English 1575
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Assignment One
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Due Dates:
Working Draft—February 9, 2001 |
Requirements:
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To construct a persuasive, engaging argument about the meaning of a brief passage from Virginia Woolf's To the Lighthouse. This is a skill that will be useful to you in subsequent assignments for this course.
| It was in that moment's flight between the picture and her canvas that the demons set on her who often brought her to the verge of tears and made this passage from conception to work as dreadful as ny down a dark passage for a child. She often felt herself-struggling against terrific odds to maintain her courage; to say: "But this is what I see; this is what I see," and so to clasp some miserable remnant of her vision to her breast, which a thousand forces did their best to pluck from her. (19) | It was his fate, his peculiarity, whether he wished it or not, to come out thus on a spit of land which the sea is slowly eating away, and there to stand, like a desolate sea-bird, alone. It was his power, his gift, suddenly to shed all superfluities, to shrink and diminish so that he looked barer and felt sparer, even physically, yet lost none of his intensity of mind, and so to stand on his little ledge facing the dark of human ignorance, how we know nothing and the sea eats away the ground we stand on-that was his fate, his gift. (44) | So loveliness reigned and stillness, and together made the shape of loveliness itself, a form from which life had parted; solitary like a pool at evening, far distant, seen from a train window, vanishing so quickly that the pool, pale in the evening, is scarcely robbed of its solitude, though once seen. Loveliness and stillness clasped hands in the bedroom, and among the shrouded jugs and sheeted chairs even the prying of the wind, and the soft nose of the clammy sea airs, rubbing, snuffling, iterating, and reiterating, their questions-"Will you fade? Will you perish?"-scarcely disturbed the peace, the indifference, the air of pure integrity, as if the question they asked scarcely needed that they should answer: we remain. (129) | Beauty had this penalty-it came too readily, came too completely. It stilled life-froze it. One forgot the little agitations; the flush, the pallor, some queer distortion, some light or shadow, which made the face unrecognisable for a moment and yet added a quality one saw for ever after. It was simpler to smooth that all out under the cover of beauty. But what was the look she had, Lily wondered, when she clapped her deer-stalker's hat on her head, or ran across the grass, or scolded Kennedy, the gardener? Who could tell her? Who could help her? (178) |
Choose one of the passages provided above.
Pay close attention to the Woolf'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 February 9 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 February 16 in class.
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 letter R. Mrs. Ramsay's green shawl. 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.
Does the Woolf use punctuation in an unorthodox manner that requires explanation?
Are there any parallels or other forms of comparison between different elements in the passage?
From which character's point of view does Woolf narrate the passage?
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?
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 Consistently 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 No use of evidence to support the argument Plagiarized work |