ENG 2100
Dr. R. Rodriguez
Essay 3 Due 12/18/ 2016 via email and as an MSWord document
5-6 double-spaced pages

For your third assignment you will write an essay based on your analysis of either Octavia Butler’s Kindred or Junot Diaz’s The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. You will support your essay’s main idea by discussing scenes from the novel and also by drawing on two other sources of your choice (one of them has to be an image). The challenge for this assignment will be knowing where in your essay to incorporate the supplementary sources to make your main idea more convincing. My suggestion is that you incorporate the other sources only after you have supported your main idea with the most convincing piece of evidence from the novel. Also, don’t use the supplementary sources back to back. Come back to your discussion of the novel after you have examined what you found relevant to your argument in the second source, and only after you’ve discussed the novel again should you bring in the third source. Since this assignment consists primarily of an analysis of one the novels, you want to open and close your essay with discussions of the novel to lend the essay a sense of unity and coherence.

I’m looking for a well-argued, well-written essay, organized around a debatable thesis that you will support with evidence and analysis. Be sure to consult the links on our course website if you need help with paragraphing, transitions, writing with an audience in mind, citations, etc. Be sure to include a works cited page and don’t forget to title your essay and number your pages. The titles should give your reader a sense of the essay’s main idea.

I will be holding extended office hours starting on Nov. 30th to consult with you about your progress. Please make an appointment with me so that we can discuss your ideas for the final project. This meeting could help your class participation grade.