Analysis and Response

Project 1
Evaluation 31
Eleventh Grade English 1 (ENGH 039 061)

Be sure to include ALL pages of this project (including the directions and the assignment) when you send the project to your teacher for grading. Don’t forget to put your name and I.D. number at the top of this page!

Analysis and Response
There are two parts to this written project: one literary analysis essay and one creative response. For each part, you will choose one of several options. Project 1 is worth 100 possible points (50 points per part). It is 12% of your course grade. Type your answers to each part of the project in the spaces provided in this document (scroll down).
Note that you are completing a written project, not just two papers. Each aspect of the project involves a series of steps that will lead you through the writing process and help you to create a powerful piece of writing. As you delve into the project, make sure that you thoroughly read and complete each step. Refer to the Course Appendix for guidelines on writing conventions and citing sources.
The final draft of EACH part of this project should be two double-spaced pages (about 600 words). Note the part of the project and the option you have selected on the first page of each part of your project. Review the information on the process of writing before you begin.

“The” Writing Process
Quotation marks are put around “the” in “The” Writing Process for a reason. There is no one single process that works best for everyone. There is also no one single writing process that is best for all kinds of writing. The process can vary from writer to writer and task to task, based on such factors as the author’s style, habits, and level of writing experience, as well as the nature of the writing to be done. There is, however, a model that illustrates the basic components of most writing processes. This process includes the following stages: understanding the task (the assignment), exploratory or discovery writing, shaping and planning, drafting, revising, editing and proofreading, and learning something from the entire process.
Even though the stages are listed in order, the process is not linear. Circular is a more accurate description. There is no clear, step-by-step logic to the process. Instead, it is recursive. Though it always starts with understanding the task, and ends with learning something from the task, the steps in the middle are not always straightforward. Writers swing back and forth between stages of the process as is appropriate. For example, a writer may decide to rearrange a couple of paragraphs while revising. Such recursive “swinging” around the circle can and should happen repeatedly in the process of creating well-written prose.
Also, notice that the “drafting” stage usually comes somewhere in the middle of the process. If you’ve ever suffered from writer’s block, it may well be because you’ve jumped to the drafting stage too soon. Such a situation does not allow enough time for shaping and planning.
Remember that the process does not end with drafting. Revising and editing are important parts of the process. You might move back and forth between drafting and revising and then jump to exploratory writing if you get stuck.
Keep in mind that revising and editing come toward the latter part of the process. If you try these too early, they might cause some writer’s block as well. The simple fact is that our brains can only handle so many tasks at one time. The task of putting ideas and experiences into words takes up a lot of brain space. When we are trying to articulate and construct knowledge, but are also worrying about spelling, punctuation, grammar, and mechanics, we are simply giving our brains too much to do, and both parts usually suffer. Nobody cares how sloppy or “incorrect” your early drafts are! Concentrate on getting your ideas on the paper!
One more important point you should notice is that revising, editing, and proofreading are three distinct acts. Revision means to “see again.” It deals with the global aspects of writing—focus, purpose, audience, development, coherence, organization, introductions, and conclusions. Editing deals with more sentence-level issues, like grammar, punctuation, and style. Proofreading involves reading for mechanical errors, like typos, missing capital letters, etc. This task should be saved until all other parts of the process are completed to your satisfaction.
Finally, notice that learning to write, writing, and writing well are more than questions of where to place commas. Writing is about making meaning and constructing knowledge. When you are at the “end” of the writing process for one writing task, you are really only at the beginning of benefiting from what you have learned.
One of the goals of this course is to help you develop your own writing process. As you do the work of this course, you will be guided through the process. Keep in mind that not all techniques work for all people. Try everything you are presented with once to see how it feels, and then decide what’s best for you.

