that you think
are too long for close reading in a 3-4 page essay. A short scene can actually
present enough complexity for this essay.
2. Analyze the scene by combining the close reading techniques we have discussed in class (see class handout on close reading) and the techniques of brainstorming, such as listing. Work through the scene methodically and microscopically. If you are dealing with Psycho, take into consideration the elements of film that we have discussed in class. (Be ready to produce a transcript of the dialogue if necessary). If Frankenstein is your choice, pour over the text and analyze it in detail. (Be sure to look out for meanings of difficult words, patterns in word choice, recurring themes, narrative details, and metaphors used, for instance.) Mark up the text (or make notes on the movie scene) and make further notes on your thoughts about the scene.
3. Establish from your brainstorming / close reading the Motive or “the Question” that your essay will address regarding this scene. In other words, can you theorize from your brainstorming / close reading the problem that this scene presents to the notion of monstrosity in the work at large, and / or to the concept of monstrosity in general? If you are having difficulty arriving at producing a theoretically inflected question as part of your motive, you may use the theoretical questions in Jeffrey Cohen’s “Monster Culture (Seven Thesis)” or Robin Wood’s “An Introduction to the American Horror Film” as a foundation to synthesize a theoretical question out of your close reading of the scene.
4. Arrive at an interpretive position about the scene. This position should be an attempt to “answer” the “Question.” Be sure to include the results of your analysis of the scene (through your close reading) as part of this position statement, which will then become the thesis
statement in your essay.
5. Plan your essay by writing a sentence outline as described in Diana Hacker’s A Writer’s Reference. Decide the details of what you want to include from your close reading / brainstorming exercise. Plan each paragraph and the close reading analysis that is to be included. (The close reading detail is to serve as support for the point of argument.) Keep in mind that the bulk of your essay must focus on the close reading of the scene.
6. Begin writing the introduction of your essay by establishing the context of the topic and the Motive, which should then lead smoothly and logically into your thesis statement.
7. Write the rest of the essay. The datelines for the two drafts are as follows:
First Draft due on 29 Jan 2004. Please bring to class two copies of the completed essay (all 3-4 pages). We will be conducting in-class peer reviews of the introductory paragraph of your essay.
Final Draft due on 5 Feb 2004. Submit your essays (Microsoft Word file) by uploading them into the folder titled “Essay One – Section One” or “Essay One – Section Two” in the IVLE Workbin.
General Instructions
1. Establish a clear and concise thesis statement, preferably at the end
of your introductory paragraph.
2. Be able to relate topic sentences from the paragraphs of your essay to
your thesis statement so as to ensure a coherent argument.
3. All drafts are to be typed, double-spaced.
4. All bibliographical entries and parenthetical documentation should adhere
to the MLA standard. For the purposes of this essay, read Hacker pages 326-333.
5. At the top left hand corner of the first page should be the name/info
block (See my Administration page for this). For subsequent pages, include
only a page number at the top right hand corner.
6. Margins should be one inch on all sides.
7. Give your paper a title; be creative.
8. The following are considered major grammatical errors:
i. Subject-Verb Agreement
ii. Sentence Fragments
iii. Run-On Sentences: Comma Splices and Fused Sentences
Although I do not have a policy of counting grammatical errors and penalizing
you accordingly, an excessive number of major and minor grammatical, spelling,
and syntactical errors will jeopardize your grade. It is, therefore, significant
that you proofread thoroughly and manually your essay (most grammar and spelling
checks on computer programs will not identify all possible errors, so do
not be overly dependent on them). Refer to Hacker, pages 164-172, 203-214.
9. Be reminded that the penalty for late papers as stated in my syllabus
still stands.
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