Writing Assignments

Objective: to convince your readers that your understanding of a work is valid and important and to lead them to share that understanding.

PROVING YOUR POINT

• 1. Show “how” the elements of the work do what you claim they do as they help to create the meaning of the poem.
• 2. Demonstrate to the process of inference, analysis, and deduction that has led to your conclusions, so that your readers may respond similarly.
• 3. Do not . . .
  • explain metaphors by using other figures of speech
  • hypothesize about what it might have meant if it did not contain what it does
  • explain the poem by sharing your own personal experiences
  • recount your own process of coming to understand the poem
  • argue by analogy
• 4. Do . . .
  • identify the figures of speech
  • explain the impact and full significance of the meaning(s) implied by the figures of speech
  • note the effects made on meaning by the sound, denotation, and/or connotation of the words
  • concentrate on major points so that the minor points will be believed on the merit of the major points

1. More than once, read the poem and mull over the problem to be solved.
2. Jot down your ideas as they occur to you. (Include words, phrases, lines from the poem.)
3. Formulate a thesis that will clearly express in one sentence what you wish to say about that subject.
4. Organize your ideas into the order that will best support your thesis.
5. Evaluate your rough outline. Is anything necessary missing?
6. Swiftly write the first draft, using the rough outline as a blueprint.
7. Ignore sentence structure, grammar, diction, spelling, or verification of sources.
8. If alternatives occur to you, write them down without deleting your earlier versions.
9. Revise your rough draft for logic, coherence, confidence, and completeness.
   • Make sure your introductory paragraph states your thesis.
     • Does the thesis need modification?
   • Make sure the body consists of a series of logically arranged paragraphs that demonstrate your thesis. M {The most logical approach is to follow the order to the stanzas of the poem.]
     • Do the paragraphs need reorganization?
     • Do they need amplification?
     • Do they need more examples?
     • Do the paragraphs include citations of words, phrases, lines from the poem?
   • Make sure the concluding paragraph sums up the supporting arguments.
   • Eliminate any words or phrases that express a less-than-assertive stance (“I think,” “I feel,” “in my opinion,” “might mean,” “could mean,” etc.
   • If your paper consists of more than twenty percent quotation, eliminate some of the quotations, or make sure that you have fully and accurately explained each word, phrase, and line quoted.
   • Avoid unnecessary use of long quotations. (The longer the quotation, the greater the amount of explanation required.)
   • If a quotation requires no explanation, it should not have been included in the first place.
   • Write as though you were presenting the truth. Believe in what you are saying.
10. Revise this second draft for effectiveness of expression.

• How many words can you cut out without loss of meaning?
• Are your sentences constructed for maximum force? (That is, do they use active rather than passive voice, present rather than past tense, strong rather than superlative modifiers?)
• Have you avoided using “praise” words: cleverly, remarkably, beautifully, etc.?
• Do the pronouns have clear antecedents that agree in number (plural with plural or singular with singular) and that do not generalize (this).
• Have you eliminated all first-person pronouns which are not quoted from the poem? (I, me, my, mine, we, us, our, ours)
• Do the verbs agree with their subjects in number?
• Have you avoided referring to the poet’s name as the subject of any sentence? Have you eliminated the words use or used?
• Are the tenses consistent?
• Have you used the most exact words?
• Are the words spelled correctly?
• Have you punctuated your sentences correctly?

11. Word process your paper in perfect adherence to the MLA standards.
12. Read your final word-processed draft carefully, making corrections as necessary.