Directions: Answer the following questions/prompts about this week’s lesson in short essay format (1-2 paragraphs), 300 word minimum. All answers should be your own work and in your own words.

Life History Theory is a branch of biology that aims to understand the timing of key events, such as age of first reproduction (sexual maturity), within a species’ lifespan. Because resources are limited (i.e. food, water, shelter, and mates are finite and difficult to acquire), there are trade-offs in how energy is allocated to secure these resources during an individual’s lifespan. What are some of these trade-off’s and how do they differ between males and females?

LTEA 120A: Chinese Films

Sample Term Paper Topics

• The female body and female sexuality in Ermo and Suzhou River
• Changing gender relationships in Plunder of Peach and Plum and Ermo
• Changing concepts of family and community in Plunder of Peach and Plum and It’s My Day Off (or Ermo)
• Changing roles of the individual in It’s My Day Off and Ermo (or Suzhou River)
• The city as a site of disillusionment and destruction in Plunder of Peach and Plum and Suzhou River
• The city as a communal space in It’s My Day Off versus an enigmatic space in Suzhou River
• Different/similar attitudes to the forces of urban corruption in Plunder of Peach and Plum and Suzhou River
• The impact of money on human relationships in Ermo and Suzhou River
• Idealism and its fates in Plunder of Peach and Plum and Suzhou River
• Challenges to male or patriarchal values in Ermo and Suzhou River

LTEA 120A: Chinese Films

Term Paper Template

Your name

Paper Title

Keywords: A, B, C, D

Introduction

Discussion of film 1

Discussion of film 2

(you could move between two films but must provide smooth transitions in between)

Conclusion

Bibliography listed in a separate page (at least 4 sources from the syllabus, items listed in required books and other references)

e.g.,

Author’s name, Book Title (City: Publisher, year).

Author’s name, “article title,” Volume Title, ed. Editor’s name (City: Publisher, year), pp. #-#.

Author’s name, “article title,” Journal Title, volume #, issue # (year), pp. #-#.

I. Commentaries
• Purpose: to cultivate the habits of critical reading by making arguments and providing evidence
• Content: identify an argument (not merely a topic) from a required reading (with direct quotations and
page numbers) and discuss it in relation to the designated film of the day
• Focus: your ability to articulate someone else’ argument and state your interpretation of a film in
relation to that argument; mere factual information or plot summary won’t count as argument
• Length: 1 double-space page or 350 words for each short paper; the portion in excess of the limit will
not be graded for credit
• Grading: out of 10 points for each commentary, 3 for identification of an argument and logical
transition, 3 points for film discussion focused on details, and 4 for writing (grammar, expression,
coherence, style)
II. Final Exam
• Purpose: to test your knowledge of readings and films and to develop your analytic skills with regard to
authors, themes, and styles
• Format: 4 short essay questions, each of them answered in 8 lines or less, focused on the texts and/or
films covered in class per instructions
• Grading: 5 points for each question, 20 points total for the final
Writing Style Sheet
• always indicate your name in the first page of your writing
• in general, use the MLA reference style
• for commentaries, no separate reference items are needed; but for the term paper, a complete list
of works cited is required, and any incomplete listing would cost points
• format the title of a film, a book, or a journal in italic or underline: Shower, Shower
• indicate the title of an article in a journal or a volume with quotation marks
• add in a parenthesis the author’s name (if not identified in the text), a short title (if an author has
more than one cited work), and page numbers after all direct quotations: “…” (L. Lee, “Cinema”
37-38); use the author’s name, not the volume editor’s
• be sure proper names are spelled correctly
• in the Chinese case, remember the family name goes before the given name: Feng Xiaogang
(hence, Mr. Feng rather than Mr. Xiaogang)
• reduce functional phrases and repetitions like “I believe” or “in Leo Lee’s article, Lee writes …”
• spell-check grammar and fix typographic errors
• read your paper one more time before printing; hand-written corrections cost you points
• for those in need of assistance with English writing, seek help from campus resources and your
native-speaking friends

• Grading
The term paper itself counts for 40% of your course grade. You will be graded on your mastery of the
relevant facts and arguments, your originality in developing analysis, and the effective way your paper is
organized and written. Specifically, originality = 2 points, analysis = 12 points (i.e., 6 points each film),
writing = 16 points (i.e., legitimate title = 1 point, 4 listed key words = 2 points, structure = 2 points,
transition = 2 points, grammar = 2 points, spelling = 2 points, in-text reference = 2, etc.), use of sources =
10 points (i.e., logical incorporation = 1.5 points each, complete citation = 1 point each).
• Content
First, your paper must be comparative; namely, choose to compare two of these films: Plunder of Peach
and Plum, It’s My Day Off, Ermo, and Suzhou River. You may focus on a similar theme, a shared critical
problem, or a combination of some of them.
Second, your paper must be researched; namely, citing what critics have said about the directors and/or
films you are discussing and indicating how you respond to their interpretations. You must use at least 4
print sources assigned in the syllabus. Each article in an edited book counts as one source, but merely
listing sources without incorporating them in analysis does not make your paper a researched one.
Third, your paper must be critical; namely, examining texts in detail and engaging different arguments in
relation to the issues you are addressing. This also means that you have to maintain your own line of
arguments while moving between primary and secondary sources. A summary of narrative plot or
biographic information is descriptive rather than critical.
• Form
This is an individual assignment. Do not work on it jointly as you might study together for exams or
team projects, because two papers similar to each other will likely lower grades for both papers. Do not
submit a paper that you have submitted or are writing for any other class.
The paper must be written in your words, not paraphrased out of a secondary source or plagiarize from
any source You must give full bibliographical citations at the end of your paper on a separate page
(exclusive of the page limit), and make sure your style is consistent throughout the paper.
Papers must be typed, double-spaced (not 1.5 spaced), with one-inch or larger margins on all four sides
of the page. The length is limited to 3 pages, excluding references. Most students do better writing a
carefully edited three-page paper than writing a longer paper that is sloppy. Papers not meeting these
specifications will be returned without grading. Faulty spelling, grammar, punctuation, and format style
will cost you points, so proof-read your writing carefully.

