Now that you have read a number of short stories and essays, this is the fun part. You will choose your own primary source from the semester titles we have read. 

HOW COOL IS THAT?

Remember, you can only choose something we have read in class. But the essay must be based on a source we have not yet written about. 

Here are your specs: 

POV: Third Person ONLY
Format: MLA
Word Count: Minimum 1,000
Primary Source: Your choice
Secondary: At least four sources
Works Cited Page: Absolutely
Borrowed material: At least eight instances of borrowed material

Things to consider: 

PURPOSE: Remember, this is not an expository essay, it is an argumentative essay. Therefore you should be starting with your thesis statement, ensuring that the thesis addressed the topic in a way that motivated the reader to want to respond. 

BORROWED MATERIAL: Be selective when choosing the borrowed material. Dont just find something to throw in the essay and cite it. That is not productive at all, not to mention it will get you a frowning face!
Let your borrowed material, since you are reading the sources BEFORE you write the paper, be your guide. 
As you write, annotate, make note of what you like. Keep it. Then figure out how you can use it in your essay. 

REVISE AND EDIT: I cannot stress this enough. You MUST give yourself time to revise and edit your paper. There may be paragraphs that would fit better in a different section of the essay. There will definitely be errors. Give yourself time to revise and edit in order to submit the best paper possible! 

I recommend that you save each draft separately, for example, Essay 1 Draft 1, Essay 1 Draft 2, Essay 1 Draft 3 and so on and so on. Doing so ensures that you keep all the original content just the way it came out, but as you make changes the previous copy or copies remain in their original state.  There is no worse writers feeling that revising and edit, erasing what you previously wrote, only to realize you need it. 

STAY IN THE LITERATURE. CRITIQUE THE LITERATURE. DO NOT WRITE AN ESSAY INSPIRED BY THE TOPIC OF THE LITERATURE. YOULL GET A FROWNING FACE. – 
A huge mistake is to understand the literature, be able to identify the topic, and instead of writing about the literature, you write about the topic the literature covers. 

For example, The Story of an Hour presents an unhappy wife during a time when women had no other options than to be a wife. 

If a student were to write an essay exploring how different being a wife is now to how it was then, and how wrong it was during that time in history for women not to have options, and how  . . . Well, hopefully you get it. 
This essay would receive an unfavorable grade. It does not critique the writing. It creates a completely separate work inspired by the writing. Even if this essay has little speckles of Mrs. Mallards thoughts and actions, it still would not be about the essay. It would only use those speckles to fulfill the borrowed material requirement. The presence of those speckles would be meaningless. 

Rubric

White Paper 2 – Argumentative Essay 2White Paper 2 – Argumentative Essay 2CriteriaRatingsPtsThis criterion is linked to a Learning OutcomePurposeThe essay meets the expectations of argumentation. The essay demonstrates mastery of the close and or critical reading process. The essay is argumentative in nature, in language, theme, and tone and only uses expository form as context for interpretation. The essay avoids summary completely. However, may paraphrase very small sections of the primary source ONLY to give the reader context.15.0 pts
This criterion is linked to a Learning OutcomeIntroductionThe introduction is well written, contains no more than 3 errors in grammar and or punctuation, is free of any borrowed material (quotes – unless they are popular sayings), grabs the reader’s attention, and presents a thesis statement as well as a smooth transition out of the introductory paragraph and into the first body paragraph.10.0 pts
This criterion is linked to a Learning OutcomeThesis statementThe thesis is easily identifiable, is strong, specifies the topic, provides and argumentative statement directly addressing the primary source, is well written – free from any errors in grammar and or punctuation, is free of jargon, and is written in the preferred third person POV. Second person POV is NOT allowed for the thesis statement.15.0 pts
This criterion is linked to a Learning OutcomeThe bodyEach body paragraph contains one, and only one, main idea. That main idea directly and purposely supports the thesis statement.

Each body paragraph contains, at minimum, three sentences that support the main idea and at least one transition sentence that transitions into and or out of the idea presented.

Each body paragraph contains no more than three errors in grammar and or punctuation.

Each body paragraph contains at least one quote from a secondary or the primary source.

Ideas presented in the body paragraph are presented in a logical and sequential manner.

Each idea presented in the body of the essay is thoroughly developed and the writer does not “drop” a number of major ideas into the paragraph without elaborating on the major idea presented before moving on to another idea.

There are smooth transitions from one idea to another within the body paragraphs themselves and between body paragraphs.25.0 pts
This criterion is linked to a Learning OutcomeMLA FormatThe essay contains the following, formatted correctly:

Running head
Heading (on one page only)

The margins are set to 1 inch all around.
The font is 12 pont, for all text.
The title is centered.
The title is unique and represents your writing. It does not bear the same title as the primary work or a combination of the assignment title and the title of the primary work.
The font is Times Roman, for all text.

All paragraphs have the first sentence indented.
All borrowed materials are cited and cited properly according to the MLA resource provided.
All borrowed material is directly relevant to the immediate preceding interpretation.

The Works Cited page is titled properly and entries on the Works Cited page are all inclusive of the borrowed material throughout the text.
Works Cited entries are formatted properly according to the MLA resource provided.30.0 pts
This criterion is linked to a Learning OutcomeConclusionThe conclusion is strong and summarizing all the information delivered in the essay, free of any errors in grammar and or punctuation, free of any “new” information, and finishes with a hard hitting, fun, fascinating, or intriguing statement.5.0 pts
Total Points: 100.0