Part A: Literary Analysis
With this exercise, your focus will be to write an essay where you make inferences (or draw conclusions) about a writer’s personality. An autobiographical account is colored by the writer’s viewpoint. Consequently, readers can determine a great deal about a writer by examining and considering the details in the author’s work. You will determine your judgments by examining the manner in which the author portrays himself, events, and other people.
Choose ONE of the following options:
a.    Write an essay in which you describe Powhatan’s personality.
b.     Write an essay in which you describe William Bradford’s personality.
c.     Write an essay in which you describe King Philip’s personality.
Your challenge is to describe the personality of this person in a two-page (about 600 word) essay by drawing conclusions about the author.
Review the reading from the textbook and base your response on information provided in the reading. As you approach this assignment, move through each of the five steps described.

Step 1: Exploratory Writing and Collecting
In this step, you will gather data, generate ideas, and determine your own opinions. Reread the work by your author in your textbook. When you come across clues to the author’s personality, note them. Try some free writing on the subject. Start writing (or typing) your impressions of the author. What type of person is this individual? Why do you feel this way? See if you can write about these ideas for five minutes without stopping.
After going over your notes and free writing, complete this chart. In the first column, list adjectives that you believe describe the author. In the second column, list specific details from the work that indicate the adjectives are accurate. NOTE: while this chart will help you organize your ideas, you do NOT have to use the copy provided in this document. You may draw one by hand on a separate sheet of paper if you like. (You will NOT submit the chart with your project.)

Adjective
Evidence

Step 2: Planning and Shaping Your Essay
Now that you have gathered your data, it is time to start planning your essay. Your goal is to create a working thesis statement and at least three main point statements to support it. You will need evidence from the reading to support each of your main points.
Remember that your thesis statement is the focal point of your essay. It answers the following questions:

1. What is the subject of my essay?

2. What is my opinion on this subject?

Your thesis statement must include the name of the author, the title of the author’s work, and your opinion regarding the author. For example, “The events that Jonathan Edwards describes in “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” show him to be a passionate, pious person. A guide for writing a thesis statement is included in the Appendix of this course.
Once you have established a thesis statement, you can begin to draft a paper that will support it. Everything in your essay should defend or serve the thesis. It might be helpful to write your thesis statement at the top of your page, or paste it onto your computer screen on a sticky note.
Once you have a thesis statement established, you will need to create at least three main points to support it. In effect, you will prove that your thesis is accurate. What are three reasons that you believe your thesis to be correct? Write these thoughts down as complete sentences. They will be the topic sentences for the body paragraphs in your essay.

Step 3: Drafting
At this point, you should have a skeleton outline of your thesis statement and topic sentences. Let this outline grow into a paper. Begin with an introductory paragraph in which you introduce your topic and state your thesis. Then compose the body portion of the paper. It is here that you will prove your thesis.
Each body paragraph will begin with a topic sentence and elaborate upon the idea that the topic sentence expresses. In your paragraphs, you will note the details and evidence from the text that support your thesis. Each body paragraph should include at least one quote from the text to support your thesis. Your paper will end with a conclusion. Here, you will restate your thesis (in different words) and make a final statement about what your essay shows.
Note the author’s first and last names the first time you mention him. After that, use only the author’s last name. Cite all direct quotations from the textbook in the MLA style. Use in-text citations. If the quotation is no more than four lines, simply incorporate it into the text:
Anne Bradstreet writes that her “love is such that rivers cannot quench” (7) in “To My Dear and Loving Husband.”

If you are using a quotation longer than four lines, you will need to begin the quotation on a new line and indent each line of the quotation. Cite the page number for the quotation at the end of the quote. These quotations do not use quotation marks. Look at the following example:

So I sold some of my books to raise a little money, was taken
on board privately, and as we had a fair wind, in three days I
found myself in New York, near three hundred miles from home,
a boy of but seventeen, without the least recommendation to, or
knowledge of, any person in the place, and with very little money
in my pocket. (78)

If you have further questions about the proper use of citations, a good reference source is the MLA Manual and Guide to Scholarly Publications. A summary of the guide is in the Appendix of the course.

