Paper Assignments

Paper #1

“The Woman Who Died in a Box”, “The Heart of the Matter”

“A Report to An Academy” by Franz Kafka, “The Birth-mark” by Nathaniel Hawthorne, “Forgiveness” by Rebecca Brown

For your first paper of the semester, you will be creating your own “case study” in order to explore what it means to thoughtfully “approach problems” and experiment with different perspectives in writing. We’ve read “The Woman Who Died in a Box” and “The Heart of the Matter”—both somewhat traditional case studies that deal specifically with bioethics in the field of healthcare. You’ve also written a response paper (#2) that asked you to think about the genre of the case study and weigh in with your own commentary.

This paper is your chance to extend the thinking from your response paper and create your own literary case study. The paper will be an analysis of a work of fiction, however you will be looking to the case studies we’ve read as stylistic models (i.e. each case focuses on and debates one specific scenario by using evidence and examples).

Suggested Steps:

1.  Select one of the three stories we’ve read (Kafka, Hawthorne, or Brown).

2.  Ask yourself:

  • What “ethical issue” is addressed in the story?
  • What is at stake?
  • What problem(s) are the characters grappling with?
  • What larger message or argument is the author trying to convey by way of this story?

3.  Once you’ve identified the “issue” at hand, I suggest that you think about whether or not the story offers any kind of resolution. What “hard choices” do the characters have to make?

4.  Your paper must have a solid thesis statement—you need to persuasively convey your stance on the issue you’ve identified. Through analysis of the story (using ample quotes) and additional evidence and examples, you will convince your reader that your stance on the issue is correct.

A few tips:

  • Be clear and concise in your writing.  Keep in mind that you want your readers to both understand what you are saying, and to sympathize with your position.
  • Remember—details and description are always more powerful than vague, general statements.
  • Never retell the story—analyze it, use quotations.
  • Read your paper out loud ahead of time—do you hear any grammatical mistakes, any places where you seem to stumble over your own words?
  • Remember to be as assertive as possible. You want your readers to agree with you by the end of the paper!

ROUGH DRAFT DUE: Thursday, September 27, 2012 (3-5 pages typed, bring 3 COPIES to class)

FINAL DRAFT DUE: Thursday, October 4, 2012 (3-5 pages typed)

**Please remember to hand in all previous drafts and cover letters with your final draft.**

Paper #1 Draft Cover Letter

Each time you hand in a draft or revision of an essay, you’ll attach a cover letter to the front.  For your Paper #1 Draft, please write a letter, addressed to your readers, in which you answer the following questions and address any other concerns that you have.  Think of your draft letter as an opportunity to request exactly the kind of feedback you need.  All cover letters should be typed and about one page long.

  • What is your thesis?  What are you hoping to achieve in this paper?
  • What are the biggest problems you are having at this point in the writing process?
  • What idea or point do you feel you’ve made the most successfully?  Least successfully?
  • What’s the number one question about your essay—its thesis, structure, use of evidence, persuasiveness, style, etc.—that you’d like your readers to answer for you?
  • If you were going to start revising today, what three things would you focus on?  How would you begin?

Paper #1 FINAL Draft Cover Letter

Each time you hand in a draft or revision of an essay, you’ll attach a cover letter to the front.  For your Paper #1 Final Draft, please write a letter, addressed to your readers, in which you answer the following questions and address any other concerns that you have.  Think of your draft letter as an opportunity to share how you feel you have improved your paper.  All cover letters should be typed and about one page long.

  • What is your thesis?  What are you hoping to achieve in this paper?
  • What are some problems you faced when writing and how did you try to or succeed in resolving them?
  • What idea or point do you feel you’ve made the most successfully?  Least successfully?
  • Do you consider this draft to really be your “Final Draft?”  Why? Did you do anything while revising that could be described as a “re-seeing” of the paper?
  • What grade do you think you deserve on this paper and why?