Paper #2: Close Reading
OPTION 1: “The Story of An Hour” by Kate Chopin
We’ve spent some time reading, thinking about, and discussing “The Story of an Hour.” Now, for your second essay of the semester, I would like you to write a paper in which you offer your interpretation of the final scene of the story through a close reading of it. Your interpretation may have developed out of what we discussed in class or it may be something that we never mentioned; interpretations of things are not right or wrong—they are persuasive or not, depending on whether or not you can support your argument with textual evidence.
OPTION 2: “Hills like White Elephants” by Ernest Hemingway
The subject of this story, as we discovered in class, is an abortion. Since this subject is never mentioned in the story, however, the question becomes: how can the reader know this? And, why does this matter? What is at stake?
Here is the subject for your paper, which is an exercise in how to read a text carefully: Provide textual evidence (in other words, evidence directly from the story) to demonstrate how you know that “Hills Like White Elephants” is a story about two people talking about an abortion.
Keep these things in mind as you work on your paper:
- Your explanation must be built around the actual story, and not around what you add to, or imagine should be part of, it. In other words, you can only work with the material, or information, that Hemingway gives you; you cannot add your own stuff to the story.
- Do not summarize the story. We’ve all read it, and we do not need to know what is in the story; we know. Instead, analyze those parts that are useful to your explanation.
- Please work in the theme of the course (“happiness”) in whatever way you find suitable (if at all).
ROUGH DRAFT DUE: Wednesday, March 30 (3-5 pages typed, bring 3 COPIES to class)
FINAL DRAFT DUE: Wednesday, April 6 (3-5 pages typed)
Paper #2 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 #2 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 #2 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 #2 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?
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Paper #1
Selections from Aristotle’s Ethics (Books 1 and 10)
Selections from Plato’s Republic (Books 1 and 7)
Gilbert, Stumbling on Happiness, Chapter 2
Ehrenreich, Bright-Sided, Introduction
Freud, Civilization and Its Discontents, Chapters 1, 2, 5, 6
A manifesto is “a public declaration of principles and intentions, often political in nature.” In other words, a manifesto is a statement (oftentimes meant to be read out loud) that outlines one’s opinions about an issue the author feels strongly about. For your first paper of the semester, you will write a “Happiness Manifesto.”
In his “Foreword,” Daniel Gilbert writes, “this is not an instruction manual that will tell you anything useful about how to be happy.” So, your job is to do the opposite—aim to tell your reader what you think happiness is and try to prove several “useful” points about “how to be happy.” What does it mean to be happy? Why do we strive for happiness? Should we strive for happiness?
Remember, this paper must have a clear thesis that expresses your views on happiness, and in order to prove and support your thesis you will need to use quotes from materials we’re read in class. Outside research is not needed.
Some sample manifestos:
- Communist Manifesto (full text)
- Dada Manifesto (excerpts)
- Surrealist Manifesto (full text)
A few tips:
- Be clear and concise in your writing. Keep in mind that this is a piece of writing intended to be read, so you want your readers to both understand what you are saying, and to sympathize with your position.
- Read your manifesto 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: Wednesday, March 3 (3-5 pages typed, bring 3 COPIES to class)
FINAL DRAFT DUE: Wednesday, March 9 (3-5 pages typed)
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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?
