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Short Work Review Essay w/ Documentation (150 points)   Of our two textbooks this semester, The Brief Bedford Reader is called an anthology

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Short Work Review Essay w/ Documentation (150 points)

 

Of our two textbooks this semester, The Brief Bedford Reader is called an anthology. It is an intentionally curated collection of other short works, and, for the textbook editors, these short works are considered representatives of a mode. For example, Brad Manning’s “Arm Wrestling with My Father” uses description to help readers appreciate a complex familial relationship while Brent Staples’s “Black Men and Public Space” illustrates how powerful examples can be to clarify an abstract idea. So far, we have read only two short works in our textbook, but they do highlight the vastness of this anthology’s collection. The short works collected in our text could be essays written for freshman composition classes or chapters composed as part of a larger novel or articles published in a popular magazine. They could be written by students, authors, actors, film directors, or other. They could explore any topic as well as blend multiple writing modes. Whatever the initial context may be, though, these stories and their authors provide the perfect springboard for deeper analysis.

In this essay, you must select one short work from The Brief Bedford Reader to analyze in a formal review. In your review, you will blend two writing modes to articulate a central claim that answers the question: Does the short work achieve its purpose? To prepare for this new writing experience, you will learn how to analyze (or divide) a short work into the various components that contribute to its purpose. You will also study the tenets of argument and persuasion to support your analysis of the short work AND to enhance your own ability to persuade readers to accept your claim.

You have complete freedom to open our book, drop a finger onto a random page, and review whatever short work* you find, but I encourage you to be more intentional. Here’s how:

1. In the Contents section of our textbook between pages xi-xxiii, you will find all short works, their relevant page numbers, and a summary of their content. Read a couple that interest you!
2. On pages xxv-xxxiv, too, you will find Contents by Theme and Discipline, which categorizes every short work in The Brief Bedford Reader according to special topics, from Advertising and Marketing to Work and everything in between.

 

 

Length:  3-4 double-spaced pages (900-1,000 words) in MLA document format + Works Cited

 

Due Date for Draft Peer Review:  April 1^st, 2020 (I will offer recorded feedback this time.)

Due Date for Final:  April 8^th, 2020 (Email Prof. Decker your final before 12 AM.)

 

* While I want you to feel free in your selection of the short work, the following annotated essays are not acceptable choices: “Disability” by Nancy Mairs, “Mental Illness on Television” by Rosie Anaya, “Eating Green” by Margaret Lundberg, and “The Brain That Changes” by Eric Kim.

 

 What Will I Be Looking For?  D

 

• A thoughtful and engaging response to the assignment prompt
• Consistent awareness of purpose and audience
• Your paper should be controlled by an identifiable thesis (Your thesis could follow the blueprint formula with a main idea and three supporting points OR simply express a driving arguable claim.).
• Your paper should showcase a capable analysis/ review of the selected short work, featuring a thoughtful discussion of the various elements that help the author achieve his or her purpose (Use page 258 in The Brief Bedford Reader for help!).
• Your paper should exhibit an appropriate mixture of persuasive and argumentative elements that effectively engage your reader and present your point (Use page 417 in The Brief Bedford Reader for help!):
  • Try to influence your readers’ actions by engaging their beliefs and feelings. Consider incorporating rational, ethical, and/or emotional appeals (Be persuasive!) 
  • Aim to win your readers’ agreement with your claim by engaging their powers of reasoning (Be argumentative!)
• Employ varied sentence structure. Be sure to avoid sentence fragments, run-ons, dangling modifiers, use of the passive voice, and all other previously discussed sentence-level errors. 
• Your paper should logically flow from one sentence to another and from one paragraph to another without choppiness issues, distracting shifts in tense or POV, or awkward jumps in topic. You should be mindful of paragraph coherence by incorporating conjunctive adverbs, transitional phrases, and repetition and restatement for clarity:
  • Strong, seamless transition sentences must connect each body paragraph (See pages 51-54 in Rules for Writers OR http://writingcenter.unc.edu/handouts/transitions/ for more help!).
• Your paper should be proofread before it is turned in. There should be little to no distracting grammar, punctuation, and spelling errors. 

 

 

 

 

 About Documentation:  As an essay that requires documentation, your Short Work Review Essay must appropriately utilize information provided by your selected short work (or source). Consequently, your mastery of MLA citation and information literacy will be a substantial portion of your grade for this essay. 

 

• You must support your claim with evidence from your selected short work, which means it is your responsibility to include both in-text and Work Cited citation.
  • When using any outside source, your goal is to demonstrate your ability to read and analyze the source critically in order to support YOUR claim. This means the source material is secondary to your ideas and argument. 
  • You must effectively integrate a source in your writing with proper attribution (in-text citations and a Work Cited page).
  • You must capably introduce a source, provide the source evidence (direct quotation or paraphrasing), and explain how this material supports YOUR ideas throughout your paper.