Fall 2001
Dr. R. Nordquist
Victor Hall 1-10
(912) 921 5991
nordquist@mail.com  

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Advice to Students


American Heritage Dictionary, 4th ed.

PROJECTS: Archive
Project #2

NOTE:   If you any problems printing out this project sheet, pick up a hard copy       from the box outside my office. 

PROJECT #2

DUE:  No later than 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, October 23.
            (Drop your pocket folder in the ENGL 1102 box outside my               office.)
LENGTH: approximately 1,000 to 1,200 words

Your assignment is to compose a thoughtful, well-supported, clearly organized, and grammatically sound essay on one of the four topics below.  You may not use outside sources, though you may consult with me and with the tutors in the Writing Center for help in organizing your thoughts and revising your paper.  If you have any questions about what constitutes an "outside source," please check with me; any violation of this policy will be considered a violation of the AASU Honor Code.

Get an early start.   Review your class notes and the notes on our web site, consider the questions that accompany each work, and make sure that you're familiar with the various literary terms introduced in class (definitions appear in links to the NOTES and RESOURCES pages as well as in our textbook).  Keep in mind that a good essay generally builds on points raised in class discussions. Don't ignore those points, but don't limit yourself to them either: go beyond them.

Now you should be prepared to reread, several times, the works you have chosen to write about.  Jot down responses to the questions that accompany the works, and make note of your observations.  Find specific details ("Show me") that support your main ideas ("So what?").   Next, study the sample essays (both in our text and in handouts) for ideas on how to develop, connect, and organize ideas effectively. Then compose your responses and observations in a rough draft, which you may show to me or to one of the tutors.  (Be sure to save your notes and rough drafts: you will include them in your pocket folder when you submit the final version of your essay.)   Keep in mind that you are writing your essay for someone who has already read the works: don't summarize.  Show me a draft as soon as possible--no later than Friday, October 19.  You may drop a draft off at my office or send me one via e-mail: I'll make every effort to return my comments to you within 24 hours.   If you wish, you may also schedule an appointment to discuss your draft with me in person.  (As always, keep track of the NEWS and NOTES pages on this web site for additional advice regarding all assignments--including this course project and my availability for conferences.)

As you revise your essay, be guided by the format sheet (handed out for Project #1) and the revision checklist (an updated version will be posted to this web site by October 19).   The final version of your paper must be word processed and must include a self-evaluation, as follows.  At the end of your essay, respond briefly yet specifically to these three questions:

1. What part of your essay do you think is most effective?

2. What part of your essay (or which stage in its composition) gave you the most difficulty?

3. What is your overall evaluation of this essay?

Essays submitted without a self-evaluation will be considered incomplete and will be graded accordingly.

Submit your essay in a pocket folder (make sure that your name is on the outside of the folder) with the final version on top and rough drafts below along with graded copies of your earlier essays.  An essay submitted without any rough drafts will be treated as a draft and will be returned ungraded.   You may drop the folder off in the carton outside my office any time before 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, October 23.

__________________TOPICS FOR PROJECT #2_________________

1.    Discuss how (and, ultimately, why) traditional romantic expectations and conventions are subverted (though ultimately, perhaps, reasserted) in these three poems: "My mistress' eyes" (982), "The Nymph's Reply to the Shepherd" (782), and Macleish's "Not Marble Nor the Gilded Monuments" (784).  Consider the poets' dependence on various figurative devices (for example, simile, metaphor, hyperbole, personification, and so on) and their sensitivity to connotative meanings.
[Suggestion: Resist the urge merely to paraphrase the poems. Instead, look closely at how the poems work. You should give approximately equal treatment to all three poems.   Review Chapter 11 (805-821) on "Writing about Poetry."]

2.    Compare and contrast two poems written in the carpe diem tradition: "To the Virgins" (951) and "To His Coy Mistress" (972). Focus on the argumentative strategies and specific figurative devices (for example, simile, metaphor, hyperbole, personification, and so on) employed by each speaker.
[Suggestion: Though you may deal with these poems one at a time in your essay, you should draw connections among them (i.e., points of similarity and difference) as you go along.   I expect you to give extended treatment to Marvell's poem.  Review Chapter 11 (805-821) on "Writing about Poetry."]

3.    Although the same fundamental conflict of tradition versus change underlies both "The Lottery" and "The Summer People," these two stories by Shirley Jackson offer some quite different observations about human weaknesses and fears. Compare and contrast the two stories, with particular attention to the ways Jackson dramatizes different themes in each.  [Suggestion: Review the textbook and online discussions of setting, point of view, and character.]

4.    Although "The Cask of Amontillado" and "The Fall of the House of Usher" rely on two notably different types of narrator (the first a mad murderer with a long memory, the second an outside observer who serves as the reader's surrogate), Poe's stories rely on a number of similar stylistic devices to create their effects of suspense and horror.   Compare and contrast the story-telling methods employed in the two tales, with particular attention to point of view, setting, and diction (i.e., word choice). 
[Suggestion: Review the textbook discussion of "Edgar Allan Poe in Context" (127-131) along with the textbook and online discussions of setting, point of view, and diction.]

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