English 1A Final Essay
Fall 2010
The Known World
This essay will be the final for the class and will be due with the portfolio. Included will be all the Cyber-Assignments and in-class writing connected to the book. The portfolio is due by December 17, 2010.
The essay is to be minimally 3-4 pages including a works cited page. I will be looking at the level of discourse and analysis, as well as at how well writers integrate text into the work. I will be looking at MLA mastery from ellipses which I would like students to use for one citation here as well as a free paraphrase. I am also interested in how well students give us the context before launching into a discussion of their ideas which the essay proves.
We will be using a three-part thesis and so I will be looking at that as well, not to mention inclusion of substantive examples and a variety of evidence.
The students will choose a question to answer from the following:
1. How does the novel The Known World present a scenario where what is legal is not necessarily moral? How then can one justify or at least try to understand Henry Townsend, John Skiffington and William Robbins’s actions?
2. Choice is one of the themes in the novel, The Known World. Analyze three characters and show how their choices affect both their lives and the lives of others –look at the immediate effects and those effects over time.
3. Power is another theme in The Known World. One might say that power is one of the reasons why Henry Townsend decides to become a slave owner. Look at Manchester County and analyze who has the power and privilege. Give us a profile of a few of these characters. Make sure they are representative.
Is there a symbol of power and if so, what is it? How does one join the club and what dues must one pay to stay in good standing?
4. How is Henry Townsend’s father Augustus, vulnerable even though he is free? What does this say about the notion of freedom in The Known World? Tina Turner asked, “What’s love got to do with it?” Edward P. Jones’s Known World asks: What’s freedom got to do with it if one is black and illiterate?
5. Highlight a few themes in The Known World and show how certain characters represent these ideas.
6. Alice, an enslaved woman, is an example of the fickle nature of things in Edward P. Jones’s book. Things are not always as they seem in Manchester County. Talk about the surreal nature of The Known World and to what ends are the instruments played.
In each essay incorporate text: one block quote, one shorter in-text citation and one paraphrase. Include a works cited page and if appropriate a bibliography. Include an Initial Planning Sheet and an outline for the essay.
Fall 2010
The Known World
This essay will be the final for the class and will be due with the portfolio. Included will be all the Cyber-Assignments and in-class writing connected to the book. The portfolio is due by December 17, 2010.
The essay is to be minimally 3-4 pages including a works cited page. I will be looking at the level of discourse and analysis, as well as at how well writers integrate text into the work. I will be looking at MLA mastery from ellipses which I would like students to use for one citation here as well as a free paraphrase. I am also interested in how well students give us the context before launching into a discussion of their ideas which the essay proves.
We will be using a three-part thesis and so I will be looking at that as well, not to mention inclusion of substantive examples and a variety of evidence.
The students will choose a question to answer from the following:
1. How does the novel The Known World present a scenario where what is legal is not necessarily moral? How then can one justify or at least try to understand Henry Townsend, John Skiffington and William Robbins’s actions?
2. Choice is one of the themes in the novel, The Known World. Analyze three characters and show how their choices affect both their lives and the lives of others –look at the immediate effects and those effects over time.
3. Power is another theme in The Known World. One might say that power is one of the reasons why Henry Townsend decides to become a slave owner. Look at Manchester County and analyze who has the power and privilege. Give us a profile of a few of these characters. Make sure they are representative.
Is there a symbol of power and if so, what is it? How does one join the club and what dues must one pay to stay in good standing?
4. How is Henry Townsend’s father Augustus, vulnerable even though he is free? What does this say about the notion of freedom in The Known World? Tina Turner asked, “What’s love got to do with it?” Edward P. Jones’s Known World asks: What’s freedom got to do with it if one is black and illiterate?
5. Highlight a few themes in The Known World and show how certain characters represent these ideas.
6. Alice, an enslaved woman, is an example of the fickle nature of things in Edward P. Jones’s book. Things are not always as they seem in Manchester County. Talk about the surreal nature of The Known World and to what ends are the instruments played.
In each essay incorporate text: one block quote, one shorter in-text citation and one paraphrase. Include a works cited page and if appropriate a bibliography. Include an Initial Planning Sheet and an outline for the essay.
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