You will write one essay for this course.
A successful essay will incorporate specific evidence from the assigned readings. I will evaluate your essay on the strength and clarity of the thesis, development of the argument, use of evidence, and writing style/grammar. Please see the attached Rubric. It explains in detail what you need to do to earn the most possible points on each essay. You will see a category for “outstanding effort” in the rubric. These 5 points are awarded for essays that go above and beyond all requirements. Keep in mind that the professor maintains the right to adjust the rubric score. You may not always earn full points in one category. Read the feedback carefully once your grade has been posted.
You may also find it useful to use my essay checklist to make sure you have correctly formatted your essay and framed your argument.
The essay must be at least three full pages in length, double-spaced, 1 inch margins, and 12 point Times New Roman font. Papers that are below required length (even by half a page) will lose significant points from the total score.
The essays must be submitted on D2L Dropbox by the deadline. Please upload for your file in a Word format. Do NOT upload a PDF.
Essay Question: Perpetua’s Journey
In Perpetua’s Journey, we read one account of a Christian woman’s imprisonment and execution in the Roman Empire. This book recreates her story in comic book form. Now pick one of three options: 1) Perpetua’s visions; 2) Perpetua’s death; or 3) Perpetua as mother. Using this theme, make an argument:
How well did the author and illustrator do in bringing this part of Perpetua’s history to life? Be specific about what the author and illustrator included, and what information you learned.
What parts of this story needed more information? What questions did you have as a reader that were left unanswered?
To complete this assignment, you will need to tell me what you know about Perpetua by using citations from the book. When citing your evidence, you can either refer to the diary itself (in the final portion of the book), or to the graphic novel version of it (in the first section of the book). Either is perfectly fine.
Let me give an example to help you. Suppose I gave you the option to talk about Perpetua as a woman. I might create an argument that looked like this:
In Perpetua’s Journey, author Jennifer Rea and illustrator Liz Clarke vividly and effectively depict the imprisonment and execution of a young mother, Perpetua, in the Roman Empire. They do a good job of showing how Perpetua faced specific challenges as a woman, but had little information about how her status as a woman might have impacted her relationships with her fellow martyrs.
A successful essay will then include specific examples of how: 1) the comic was vivid and effective in depicting Perpetua as a young mother; 2) how it did a good job of showing challenges that Perpetua faced as a woman; and 3) how it did not include much information on how other prisoners sentenced to death might have felt about Perpetua because of her status as a woman.
Remember: you must refer to specific parts of the graphic novel portion of the book. You may want to describe specific comic panels that you felt were particularly insightful. Include page numbers any time you reference specific information from the book.
Late Essays:
You are responsible for managing your time and making sure you complete all written assignments by the assigned deadline. Do not wait until the last minute and risk that something may prevent you from completing the work.
The essay loses 5 points for each 24-hour-period after the deadline. The maximum late penalty is 20 points. In other words, if you submit your essay four days late, even if it is the most brilliant essay I’ve ever read, it cannot earn you more than an 80 % (a B-).
