In this essay, you are going to be self-editing your essay based on guidelines below.
Post your messy draft here. The essay should be 4-5 pages long and include a list of “Works Cited” (again, even if it contains only our primary sources). The essay should include between 6 and 8 quotations and analyses of at least equal length or longer.
Option 1:
Write a paper about the experience of reading and interpreting Jane Eyre once Mr. Rochester’s secret is revealed. Choose a scene that changed for you once you had read about Bertha or learned more about Mr. Rochester. In the first portion of your essay describe how you interpreted the scene prior to the discovery of Bertha (some scenes that come to mind–the gypsy scene, the marriage proposal). In the second half of the essay, provide a new reading of the scene that describes how you interpret the scene now that you know who lives on the Third Story.
Option 2:
Write an essay about why you think Jane Eyre should or should not be included in a college course. Please include in your argument your thoughts about what the novel conveys about gender norms and (colonial) power dynamics prevalent in the British Empire during the Victorian era. Be sure to acknowledge the opposing point of view in your introduction in a real way.
On your Draft
1.Underline your paper title and in parentheses say how your title orients your reader to your paper topic? If the title is not informative, revise it.
2. Examine your thesis statement. What would the opposing argument look like? Write that down in the DRAFT. If you cannot imagine an opposing argument, revise your thesis.
3. Underline all of the sentences containing quotations. How many are there? You should have between 6 and 10 quotations. Remember to introduce the speakers of the quotations prior to the quotation. Do not “drop” your quotations.
4. Put the parenthetical notation containing the page number in bold (end of quote” (35).) And bold the sentences in which you analyze the quotations. Verify that your formatting of the page numbers is correct and that you have analyzed your quotations in length at least equal to the quotations themselves. Remember we are following MLA style.
5. Look at your paragraph to paragraph transitions? Did you end any paragraphs with a quotation? Have you led your audience through the logical connection you are trying to make? If not, REVISE.
6. Read your paper OUT LOUD. Italicize all that you revise based on reading what you wrote out loud.
Here is an example of what the self-editing looks like. Scroll to page 6 and thereafter.
