DUE: WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2018
REQUIRED LABOR: 8 hours
Come see me in office hours tomorrow or the following week if you want to discuss ideas for your paper, come up with a research question, or brainstorm passages!
Thinking ahead, your final paper will need to be 1,800 to 2,100 words. That's roughly 6-7 pages single-spaced.
(300 MINUTES OR 5 HOURS): WRITE
(20 minutes). What do you want feedback on?
(20 minutes). Please write a 500-word reflection answering the following questions:
On the day this is due:
REQUIRED LABOR: 8 hours
Come see me in office hours tomorrow or the following week if you want to discuss ideas for your paper, come up with a research question, or brainstorm passages!
Thinking ahead, your final paper will need to be 1,800 to 2,100 words. That's roughly 6-7 pages single-spaced.
- (5 minutes): Read the instructions down to the last word. This is not optional. It's part of the labor assignment.
- (10 minutes): Set a timer and begin formulating your thoughts with a free write on the following:
- What kind of feedback did you receive from your peers and instructor? What have you learned about yourself as a writer?
- What are you interested in thinking about or writing about for this paper now that you've done hours of preliminary work, read the novel, and discussed some of your writing with your peers?
- (20 minute): Think about your research question. Spend time formulating a question you're interested in. Free write on the following: Why do you think this question is important? How will an answer to your question help a reader come to a better understanding of The Reluctant Fundamentalist. Your question should be more general than the one you came up with for mini-project I; however, it shouldn't be so general that it could apply to any theme of the book. For example, it shouldn't be as specific as, "Why does Erica reject Changez this one time?" It shouldn't be as general as, "What are Changez's feelings about America?" A balanced question could be, "How does Changez's relationship to America change over the course of the book, and what are the catalysts to these change?"
- (15 minutes): Find other passages (besides the ones you've worked on already) that will help you answer your research question.
- (90 minutes): Close read the passages you've chosen, by following the instructions using mini-project I or mini-project II. Choose whichever worked best for you. You will turn this in. Make sure that you do what we've practiced-- spend time in OBSERVATION and UNCERTAINTY before you start making claims. Do as many as you can in the 90 minutes.
(300 MINUTES OR 5 HOURS): WRITE
- It is probably better if you break this up into shorter chunks, since sitting to write for five hours can be exhausting.
- There are no rules except answering the question. This means throw out the formulas. Just keep it organic. It is up to you how you want to approach the introduction. However, I recommend doing a free write as an introduction placeholder, and coming back to write a more final introduction when you've written the rest of the essay.
- REMEMBER:
- THIS IS JUST MORE WRITING ON YOUR PAPER. NOTHING ELSE.
- THINK OF THIS AS A STORY. You are telling me the story of your mind at work.
- Please don't try to sound academic or smart. Just sound like yourself.
- Don't be afraid to use I or the first person plural. "In this paper, I argue..." "As we move further along the sentence, we can notice the tension building up."
- THIS IS JUST MORE WRITING ON YOUR PAPER. NOTHING ELSE.
- Each time you sit down to write, do the following:
- Find a quiet place, free from distractions. Keep water, snacks, coffee, or tea nearby.
- Try your best to silence distractions, because it is SO easy and tempting to browse when you're stuck on a sentence.
- If you get stuck on a paragraph or idea, open another document and just free write-- just vomit out words. Eventually, you'll find a phrase from your vomit free writes that you can use in your paper and get the flow starting again.
- If you're just really stuck and free writing doesn't help, call your friend or go get ice cream with a friend and make her/him/them listen to you blab about your project. TRUST ME! THIS WORKS!!!
(20 minutes). What do you want feedback on?
- Feedback Reflection:Write 250-500 words on your draft. What do you think the weaknesses are? How do you see yourself working on them for the final draft? What are the strengths? What do you want your readers to notice or help you out with on Peer Editing Day.
(20 minutes). Please write a 500-word reflection answering the following questions:
- How have you spent your time?
- Do you realize that you have spent over 6 hours writing on The Reluctant Fundamentalist before you've even started a rough draft? How has the work you've done so far (writing course discussion posts, discussing the book in class, two mini projects, and a feedback activity) prepared you for this draft? How does it feel to come to a draft after all of this labor? What assignments were most helpful in preparing you for this draft?
On the day this is due:
- Put your name on everything.
- Make sure the paper is 1.5 spaced or double-spaced.
- BRING FOUR COPIES OF YOUR PAPER STAPLED TO FOUR COPIES OF YOUR FEEDBACK REFLECTION.
- Bring just one copy of the preparatory work from the Reformulating & Rereading section of the labor assignment. This must include a free write, a free write on your question, and a close reading activity on at least one passage.
- And one copy of your 500-word labor reflection.
- PLEASE KEEP IN MIND THAT IF ANY PART OF THE ASSIGNMENT IS MISSING OR INCOMPLETE, YOU WILL HAVE TO HAND IT IN LATER AND IT WILL COUNT AS A LATE ASSIGNMENT.