Contextual Analysis Essays Show Rutgers Universit

overview

I’m offering you 2 options for this final essay. Read through the instructions and make sure you understand what each option is asking you to do. Both options ask you to look back over the semester and reflect on what you have learned; the difference is what you are looking back on.

sources

Note that this essay does not require any research or outside sources. For option 1, your sources are the pieces of writing that you have produced this semester; for option 2, your “sources” are your experiences.

format and length

You are writing this essay as a letter to me. Your letter should be about 500 words; because it’s a letter, it can be written in a more casual style. Obviously, you can use I, me, my, and mine, and this is one of the few times in an assigned writing that the pronoun you—directly addressing your reader—will actually be an appropriate word choice as well, since you are directly addressing a single reader—me.

option 1: traditional reflection essay

Your final assignment is a reflection essay that asks you to look back on the writing you have done this semester and make an argument about your progress as a writer, using your writing as support for your claims about your growth.

show me how you have grown

The best way to approach the reflective essay is to think of it as your opportunity to show me how you have grown as a writer this semester. Note the emphasis on show: that means specific details and support, the things you would literally point to in your essays if we were sitting together in my office with your work spread out in front of us and I asked you for examples. You may find it helpful to review your Friday reflections; you can find links to all of them in this module: all Friday reflections.

some sample thesis statements

Here are 5 successful thesis statements from past semesters:

In this 101 course, I have developed papers that broke from the strict five-paragraph format, while also strengthening my voice and analysis.
I have grown as a writer through changes in essay structure, changes in vocabulary, and changes in tone.
Throughout this semester, I have grown as a writer by improving my active reading skills, making me better at understanding the writer’s message; developing my transitions, making my paragraphs flow better; and improving my revising techniques, making my final papers cleaner and easier to read.
My rhetorical and contextual analysis essays show growth in providing detailed examples and in considering the needs of my audience.
My rhetorical and contextual analysis essays show specific evidence that I have learned new ways to think about a subject at hand, while also helping me construct an essay.

Notice that each of them is specific, providing a road map for the essay that follows. The body of each of these essays would have paragraphs that focus on specific points from the thesis.

option 2: pandemic reflection essay

This essay, also written as a letter to me, asks you to look back over the semester and reflect on what you have learned from the pandemic.

Note that this letter/essay is also an argument and that it requires a thesis and specific examples.

focus on your experiences

There are a number of ways you could approach this topic:

has the shift to online and hybrid classes taught you something about how you learn and handle school?
has the pandemic forced you to spend time with family that you might not otherwise have been with?
have you had extra time to think and consider your future?
have you been caring for your children or your parents or extended family?
have you been working in an essential job?
has the pandemic changed what you consider to be essential?
have you learned something about yourself or about your priorities that you didn’t know before?
has the pandemic changed your priorities?

And the list of questions could go on—there is no single “right” question to ask or answer for this approach to the essay. The important thing is that you have a clear question that you ask and answer—that you make an argument.

Your thesis for this essay might be something like this: This semester, as the pandemic has continued, I have learned X, Y, and Z about myself. Or it might look like this: Adjusting to a new normal has taught me that A is not as important to me as I thought, but B is really important.

Here are some sample thesis statements from one of my other composition courses:

This semester, I have understood the importance of life, started loving those around me more, and examined my relationship with God.
As the everyday has become isolation and online classes, I have learned that I rely on daily ritual and virtual class meetings to hold myself accountable for assignments and personal goals.
I have thought about how I would handle this situation as if I was at my dream occupation as a physical therapist and what would be essential if I had a wife and children at home to protect from sickness.

And of course, the body of your essay is going to explore and explain X, Y, and Z (or A and B) with stories and specific details to show me what you mean.