For your fourth paper, you will write an essay about The Great Gatsby in which you develop and support a thesis of your choice. I am reluctant to assign a topic to you, as I feel that the selection and narrowing of a thesis demonstrates your use of pre-drafting organizational strategies. However, if you need a starting point, you can think of the paper as positing a cause / effect relationship (e.g. a character behaves in thus and such a way because of x). Chapter 13 of College Writing Skills defines a comparison / contrast essay as one in which you defend a thesis by “using examples that explain the causes or effects of a situation.” The essay prompt can be found on page 303 of College Writing Skills (“Writing Assignment 2”), and a sample paper can be found on pages 304-5.
Or, your thesis might just assert what you think the “message” or “point” of Gatsby is. Of course, the novel has as many such points as readers can imagine, so your thesis and paper will have to choose a sufficiently narrow focus for a short paper: pick one idea or theme and examine it.
In other words, your paper need not “cover” everything in the book. It would, for example, be fine to write the whole paper focusing on how the idea / metaphor of Daisy’s voice is used in the book, or the sources of Tom’s violence, or Nick’s reliability, or a feature the book’s social criticism.
In class we will discuss Gatsby extensively. After that, you will be given time in class to draft sections of our paper. Remember: if my feedback on your drafts is too sketchy, we can always zoom and I can go over any part of your paper with you. There are also tutors available to help your with most aspects of your paper.
The completed paper should be no less than 2.5-3 pages long.
The essay will be graded on the following parameters:
1) Structure — Is there a well-developed introduction and conclusion paragraph. Does intro contain a hook and thesis? Does conclusion use keywords for unity and develop the “take away” of the paper? Are body paragraphs adequately developed with detail? Do body paragraphs contain a clear topic sentence? Do they maintain the focus named in the topic sentence? Are there transitions between paragraphs? Are transition words used in body paragraph text to guide reader?
2) Grammar — Are commas used properly? Are fragments repaired, or used deliberately? Are sentences parallel? Are sentences fluid or choppy (i.e. do they use compound and complex structure to create stylistic flow? Are verbs and pronouns consistent in number, tense, part of speech? Have run-ons and comma splices been avoided?
3) Content — Is process successfully described? Does essay maintain the “four bases” (unity, support, coherence, sentence skills)? Have prewriting activities (brainstorming, outlining, journaling) successfully developed supporting details for essay? Has essay been edited and revised?
4) Format — Is the paper in MLA format? Is it on time and in a word document?
5) Remember: the papers will be graded in terms of form, content, structure AND GRAMMAR. Your papers should reflect your mastery of any grammar materials covered in class (I will highlight other errors, although I won’t grade against them unless the paper is unreadable).
Beneath, as on previous assignments, is a checklist you should use for your revision and editing of the paper. You can also use the various checklists contained in the textbook.
1) Does the paper have a clear topic? Does it have a thesis? Does it convey a consistent attitude/tone toward the topic?
2) Is the paper clearly organized? Does the paper use transition words/phrases to highlight that organization?
3) Does the paper feature vivid descriptive details (does it “come alive” for the reader?) Do they support their topic sentence & thesis?
4) Does the paper feature a consistent point of view? Does it use “you” as sparingly as possible? (pg. 275)
5) Are the paragraphs focused on a single idea supporting the thesis? Does the topic sentence accurately reflect that focus?
The essay will be graded in terms of how well it utilizes the concepts from Chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, & 11 of College Writing Skills, including:
Is the paper formatted properly (pgs. 21-22)
Does the paper have a clear thesis or overall point? (pgs. 56-65)
Does each paragraph have a clear topic sentence? Does the topic sentence support the thesis? (pgs. 8-9)
Does each paragraph have adequate support for its topic sentence? (pgs. 3-7)
Are the “parts of the essay” (intro, body, conclusion) present and adequately developed? (pgs. 7-11)
Has the paper been proofread and revised? (pgs. 19-20)
Does the organization indicate that the author completed the entire writing process (read, note/annotate. Cluster, outline, draft, revise, proofread)? (pgs. 28-43)
Does the paper satisfy the standards listed on the checklist on page 285?
Does the paper demonstrate mastery of grammatical principles presented in class?
Does the paper satisfy the length requirement?
Is the paper adequately titled? (pgs. 105-106)
Does the paper directly and indirectly cite evidence from the text? (pgs. 414-443)
Does the paper include a works cited page?
