These are formal written responses (approximately 400-800 words minimum). You should think of these papers as “practice runs,” i.e., as potential preliminary writings for your research project.
•What I am looking for in these papers is a brief discussion of some idea(s) or concept(s) that any particular reading from this unit which you have chosen raises. You must reference at least 1 of the readings we have covered so far this semester.
•You may focus on the work’s theme; how circumstances from the author’s life, or the author’s psychology, or social or historical factors influenced the creation of the work; you may examine the story’s symbolic elements, the narrative point-of-view, or any particular aspect or aspects from the story that interest you.
•Do NOT provide a “book report” of the story. Assume your audience knows the story. Therefore, you do not need to summarize the plot as a whole. You will need to reference specific elements of the plot and to quote from your primary source (i.e., the story), but you should only summarize the plot when you are making a specific point.
•Simplistic responses such as “I liked this” or “This was confusing” will not suffice. The goal of these papers is to demonstrate a level of critical engagement with the text, and to do so while making an argumentative claim about the text.
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Requirements:
•Use formal English that is suitable for an academic audience (i.e., no first- or