Assignment for Paper 1: Close Reading Compare and Contrast Essay
Your first paper asks you to close read passages in two of the stories we have read thus far in our class. Ultimately, your essay should start with a thesis driven by a genuine question incorporating both texts, proceed through a series of claims supported by evidence and analysis, and end with an explanation of the significance of your findings.
The paper should probably be 3-4 pages (typed, double-spaced).
Goals for Paper 1
— To collect a variety of types of evidence (descriiptions of language/shifts/content, classifications, quantifications, quotes/paraphrases, etc..)
— To analyze evidence in order to reach debatable claims that would not be obvious to any person who read the book
— To think hard about how to relate and organize those claims in a logical order that adds up to a big picture (as opposed to 5-paragraph essay form, wherein ideas are presented in some random order and relate laterally)
— To work from those claims toward presenting a cogent thesis paragraph
Important note: do NOT seek out analyses of the text, or you will almost certainly intermingle ideas that aren’t yours with your own, a commission of plagiarism even if unintentional (resulting in failure).
PREWORK
Getting started: Select a passage. Pick one you noted or that drew you in for whatever reasons. A slightly puzzling passage usually works a little better for this assignment; it’s good to be puzzled about things in the passage when you start close reading.
I recommend deciding on clear boundaries for the passage; the length might vary from about 8 lines to perhaps a page, depending on the amount of dialogue (which can make the same word count look longer). But identify where your passage naturally starts and ends.
Write a detailed descriiption of what happens in the scene, including context for what has led to this point. Look up any words you don’t recognize.
Story #1: http://www.classicshorts.com/stories/heat.html
Story #2: for widget stand by Kirshenbaum
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