So far, your coursework has explored the important idea that to argue persuasively and make strong claims you need to be in dialogue with others. Your writing assignments have demonstrated this point as you’ve proven yourselves able to analyze and evaluate how professional scholars launch an effective argument by writing the arguments of others into their own texts. For this essay, I’d like you to broaden your understanding of research and academic dialogue by choosing your own set of texts to which you will respond and use to support an original idea (a thesis).

ASSIGNMENT: Write a 1500-word essay in which you develop a thesis on the subject or theme of your choice and support your thesis by bringing together the most salient features from your readings and responding to them. In short, explore an interesting original idea so that your audience can understand something new or different about your topic. With this paper, you will select at least one short story and at least one poem (called primary sources) from the Backpack Literature textbook and locate at least four essays or articles (called secondary sources) from the TROY Library databases. A list of stories and poems by subject and theme is posted in the Week 8 folder to help you find texts in Backpack Literature that might interest you. Now you must explore the connection or pattern of ideas that you believe brings the texts together and says something interesting about your topic. Look deeper into this connection by reflecting upon specific passages in your story, your poem, and the four articles (secondary sources).

Essay Outline:

The introduction should establish the importance of the literary theme or topic you’ve chosen in the opening paragraph. You should consider using an anecdote or some research to demonstrate why the chosen subject is significant to the primary texts (the short story and poem) you’ve chosen to analyze. The introduction insists on the need to redefine the issue/topic.

The thesis asserts a clear and coherent interpretation of the selected theme or topic, explaining the theme/topic’s function within either the primary texts or the work’s genre. Ensure that your thesis is stated explicitly and that it is arguable — above all, make it interesting: how can we think differently about the theme/topic due to your reading of the texts you’ve selected?

The body paragraphs should use effective transition devices and topic sentences to remind readers of your thesis throughout the essay. Each paragraph should demonstrate effective use of your sources (both the primary sources and the researched secondary sources), including effective signal phrases for every quotation from a source and a clear and convincing modeling of the “They Say/I Say” approach to presenting and responding to sources.

The conclusion should leave your readers thinking further about what you’ve presented. Don’t summarize or repeat you main points; instead, restate your thesis in a different way by showing the potential implications of your analysis.

Source Citation: MLA format, including in-text parenthetical citations and a correct Works Cited. This final essay must demonstrate your understanding and proficiency with the use of parenthesis to designate the page of a cited quote from either the primary or secondary source, recognizing that MLA does not make use of “p.” or “pg.” You must show a knowledge of when to include the suthor’s last name within the parenthesis (Bishop 106) and when not to (106). The Works Cited page demonstrates a proper formatting procedures outlined in your Writers Reference textbook as well as at the OWL online reference at https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/section/2/11/. The Works Cited procedures include: listing authors in alphabetical order by last name; authors’ last names listed first, followed by first name; proper citation of the title using italics for full-length books and quotation marks for an article, short story, and poem; use of place, publisher, and date of publication for books and journal title, volume and issue, date of publication, and page numbers for articles; use of punctuation inclusing periods, commas, and semi-colons; and proper acknowledgment of medium of publication, inlcuding use of “Print” for physical books and articles consulted and URL and date of access documentation for sources read online (Web. Date).

Due: A completed draft must be submitted to the assignment feature link no later than midnight (CST) on Sunday, July 29. No late papers will be accepted. No exceptions.

(Create any two problems to write about)

Select two potential problems that 1) have two logical sides to the issue (your viewpoint and an opposing viewpoint), 2) is researchable, and 3) is related to your career or degree.

In your journal, write a fully developed paragraph for each problem (5-8 sentences each) explaining two
sides to the issue (how is it argumentative?), how you plan to approach it in your project (what side are you
going to take?), and why you’re personally interested in it (of all the potential problems in your field or
degree, why did you choose this?). When writing the paragraphs, feel free to express any other thoughts or
concerns you may have about the topic choices. After exploring the argumentativeness of your problems, take a moment to consider the bigger picture. Then, in one to two paragraphs, briefly reflect on the importance of persuasion with the potential topic you’re most likely to write about. Why is it important that people consider your side with your selected topic? Who is your
audience, and why is it important to convince them that your view on your topic is the better (or more correct)
view? Remember to try to be specific in your entry: this information will help guide you as you work on your
project in the coming weeks.

Please review rubric for more details

Thank you

Discuss PERT, CPM and Gantt based on the following action items:

1. What are the purposes of each tool and circumstances for using each tool? Also consider whether these tools can be used independently or if they should ideally be used together.
2. What are the differences and similarities between the activity-on-node and activity-on-arrow (or activity-on-arc) diagramming techniques?
3. Propose and describe in text form a sample project that you would theoretically develop into a PERT diagram and Gantt chart. For example, “Building a car would consist of the following steps…”(briefly outline the steps as task statements). Postulate the critical path of your sample hypothetical project: What would be the critical path sequence?