UWC2101O: Writing & Critical Thinking: Monstrosity

Essay Three

Content Instructions

The third and final essay assignment for this module constitutes 35% of your total course grade. The length of your essay should run between 7-10 typed pages (between 1750 to 2500 words; of course, your essay can be much longer than this, though I would suggest that you do not exceed 12 pages). The purpose of this assignment is for you to put into practice all you have learned throughout the semester about the writing process. This essay will be a demonstration of how you can identify a workable topic and research question, produce an arguable thesis, make interpretive arguments on the basis of the close reading of selected texts and images, and interact with at least one critical source in relation to the issue at hand.

The Writing Process:

1. Finally, here’s your chance to write on a topic and a text of your choice. You have complete freedom in picking a topic of your interest! The only requirement is that it must, of course, be related to the notion of monstrosity, at the very least in a tangential way. You may take up any topic and text we have discussed in class, although I want to encourage you to explore and experiment as much as you can.

2. There are, howevver, some guidelines that I would want you to follow:

• Your essay must identify a topic, establish a motive, and employ a thesis statement in response to the motive.
• The main focus must be on the close reading of at least two passages, scenes, or images taken from one or more texts or objects of analysis. The permutations are numerous.
• Include at least one critical source and interact with it in your essay. Do not just quote superficially from it; instead, dialogue with it by questioning its arguments and its assumptions, use it as a lens, or work it into a comparative reading with your own interpretation of the text. 3. The datelines for this essay are as follows:
  • Thursday, 18 March 2004: Submit a paragraph-long description of your topic. Be as detailed as you possibly can. It would be ideal that you present a tentative thesis statement in your paragraph description, though it is not compulsory. Include also the main text / object you wish to analyze.
  • Monday, 22 March 2004: Submit the bibliographical information for a critical source you will probably be using in your essay.
  • Thursday, 25 March 2004: First Draft of Essay Three is due in class. Bring two copies of the draft. Have at least three pages written.
  • Monday and Tuesday, 29-30 March 2004: Conferences.
  • Sunday, 4 April 2004: Final Draft of Essay Three is due by latest midnight. Upload your essay into the correct folder in my workbin on IVLE.

General Instructions

1. Establish a clear and concise thesis statement, preferably at the end of your introduction.
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 submissions and 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. Include a Works Cited page.
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.

   Be reminded that the penalty for late papers as stated in my syllabus still stands.