ENG 102 ESSAY 2 Character Encounter and Commentary

DUE:  Draft March 6; Essay March 9

LENGTH: 800-900 words

FORMAT

  • Font: Courier (or Courier New) 11-point or Calibri, 12-point; one-inch margins; double-spaced lines (under Paragraph format)

  • Heading: student’s name, course title and section, date submitted.

  • Center the title after the heading and then begin the text of your paper.

  • Include the Works Cited at the end and please number pages in the upper right corner.

ASSIGNMENT

  • Choose a character from each of two works listed for weeks 4-7 to study--not using works you wrote about in the last essay.

  • Carefully reread your selections, writing notes about key passages.

  • Create a setting and situation where the characters encounter each other.

  • Develop a scene that shows the characters interacting; make their behavior consistent with the writer's portrayal. Allow the scene to reveal characters' values and motivations as well as a story's theme.

  • Support your scene with four quotations from the readings.
  • You may use a third character if this seems appropriate.

 

  • Add an introduction or epilogue explaining your purpose in creating the characters' interaction. This commentary may be as long as 25% of the paper or just a brief paragraph.

  • Choosing characters: Select stories with common themes or characters who may learn from each other. Consider how the characters help us understand an idea from one story. Use an author's setting or create a suitable one. You are "playing God" as a writer so you may have characters from different periods interact.

  • Title: Create a title that reflects the theme of the encounter.

  • Dialog: Indent paragraphs for new speakers and follow punctuation rules for quotations. Use simple speaker tags (he said, she said) only when necessary. Break up long dialog with narration in between stating actions of characters rather than using adverbs about how they speak.

  • Citations: When you quote from the works, use author and page references to stories in parentheses after the quotation. Also credit any ideas from commentaries in the textbook. For example, a citation following a quotation may be either
    (O'Connor 239 ).   OR    (239). 

Works Cited  [substitute your two selected stories]

Hemingway, Ernest."Hills Like White Elephants." Literature: A Pocket Anthology. Ed. R. S. Gwynn. New York: Longman, 2007. 165-169.

Oates, Joyce Carol. "Where Are You Going Where Have You Been?" Literature: A Pocket Anthology. Ed. R. S. Gwynn. New York: Longman, 2007. 286-301.

O'Connor, Flannery. "Good Country People." Literature: A Pocket Anthology. Ed. R. S. Gwynn. New York: Longman, 2007. 222-240.

Steinbeck, John. "The Chrysanthemums" Literature: A Pocket Anthology. Ed. R. S. Gwynn. New York: Longman, 2007. 170-179.

CRITERIA FOR GRADING ESSAY