Assignment One
Analysis of a Brief Passage
| Due Dates: | Requirements: |
| Working Draft-September 29, 2000 Final Draft-October 6, 2000 |
|
Objective
To construct a persuasive, engaging argument about the meaning of a brief passage from a selected work of literature. This is a skill that will be useful to you in subsequent assignments for this course.
Passage Choices
| Seeing this, long-suffering great Odysseus was happy, and lay down in the middle, and made a pile of leaves over him. As when a man buries a burning log in a black ash heap in a remote place in the country, where none live near as neighbors, and saves the seed of the fire, having no other place to get a light from, so Odysseus buried himself in the leaves, and Athene shed a sleep on his eyes so as most quickly to quit him, by veiling his eyes, from the exhaustion of his hard labors. (Odyssey, 5.488-493) |
Why, how now, ho? From whence ariseth this? Are we turned Turks, and to ourselves do that Which heaven hath forbid the Ottomites? For Christian shame put by this barbarous brawl! He that stirs next to carve for his own rage Holds his soul light; he dies upon his motion. Silence that dreadful bell! It frights the isle From her propriety. What is the matter, masters? Honest Iago, that looks dead with grieving, Speak. Who began this? On thy love, I charge thee. (Othello. 2.3.168-177) |
| Then must you speak Of one that loved not wisely, but too well; Of one not easily jealous, but, being wrought, Perplexed in the extreme; of one whose hand, Like the base Judean, threw a pearl away Richer than all his tribe; of one whose subdued eyes, Albeit unusd to the melting mood, Drops tears as fast as the Arabian trees Their med'cinable gum. Set you down this. And say besides that in Aleppo once, Where a malignant and a turbaned Turk Beat a Venetian and traduced the state, I took by th' throat the circumcisèd dog And smote him-thus. (Othello, 5.2.339-352) |
Had I continued in the station I was now in, I had room for all the happy things to have yet befallen me, for which my Father so earnestly recommended a quiet retired Life, and of which he had so sensibly describ'd the middle Station of Life to be full of; but other things attended me, and I was still to be the wilful Agent of all my own Miseries; and particularly to encrease my Fault and double the Reflections upon my self, which in my future Sorrows I should have leisure to make; all these Miscarriages were procured by my apparent obstinate adhering to my foolish inclination of wandring abroad and pursuing that Inclination in contradiction to the clearest Views of doing my self good in a fair and plain pursuit of those Prospects and those measures of Life, which Nature and Providence concurred to present me with, and to make my Duty. (Robinson Crusoe, 38) |
| I descended a little on the Side of that delicious Vale, surveying it with a secret Kind of Pleasure, (tho' mixt with my other afflicting Thoughts) to think that this was all my own, that I was King and Lord of all this Country indefeasibly, and had a Right of Possession; and if I could convey it, I might have it in Inheritance, as completely as any Lord of a Manor in England. I saw here Abundance of Cocoa Trees, Orange and Lemmon, and Citron Trees; but all wild, and very few bearing any Fruit, at least not then: However, the green Limes that I gathered, were not only pleasant to eat, but very wholesome; and I mix'd their Juice afterwards with Water, which made it very wholesome, and very cool and refreshing. (Robinson Crusoe, 100) |
Procedure
Choose one of the passages provided above, which are from the first three readings of the semester.
Pay close attention to the author's use of word choice, symbolism, imagery, sentence structure, and punctuation as you interpret the passage. You may consider other passages from the surrounding text in making your argument, but remember that the primary objective is to explain the meaning of the chosen passage.
After deciding which details from the passage are the most distinctive and interesting to you, formulate a thesis statement about what the passage means. This thesis may change as you write your paper, and that is fine.
Write a draft of your argument about the passage. Refer directly to specific words and phrases in the chosen passage or to other quotations from the work in question in supporting your argument.
Bring a word-processed, properly formatted draft to class on September 29 for peer editing.
Revise your draft after that class. Consider the feedback you have received from your classmate as well as your ideas as you rework your argument.
Having completed your revisions, proofread your paper. Watch out for typos, incorrect punctuation and other problems. Do not hesitate to consult a style manual if you have questions (Keys for Writers is one style manual that is easy to find on the UMD campus, but there are numerous others that will work just as well.)
Sign up to consult with me about this draft in a student conference (optional).
Turn in the completed final draft and peer-edited working draft on October 6 in class.
Close Reading
In analyzing the passages, you will want to consider the following questions:
What, literally, takes place in the passage?
Does the author use any imagery? Imagery refers to any non-literal use of a word. Here are examples of four common types of imagery:
metaphor. "Jealousy is a green-eyed monster." Equating one thing with another unrelated thing through the verb "to be" or an equivalent verb.
simile. "Does a dream deferred dry up like a raisin in the sun?" Not as strong as a metaphor. Similes connect the literal to the figurative by of "like" or "as."
personification. "The lush valley embraced the small town." Like a metaphor, only, because we so frequently compare things to people, we can leave out the phrase "was a person who," i.e.: "The lush valley (was a person who) embraced the small town."
symbol. The handkerchief in Othello or the parrot in Robinson Crusoe. Symbols are very different from the above examples of imagery, because they exist at a more abstract level in the text. Readers must infer symbolism based on what they already know or based on what the author has given them to work with.
If the passage is in verse, then how does the author use rhyme and meter in it?
Does the author use punctuation in an unorthodox manner that requires explanation?
Are there any parallels or other forms of comparison between different elements in the passage?
Which character speaks the passage? To whom is the character speaking?
What is the importance of the passage for the surrounding text?
What makes this passage different from any other passage in the text?
What will make this analysis interesting to an audience consisting of myself, my classmates and my teacher?
Grading Standards
In grading this assignment, I will use the following criteria:
| A | Confident, persuasive written expression An original approach to the passage in question A strong thesis statement that is arguable and interesting Exemplary in the clarity and organization of its argument Engaging to its audience in a manner that commands attention Consitently good use of evidence in support of your contentions and in accordance with MLA format Nearly flawless mechanically (format, spelling, grammar) |
| B | Clear written expression with a few minor breakdowns in sentence clarity Somewhat original approach to the passage in question, though quite dependent on material we discussed in class A strong thesis statement that is arguable and interesting Well-organized argument that signals its structure to readers by way of effective transitional sentences. Good use of evidence to support your contentions and in accordance with MLA format Only a few mechanical flaws |
| C | Satisfies the basic demands of the assignment Generally clear though with some confusing sentences Makes a clear argument about the meaning of the passage A thesis statement that is arguable and interesting A well-organized argument Use of evidence in support of your contentions and in accordance with MLA format, though not consistently Several mechanical flaws, but not so many that they confuse the meaning of your paper. |
| D | Almost satisfies the basic demands of the assignment Numerous breakdowns impairing the clarity of your argument Thesis statement is either not arguable or is uninteresting Argument has minimal organization Use of evidence to support contentions is wildly inconsistent and/or not in accordance with the MLA format Numerous mechanical flaws interfering with paper clarity |
| F | Does not satisfy the basic demands of the assignment Unclear writing style Lacks a thesis statement No clear argument-seemingly random arrangement of ideas Mechanical flaws throughout the paper Plagiarized work |
15 September 2000