Demonstrate analytical skills

Goals

Demonstrate analytical skills

Construct an appropriately sophisticated thesis-driven essay

• Understand how to utilize pre-writing and revising techniques
• Instructions
• Compose an argumentative essay of at least 1,000 words in which you analyze one or more of the poems we’ve read. Your thesis should require an argument. In other words, it shouldn’t be obviously true at first glance.

Your goal for this assignment is to offer a strong critical analysis of a literary text, which means that you should:

Make interpretive claims about the poem(s), rather than simply summarizing

Use specific pieces of evidence (quotations, summaries) to support more general claims, which ultimately support or illuminate your thesis (main argument)

Structure your argument (paragraphs within the essay, sentences within paragraphs) in a way that communicates your argument clearly, showing your reader how you analyze specific pieces of evidence to reach your conclusions.

Your essay should directly respond to one of the following prompts. Note that you don’t necessarily need to answer the “questions to consider” for each prompt. Those questions are designed to help get you thinking.

PROMPT 1:

What point(s) about history are made by one or more of the poems we’ve read by Natasha Trethewey?

Questions to consider (but not necessarily answer in your essay):

How does Trethewey depict the preservation of history in her poetry?

• What limits to understanding the past does Trethewey discuss?

What role does Trethewey take on in relation to her family history and the history of the SouthGrading
Essays will be graded according to the following checklist. Each item in the following list is worth one point. The essay will either receive each point or not, depending on whether it satisfies the requirement for the item. The essay may be revised and resubmitted if it doesn’t meet all requirements, but expect it to take several weeks to be regraded. It’s best to meet with the instructor to discuss the essay before revising it.

• Student’s Position (1 point) — the essay argues for an explicit position (perspective/thesis) that addresses the prompt, requires literary interpretation, and takes into account the complexities of an issue. An essay that oversimplifies an issue will not earn credit a point for this item.

Explanation of Issues (1 point) — the essay critically states, describes, and clarifies the issue to be considered so that the reader’s understanding is not seriously impeded by omissions. The essay includes details, definitions, and other information so that the reader doesn’t feel like they’re missing any key points.

• Use of Evidence (1 point) —  the essay takes evidence from source(s) with enough interpretation/evaluation to develop a coherent analysis or synthesis. It cites specific reasons and evidence for supporting or rejecting claims. The evidence and viewpoints in the essay are combined together into a coherent whole, meaning any areas of potential confusion or apparent contradictions are clarified for the reader.

Academic Essay Organization (1 point) —  the introduction sets up a thesis (stated explicitly at the end of the introduction) that is clear, appropriate, and effectively introduced. The thesis statement directly responds to the prompt and accurately describes the main argument of the essay.  Body paragraphs focus on distinct ideas that support or illuminate the thesis. Body paragraphs do not overlap much, if at all, in terms of content/focus (in other words, they’re about distinct main ideas) and they include evidence and reasoning tied to the main idea of the paragraph. Body paragraphs, in turn, support or illuminate the overall thesis of the essay. The wraps up with a conclusion. It’s okay if the organization is somewhat formulaic, but, ideally, it won’t be.

Sentence-Level and Formatting Concerns (1 point) — The essay contains only a few, if any, errors with MLA, grammar, mechanics, punctuation, or word choice. There are no patterns of major errors (citations, fragments, run-ons, capitalization, etc.). For the most part, sentences flow smoothly. Meaning is clear throughout the essay.

Outside Sources
No outside sources are required. You may use them if you wish, but doing so will increase your workload. If you use outside sources, you must document them using MLA formatting rules, which we haven’t covered in detail. Additionally, if you choose to use sources, remember that the purpose of your essay is to provide your thinking, not simply to report what sources think.If you choose to use sources, do consider their ethos/credibility. Don’t use Wikipedia, SparkNotes, other “study” websites, or student papers from the internet. Consider using books and articles available through the college library website. You may also use articles and reference materials provided in class. Tips

Start early and go through multiple drafts

Meet with a tutor or drop off your essay for feedback using Brainfuse Online Tutoring 

Meet with a tutor from the Writing and Humanities Tutoring Center (sign up on Corsair Connect)

Use instructor feedback from the On-Ramp Activity to guide you in the revision process

Sign up for a Zoom meeting with the instructor (click “Schedule a Meeting with Prof. Colmer” on our Canvas homepage)

here are links to the poems to write about
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/11/20/repe…

https://www.pulitzer.org/winners/natasha-trethewey

• here is the last poem: 

Read: “Elegy for the Native Guards”

• Natasha Tretheway (2007)

from Native Guard

•                            Now that the salt of their blood

Stiffens the saltier oblivion of the sea . . .

—ALLEN TATE

We leave Gulfport at noon; gulls overhead

trailing the boat–streamers, noisy fanfare–

• all the way to Ship Island. What we see

first is the fort, its roof of grass, a lee–

• half reminder of the men who served there–

a weathered monument to some of the dead.

• Inside we follow the ranger, hurried

though we are to get to the beach. He tells

of graves lost in the Gulf, the island split

in half when Hurricane Camille hit

• shows us casemates, cannons, the store that sells

souvenirs, tokens of history long buried.

• The Daughters of the Confederacy

has placed a plaque here, at the fort’s entrance–

each Confederate soldier’s name raised hard

in bronze; no names carved for the Native Guards–

• 2nd Regiment, Union men, black phalanx.

What is monument to their legacy?

All the grave markers, all the crude headstones–

water-lost. Now fish dart among their bones,

and we listen for what the waves intone.

Only the fort remains, near forty feet high, 

round, unfinished, half open to the sky,

the elements–wind, rain–God’s deliberate eye.

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