Page 242 Read Complete 1 Sentence English Discus
The purpose of this forum is to help you develop a strong thesis for your Final Research Paper (due in week 7). After CAREFULLY reviewing the PDF “Using Critical Strategies to Develop a Topic,” get started on refining your Final Research Paper topic.
1. In your main post, begin by writing the sentences below and filling in the blanks:
- The text(s) that we have read IN THIS CLASS that I will use for my paper is/are: _______________ (you can include up to three)
- I will use the __________critical reading strategy(ies) to help me analyze the text. (One or two strategies is ideal)
- The claim I want to make about that work(s) is: _____________.
Remember that your claim is the thing you intend to prove with this paper. It needs to be argumentative—that means it is something that reasonable people could disagree with. So, stating that Hemingway’s “Soldier’s Home” bears some similarities to his own life is not argumentative because it is simply true. No reasonable person could argue with you. HOWEVER, claiming that Hemingway’s purpose in writing “Soldier’s Home” was to help him work through his own war time experience IS argumentative. Someone else could very reasonably claim that he has a different purpose in mind, for example.
2. THEN, combine all of that information into a single sentence, which will also be posted in your main post. THIS will be the working thesis for your Research Paper. It may look something like this:
Using the psychological and biographical strategies to analyze “Soldier’s Home” by Ernest Hemingway demonstrates that his purpose in writing the text was to help himself and other soldiers learn to cope with the effects of their time spent at war.
SOME OF THE READINGS FROM CLASS:
Read William Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily” (page 82).
Read Ernest Hemingway’s “Soldier’s Home” (page 165).
Read Critical Thinking and Writing (pages 1439-1475).
Review elements of fiction, reading the introductory sections on “Reading Fiction” (page 13), “Writing about Fiction” (page 47), “Plot” (page 67), “Character” (page 112), “Setting” (page 163), “Point of View” (page 195), “Symbolism” (page 219), “Theme” (page 242).
Read Andre Dubus’ “Killings” (page 93).
Read “Reading Drama Responsively” (page 1035); “Elements of Drama” (page 1052); and “Writing about Drama” (page 1080).
Read Susan Glaspell’s “Trifles” (page 1038) and “Perspective” from Glaspell’s “A Jury of Her Peers” (page 1050).
Read “Choosing a Topic” (page 1500) to help you develop your Research Paper Proposal. Also read “Developing a Thesis and Organizing the Paper” (page 1503).