Step 4: Revising
After you have completed your draft, read through it and check for the following. Revise your work as necessary.
My Thesis
a.     Does it directly respond to the assigned topic?
b.    Is it an opinionated statement?
c.     Do I introduce the writer and the title of the piece of writing?
d.     Does my paper cover everything that I promised I would in my thesis? (If not, revise the thesis or develop the body portion of the essay.)

My Topic Sentences
a.    Are each of my topic sentences opinionated statements?
b.    Does each statement relate directly to the thesis?

My Evidence
a.    Do I have enough evidence to prove each of my topic sentences?
b.    Is my evidence specific?
c.    Have I cited direct quotations?

My Conclusion
Have I restated my overall point and made a final statement about what my essay shows?

Step 5: Editing and Proofreading
Print a hard copy of your draft. Read it aloud and check for the following:
a. no skipped words
b. complete sentences
c. correct spelling
d. correct words (for example there or their)
e. appropriate use of apostrophes
f. appropriate use of commas
g. appropriate use of semicolons
h. appropriate use of colons
i. appropriate use of quotation marks

Your grade for Part A will be based on the following criteria:

Project Grading Table (Teacher Use Only)
Points Possible
Points Earned

The essay contains an effective introduction and a clear thesis statement about the personality of Powhatan, Bradford, or King Philip. The thesis statement guides the essay.
10

Well-organized body paragraphs and topic sentences. Each paragraph focuses on a specific personal trait of the author. Topic sentences are clear and state specific personal traits of the author.
10

Use of quotes as evidence from the textbook to support the thesis. Quotes are clearly related to the thesis and explained and supported. Quotes are correctly cited in the MLA format.
10

Supporting details show a clear understanding of the events that the author describes in the text. Details are well explained and connected to the topic.
10

Proper use of grammar, spelling, and vocabulary, and all direct quotations in quotation marks. You do NOT need a Works cited page; in-text citations are fine. (Refer to the guidelines in the course Appendix.)
10

[Begin Part A here]

Part B: Creative Response
This part of the project focuses on point of view or perspective. When writers remember and record events, they speak from their own points of view. Your challenge will be to reconsider an event from another perspective. You will use your imagination to retell the story from a different point of view.
Choose ONE of the following two options:
a.    Recreate one of the events Christopher Columbus records in “Letter of Discovery” from the perspective of one of the other explorers, or from the perspective of a Native American.
b.    Recreate one of the events William Bradford records in “Of Plymouth Plantation” as one of the other Puritans or as one of the Native Americans.

First, you will select the reading, then the event, and, finally, the point of view. You will create your own account, writing as though you are the person. (Note who “you” are at the start of your description—make clear which work you are retelling.) As you create your description of the event, try to use vivid language—specific nouns, strong verbs, details, and words that appeal to the senses. Your answer for Part B should be about two pages (about 600 words).
As you prepare for this exercise, reread the work about which you are writing. Note events that you might like to write about. Once you have selected one, decide whose point of view you are going to write from and determine the exact part of the text you are going to cover. Before you begin writing, fully consider how this individual’s perspective differs from that of the author. How is your individual perspective affected by the events? Do not just copy the original story; be creative and retell it in a different version from your perspective.

Your grade for Part B will be based on the following criteria:

Project Grading Table (Teacher Use Only)

Points Possible
Points Earned
Shows a complete understanding of the work on which you are basing your answer.
10

The event described show an understanding of the person from whose perspective you are writing, which is different from the original version.
10

A well-organized essay shows an understanding of how the event you describe affect the entire situation.
10

Use of vivid language, concrete details, and words that appeal to the senses.
10

Proper use of grammar, spelling, and vocabulary, and all direct quotations in quotation marks. You do NOT need a Works cited page; in-text citations are fine. (Refer to the guidelines in the course Appendix.)
10

[Begin Part B in the space provided on the next page.]

Project Submission
After you finish both parts of the project, save this project assignment document. Use the course number, your name, and the project number in your file’s title:
ENGH039061_YourNameHere_Project1.doc
Go to your course management system to upload your project file.

[Begin Part B here.]