Pick from the stories we have read so far and use two outside sources (some will be available on the class blog) and write a three page critical essay. Use quotes from the stories and from your two outside sources.
Include a works cited page with all sources and PLEASE look at the example paper under Class Information!
Here is the link to the blog:
https://eng102fall21.blogspot.com/
Refer to the example MLA paper in class resources for how to set up the paper. MAKE SURE YOU USE CITATIONS FOR QUOTES! This was not required in the short essay!
Pick ONE (not one from each section, one overall of the essay topics below for your paper. USE TWO OUTSIDE SOURCES!!!
Following You Dreams
1. In “Sonny’s Blues” and Soul, both main characters struggle with convincing people in their lives that their dream is worthy enough to be followed. How does each character try to explain this to their loved ones? What obstacles do they face? What do they achieve at the end of their stories? Use examples from the texts along with outside sources to support your thesis.
Living With the Internet/Social Media
2. Use “The Veldt”, Nosedive (the Black Mirror episode) to explain how each uses technology as a warning to the readers. Use examples from the texts along with outside sources to support your thesis.
3. In “The Veldt”, we discussed the parents and how they were not very involved with the lives of their children. For this essay, explain how technology played a role in that. You can compare to real world situations but DO NOT USE I in any formal essays. Use examples from the texts along with outside sources to support your thesis.
SOME IMPORTANT REMINDERS FOR ALL MLA STYLE PAPERS:
Do not use unreliable sources…for example:
Sparknotes
Bookrags
Wikipedia
Cliffnotes
123Helpme
Shmoop
Rewordify
Any site that has example papers and just tells you what to think. USING THIS SITES, OR ANY LIKE THEM, WILL RESULT IN FAILURE.
NEVER INTRODUCE NEW IDEAS IN YOUR CONCLUSION.
AVOID USING DIRECT QUOTES IN YOUR INTRODUCTION OR CONCLUSION. Sometimes a quote from an outside source is okay if it captures the point of your thesis but avoid quoting primary texts.
You need to include in text quotations and citations from whatever primary texts you are discussing and TWO OUTSIDE SOURCES!
Make a connection between the outside source you are using and your thesis and primary text.
Do not retell the story! Analyze and explain your thesis (which is your main point).
ONLY USE RELIABLE OUTSIDE SOURCES! Do not copy and paste or simply change a few words around from an unreliable source. If it was easy for you to find information to copy and paste from the internet, it’s just as easy for me to find it.
Make sure you get the character’s names right, as well as the author. It comes off as sloppy if you mix up characters or what author wrote what.
Read over your work. Have someone else read over your work. If I wrote on your paper to get help from The Learning Center, do it! Take your paper with you and they can help you out.
“Short Stories” (Quotation Marks)
Novels and films get italics.
