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English 3563 |
Assignment One |
| Due Dates: | Requirements: |
| Working Draft—February 13, 2002 Final Draft-February 20, 2002 |
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To construct a persuasive argument about the meaning of a brief passage from a selected work of literature. The argument should be based on a close reading of the text in question. Close reading is a skill that will help you in subsequent assignments for this class.
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Through the night, and today we remained waiting here to see if the king, or any others would bring us gold or anything valuable. Many of the natives visited us, resembling those of the other islands, naked like them, and painted white, red, black and other colours; they brought javelins and clews of cotton to barter, which they exchanged with the sailors for bits of glass, broken cups, and fragments of earthenware. Some of them wore pieces of gold at their noses; they readily gave them away for hawk's bells and glass beads; the amount collected in this manner, however, was very inconsiderable. Any small matter they received from us, they held in high estimation, believing us to have come from heaven. (Christopher Columbus, "from Narrative of the First Voyage to America, 1492-1493," Heath Anthology of American Literature, Vol. I., p. 109) |
In this time Castillo saw the buckle of a sword-belt on the neck of an Indian and stitched to it the nail of a horse shoe. He took them, and we asked that native what they were: he answered that they came from heaven. We questioned him further, as to who had brought them thence: they all responded that certain men who wore beards like us, had come from heaven and arrived at that river; bringing horses, lances, and swords, and that they had lanced two Indians. In a manner of the utmost indifference we could feign, we asked them what had become of those men: they answered that they had gone to sea, putting their lances beneath the water, and gong themselves also under the water; afterwards that they were seen on the surface going toward the sunset. (Alvar Nuñez Cabeza de Vaca, "from Relation of Alvar Nuñez Cabeza de Vaca," Heath Anthology of American Literature, Vol. I., p. 128) |
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"Could I indeed," I said to myself, "abandon our French and leave those good Neophytes and those poor Catechumens, without giving them the help which the Church of my God has entrusted to me?" Flight seemed horrible to me. "It must be," I said in my heart, "that my body suffer the fire of earth, in order to deliver these poor souls from the flames of Hell; it must die a transient death, in order to procure for them an eternal life." (Jerome Lalemant, "from The Relation of 1647, by Father Jerome Lalemant," Heath Anthology of American Literature, Vol. I., p. 214) |
O that princes and parliaments would take some timely order to prevent this mischief and at length to suppress it by some exemplary punishment upon some of these gain-thirsty murderers, for they deserve no better title, before their colonies in these parts be overthrown by these barbarous savages thus armed with their own weapons, by these evil instruments and traitors to their neighbours and country! But I have forgot myself and have been too long in this digression; but now to return. (Bradford, "from Of Plymouth Plantation," Heath Anthology of American Literature, Vol. I., p. 323) |
Close reading means paying careful attention to details in a written work. Since you will be looking more closely at this passage than most people who read it, your paper can offer perspectives on its meaning that will interest your audience and challenge their expectations. In analyzing a brief passage, you may ask yourself the following questions:
What, literally, takes place in the passage?
Where in the larger work does the passage occur?
Who speaks in this passage? To whom?
How is this passage different from any other passage in the text?
Does the author use any terms that will be unfamiliar to 21st-century readers? What do these terms mean? How have these terms changed since the author first wrote the passage? NOTE: These passages are from a time before the regularization of many spelling rules. Thus, the writer's misspelling of a particular word most likely tells us very little about his or her intentions.
Does the author use any imagery in making his or her point? The most common forms of imagery include metaphor, simile, personification and symbol.
Does the author allude to any other works of literature? The Bible is one common source of allusions in early American literature.
What will make this paper interesting to an audience consisting of my classmates, my teacher and myself? You will want to tell them something new-that would not otherwise have occurred to them after reading this passage.
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 Somewhat original approach to the passage in question 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 breakdowns 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 |