Develop your Discussion Board post about any of the following texts into a full-length analytical essay:
Lewis Carroll,
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
J. M. Barrie, Peter and Wendy
Rudyard Kipling, The Jungle Books (focus on one or two stories, as in the prompt)
Frances Hodgson Burnett, The Secret Garden
Mary Norton, The Borrowers
Needs to have quotes! This assignment focuses on argumentation supported by close reading. Research in secondary sources is not required. If you use any sources, including those on Blackboard, be sure to cite them in the body of your essay and document them on your Works Cited page. You might think of a forum post as a mini-argument, or the seed of an essay, whereas the essay is a fully developed and carefully structured argument. Your essay must include an introduction paragraph with a thesis statement (a claim and 2-3 clear reasons that you will address in the body of the essay), a logical organizational structure that develops and supports the thesis, and a conclusion. The essay should include ample and persuasive quoted evidence throughout.The body of the essay must be a minimum of 1500 words (about five full pages), not including the Works Cited page.Your reasons determine the organization or logical structure of your argument. In the body of the essay, explain each reason in the same order in which you introduce them in your thesis statement: develop and support your reasons, providing examples and relevant quoted evidence from the text to support each reason.
Be sure to transcribe quoted evidence accurately, following MLA style for all citations. A good rule of thumb is to provide two quotes per paragraph. Do not simply provide a quote and expect it to speak for itself: analyze the evidence, explaining how it supports your assertions.
In your essay’s conclusion, do not repeat your thesis or any other points you have made. Instead, use the concluding paragraph to reflect on the implications of your argument—for example, the ways in which the topic foregrounds an important aspect of children’s lives, or how it challenges our understanding of children and childhood.
In your essays for this course, you can refer to your own experience. Conclusions are a good place for such insights, especially since many students who take this course work with or plan to work with children. But avoid references to yourself that do not contribute directly to your argument. We call such self-referential language “metadiscourse.” Examples of metadiscourse are phrases such as “I think,” “In my opinion,” “with that being said,” or “as I mentioned previously.” Only use the first person (“I”) if you can’t express your idea without it—that is, if you’re talking about your personal experience in a conclusion. Otherwise, it dilutes your assertions and makes your writing wordy.
Don’t forget to provide an essay title. “Essay One” is not an essay title, nor is the title of the text you are writing about. A good essay title indicates your topic and the specific text or character you are discussing.
Double-space and use a 12-point font and one-inch margins. Please number your pages: this is an important manuscript convention.
