FORMAT: This paper should be:
2-3 pages plus a Work Cited page.
Double-spaced, using a 12 point font (Times New Roman or Calibri).
Using MLA format for in-text citations and Works Cited page.
Attached as an MS Word, doc, docx, pdf, or rtf file (DO NOT COPY/PASTE INTO THE SUBMISSION BOX)
Before you submit it for a grade, make sure it also meets these guidelines for content and organization:
Summary
Hook your reader, and in second or third sentence, identify the author’s name, storys title in quotation marks, and your thesis.
Summarize the story using transitions and verbal clues. See the link in this folder to suggestions for transitions, which create fluidity, walking your reader through the ideas in the story. Use verbal cues, words that tie each sentence to the one that preceded it.
Keep reminding your reader that these are the writers ideas, not your ideas. You do this by inserting reminders every other sentence or so.
After summarizing the essay, move onto your critical response.
Brainstorm ideas you take away from the story and how any of us might connect to it.
Critical Response
Respond to the essay, using specific passages to support your response (with correct in-text citation, which you can look up on the MLA link on the left column on Blackboard)..
Vary your word choice (Diction). If you keep writing “he says” or “he states,” try a different introductory verb, like “He argues” or “He asserts.”
Do not quote from the story when summarizing it, but DO quote in your response. Be sure not to over-quote, however, or to make the quotes too long.
Make sure any quotes or paraphrase MLA format (All direct quotes should be put in quotation marks and introduced with signal phrases, introducing the quote for your reader.).
Use MLA format to cite the source in the text.
Use MLA format to create your Works Cited page, which should contain three entries.
Check out the rubric I’ll use to grade it, and think about how well you think you’ll do in each category.
