Writing Homework Help

THIS IS THE TEXTBOOK:

Title: The Bedford Introduction to Literature: Reading, Thinking, Writing

ISBN-13: 9781457608278

ISBN-10: 1457608278

Author: Michael Meyer

Edition: Tenth Edition

Binding: Hardcover

Publisher: Bedford/St. Martin’s

Published: January 2013

Assignment:

Choose one short story and one play that you believe share a similar theme, and write an essay that explains how both works deal with this theme.

Basic requirements:

• Both the play and the story must be found in our textbook, although they do not have to be ones we’ve read for class.
• The paper must use quotations from the primary sources (this is discussed below)
• The paper should contain a minimum of four full pages. That’s a minimum; to engage fully with your topic in a way that would earn an A or a B, you will need to go beyond the minimum.
• The paper should follow the formatting guidelines listed below.
• The paper must be submitted to Submit Assignment by 11 p.m. Sunday of Unit Four

A note about how to use the term “theme”:

It’s important to remember that while a theme can be considered a subject of a work, it’s not a subject in a literal sense. Bishop’s poem “The Fish” and Melville’s Moby Dick may both be about aquatic creatures, but “aquatic creatures” is not a theme—it’s a literal subject, not a conceptual one.

What you’re looking for are two works that seem to treat the same idea, concept, or aspect of life. For example, a student might analyze “Story of an Hour” and “Trifles” by showing how both works present the theme of female oppression (now that we’ve used it as an example, please avoid using this as the topic of your paper). In doing this, however, the student wouldn’t just point out that both works address that issue; he/she would show specifically and thoroughly some things that these works have in common, and also some things that they do differently, in regard to how they present the theme. The student might go on to pose arguments or theories about why these authors approach the theme in different ways—what their differences in approach might have to do with their historical context, the limitations of their genre, their personal lives, et cetera.

A note about sources and citation:

For this essay, you will be expected to quote sufficiently from the primary sources, i.e. the works of literature you’ve chosen to discuss (in our example, the primary sources would be “Story of an Hour” and “Trifles). You will also be expected to follow the MLA guidelines on acceptable ways of quoting and citing sources. If you don’t know what this means, you MUST go to whatever resources are available to you, include the links on the “Further Resources” page of our course, to learn about citation. Failure to understand the mechanisms of citation can lead to plagiarism, which can lead to a zero for the course.

Formatting Guidelines

• Double-space the text of your paper, use 12 point Times New Roman or 11 point Calibri
• Leave only one space after periods or other punctuation marks.
• Use standard 1-inch margins.
• Indent the first line of paragraphs one tab space.
• Put page numbers at the top right of each page except for the first one.
• Use italics throughout your essay for the titles of longer works like plays, novels, and epic poems. The titles of short works like lyric poems and short stories should be surrounded by quotation marks.
• In the upper left-hand corner of the first page, provide a proper heading by listing your name, then your instructor’s name, then the course number, then the date (in other words, the heading should contain four separate lines).
• Center the title over the first paragraph of your essay. Do not underline or italicize or boldface your title.

Final note:

As you write your paper, please refer frequently to the sections in your book that deal with critical essay writing. You also will want to make use of the writing resources mentioned elsewhere in the course shell, and you will want to familiarize yourself with the grading rubric.