Assignment 1: Essay about the book “In the dream house”

Requirements: Please click here to check your prompt and click here for your rubric.

1. Stay text-focused and do close reading: even though this is memoir, and a true story, you should still focus on how the text is communicating its message (the literary elements), not Machado the writer herself
2. Analysis (“so what?”) over summary
3. Clear connections throughout between specific elements of your chosen motif/genre and Machado’s story
4. Integration of outside resources to support your argument, including specific quotes from both Machado’s book and your outside resources

Word count note: 800 words is now the amount to reach to get FULL credit for your rough draft. You do not need to do the full 1,500 words to get full credit. However, of course, the more complete your draft, the better feedback I can give!

Late policy note: Everyone can now turn things in up to a week late, no penalty, no questions asked, no need to ask for permission. I will still keep the deadlines as is on Canvas, and following them will help keep you on track to not get bogged down at the end of the semester, but if you need a few extra days, take them!

Assignment 2(optional):

Please upload your annotated bibliographies here! Note that this is a useful assignment, not a required one, and a chance for your to get feedback from me about the sources you might use for your essay.

Here are your full research instructions, and below are your annotated bibliography instructions:

1. Use MLA documentation style to list two new sources you’re considering for your essay. (Please do not write about the ones I gave you for this assignment—you’ve already done that! This is a chance to consider what new sources you might use)
2. For each source, write 1-2 paragraphs beneath your citation to consider how you will use this source:
   1. Write a 50-word summary of each article
   2. Write a 50-word assessment of each article.
      1. Assessment can answer any of the following questions:
         1. Is it a useful source?
         2. How does it compare with other sources in your bibliography?
         3. Is the information reliable?
         4. Is this source biased or objective?
         5. What is the goal of this source?
      2. Write a 50-word reflection of each article
         1. Your reflection can answer any of the following questions:
            1. Was this source helpful to you?
            2. How might it help you shape your argument?
            3. How can you use this source in your essay?
            4. Has it changed how you think about your topic? If so, how?

Note: For your assessment and reflection of each source, the questions above are simply options to help guide you. You do not need to answer all of the questions. I’d prefer you think mainly about 1) source reliability and 2) how you might incorporate this into your final essay.

Assignment 3:Lit assignment

Forum 1, Your theme mini-essay post

Theme post:

For 40 points, posted by 4/17, 7pm, develop one theme (or more than one, if you are so moved to do so) that you’ve found in your novel.

Remember: a theme is a sentence, like a thesis– so, not “love,” but “love hurts.” Also, not a conflict, like person vs. society. Conflicts are different than themes as you can see the former is not a sentence. A sentence, and thus a thematic interpretation of the person vs. society conflict could be “Humans struggle with the conformity of society,” Or “Society can crush human freedom.”

I would like to see you link not only to the novel itself, but also to the larger issues we have discussed already in this class- themes in your book, if they are important enough, speak to the genre of literature as a whole, and –even better– to the universal quality of the human experience. Push yourself to make big connections. Please include one or more quotes, but no more than 3 quotes. You don’t need a works cited unless you use some other source aside from your novel.

Please use your book title in your subject line so we can all find each other.

After you post (or before), read over all your group mate’s postings and take notes. The second forum this week asks you to reply briefly to each group-mate in a single post (mention each person by name, and also title your post with your book title) by 4/18, 9pm, 10 points possible.