Take 3 essays, which have already been written, and choose a topic, from a list that i will provide and write an essay combining the three essays that have been written and using textual evidence to support the topic you choose.

Format:

Minimum 750 words, typed, double-spaced, Times New Roman 12-point font Use MLA style, including a Works Cited page.

Overview:
During this unit, you will read and respond to short stories. Your first goal is become comfortable analyzing these pieces of literature. Your second goal is to formulate an argument about one or two of these works. Finally, we want to organize that argument into an essay. This isn’t a research paper. You don’t need to review what others have said about this work, and you shouldn’t consult or quote any sources other than the stories. Your paper should be based on your own interpretation of the work or works.

Keep these ground rules in mind:
–Your paper needs to make an argument (a point) about this specific work.
–Your paper should back up its argument using textual details and quotes.
–You must correctly cite those quotes.

Structure:
–Begin with a title that gets our attention while indicating your overall focus.
–Your intro should clearly identify the work(s) you’ve chosen and the argument you will make (you need a clear thesis).
–The body paragraphs should focus on specific details that support your argument. They should not give plot summary.
–Use adequate quotes from the text that support your argument (a good rule of thumb–use at least one good quote per body paragraph).
–Offer a thought-provoking, interesting conclusion.

Moving Towards a Topic: Because we obviously can’t meet as a class to discuss the stories, I’m going to suggest focusing your analysis on theme and/or characters.

– Look at the theme (underlying message of the author) of each work and compare/contrast. For our purposes, theme can’t be expressed in just one word. It will be at least a sentence or two about what point you think an author wanted to make or what issues you think an author wanted readers to think about.

– Analyze characters and compare/contrast

MLA CITATIONS FOR EACH STORY:

1. For in-text citation of quotes, just use the author’s last name in parentheses with no page number.

2. Works cited page entries are simple:

Walker, Alice. “Everyday Use.”

O’Connor, Flannery. “Good Country People.”

Baldwin, James. “Sonny’s Blues.”

Remember, if you use more than one story, on the works cited page you alphabetize entries by author’s last name. That’s it for MLA citations in this essay.

ESSAY RUBRIC

15 Introduction with clear thesis.
Must include title and author of selected text. Should generate interest in your topic.

30 Details and Development.
Use of textual details that support the thesis.

15 Organization
Each body paragraph must have one function, and that function must support the thesis. Logical order of body paragraphs/points. Use of strong transitions.

10 Conclusion
Bring together the points from the body paragraphs in a way that is thoughtful, not obvious or repetitive.

15 Collegiate Writing
Essay must be free of major grammar errors and approach the material at a college level. This also includes clarity, sentence variety, and formal tone.

15 MLA Formatting
Use of directly and indirectly quoted materials, including running quotes, paraphrases, and one blocked quote. Also includes Works Cited, heading, title, margins, and font size/style.

I will provide all the text that we have read below:

Esaay 1: Click here to read “Everyday Use”

Essay 2: Click here to read “Good Country People”URL

Essay 3: Click here to read “Sonny’s Blues”