Week 5
1/29
In-class activity: from Prewriting to the Draft, Day 2 (body paragraphs 2 and 3)
Once you’ve finished your sketch of the second body paragraph, you can start your third body paragraph. In this third paragraph, (3) evolve your argument about the meaningful difference in the second/more recent text by introducing complicating evidence from your selected passage. Like your second paragraph, this paragraph should also refer back to and build on your examination of the first/older text, but should be about the second.
1/31
In-class activity: from Prewriting to the Draft, Day 3 (conclusion and introduction)
Now that you have a sense of what your essay is about, you’re ready to write your introduction and conclusion. You should write your conclusion first (before the introduction). In general, your conclusion should reflect on the argument that you’ve made about the meaning of the difference between the two texts. Rather than summarizing your argument, it should bring your point to completion. If you’ve followed the instructions above, this concluding reflection should extrapolate the larger implications of the argument that you’ve made about the second text in contrast to the first. This ending point is the most logical final step.
In general, a good introduction will provide the reader with the essential information they will need in order to appreciate your argument. Such information includes the names of the texts that you’ll be examining, the theme that they share in common, and how that theme links the two texts. It also involves a thesis statement. For more information on how to write introductions and conclusions, see here. For info on thesis statements, see the blogs “What is a Thesis Statement?” and “Anatomy of a Thesis Statement.”
To see how I concluded my “Rime of the Ancient Mariner” and Frankenstein rough draft, see here.
2/2
Song Talks
Peer Review
Week 6
2/5
In-class activity: from the Rough Draft to the Final Draft
Aside from your thesis statement, your essay should contain no less than three claims — one in the topic sentence position of each body paragraph. Today, revise each of these claims so that it accurately reflects the argument that you make in the rest of the given paragraph. Remember that your claim should follow this basic pattern: [Description of the fact that you are analyzing] [verb that signals an argument] [your argument about the meaning of the fact under analysis].
To make matters more complicated, in your second and third body paragraphs, your claim should form a compound sentence that explicitly contrasts the two texts under analysis. This sentence will follow a pattern similar to this template: “While [the fact in Text A analyzed in the first body paragraph] implies [your interpretation of that fact], [the fact in Text B analyzed in this paragraph] suggests [your interpretation of that fact in Text B that contrasts with and builds on your argument in the first body paragraph].“
Such a sentence might look something like: “While Coleridge’s dash signifies the Mariner’s radical passivity in the moment of homicide, the apparent passivity at the heart of Shelley’s comma paradoxically calls attention to the monster’s discovery of his power.”
2/6
In-class writing activity: Revising for clarity and conciseness.
In-class activity 1: Now that you have revised your claims, adjust your analyses of your textual evidence to complement those claims. In your body paragraphs, make sure that your analyses explicitly refer back to your evidence, e.g., re-quote textual details and interpret them relative to your argument. In your analyses, one of the main details that I’ll be looking at will be that you have made clear and distinct connections between the text and your interpretation of it. While you are making these revisions, also condense your language in general. Say what you need to say with the fewest number of words possible. For tips on creating concision in your writing, see here.
In-class activity 2: In your second and third body paragraphs, revise your analyses to explicitly contrast your argument about the second text with your argument about the first. If you really are contrasting the two texts, there should be at least three points of comparison in your body paragraph: one in your claim (which we revised on Monday); one immediately after you give evidence for your claim; and a third before the end of your paragraph. Each of these contrasts should move your argument about the second text forward and/or clarify it. You may also have more than three points of contrast in your second and third body paragraphs. If these points of contrast are missing from your second and third body paragraphs, you are not writing a literary comparison essay — just an essay with two texts in it — and will not have fulfilled the basic requirement for this assignment. But you will have included these points, so no worries there 🍕
2/8
Song Talks
In-class writing activity: finalizing essay formatting and works cited page according to MLA guidelines
Final revision activities are here.
DEADLINE: Literary Comparison Essay due at the end of class. Please submit your essay as a Word file to uni.sophomore.english@gmail.com. Double check that your Word file has been attached and that your email was sent to the correct address. Emails without attachments or emails that are not received will be considered late.
Week 7
2/12
Teacher Institute Day (no class)
2/13-2/16
Agora Days (no class)
Week 8
2/19
Presidents Day (no class)
2/21
Self-Reflection on Literary Comparison Essay
2/23
Song Talks
Self-Reflection on Literary Comparison Essay
Language & Literature III 