AHS: NATURE AND ENVIRONMENT FALL 2015

LONG ESSAY ASSIGNMENT

A key element of critical thinking and analysis is to be able to relate texts to one another, to notice something particular in text B because you’ve previously read text A. The relationship between the texts might be agreement, disagreement, further development of only one point, different approaches to the same central theme, etc.

For your second essay, think about the texts we’ve read during this semester, up to and including The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. How do they speak to each other? What conversation between the texts has emerged?

Develop a theme that reflects your own interests, and select TWO texts by different authors which you feel illustrate your theme in some way. Analyze how your two selected texts develop your theme. You might concentrate on images, language, characters, etc. Your essay must have a strong, specific thesis about the texts – that is, your thesis must be an argument, an interpretation about the texts – and must develop that thesis through specific examples from the texts. Remember, analysis is NOT summary. “X and Y both discuss the role of women” is not a thesis; it’s a statement of what happens in the two texts.
LONG ESSAY DETAILS:

• Do not write on the same text that you analyzed for the first essay. You may use the Romantic-era paintings in your essay. Choose either one painting as one text, or you may consider Cole’s five painting series The Course of Empire as one collective text.

• This essay is to be entirely your own analysis. Do not quote outside sources other than the Heidegger study guide already provided in the course reading. Do not rely too heavily on quotations from your primary material. Many students tend to quote too much. Use no more than one extended quote in the essay. Be sure that you are analyzing the text, rather than simply repeating it or summarizing its main points.

• Required length: 5-7 pages. That’s 5 full pages – 4 ½ or 4 ¾ pages is too short. An essay that is shorter or longer than this range will lose points.

• As always, the basics of good academic writing apply. Pay attention to your organization, transitions, word choice and mechanics of grammar.
o Check the MLA Format & Style Checklist, on Bb
o Use correct citation format for in-text and Works Cited. See the MLA section of Purdue OWL for details. Do not rely on citation-generating software – it’s often wrong!

• Essays are due – uploaded to Bb – before the start of class on November 19th. Remember – be sure that the file you are uploading is the **final** version! The upload link only works once.