English 102: assignments:

In order for all students, those in a regular classroom setting and those online, to have a clearer understanding of the assignments due for English 102, I am making this explanation. It repeats much of what is available on my syllabus and at my English 102 website, but I thought this explanation might answer questions that several students have asked over the past year.

There are ten total assignments, and they must be done in the following order:

1) the persuasion analysis [worth 5%]

2) the preliminary research paper (There is no library log for this paper.)

     [worth 15 %]

4) the literary log [worth 10 %]

5) the literary essay [worth 15%]

6) the library log (for the personal research paper) [worth 5%]

7) the rough draft of the personal research paper [worth 15%]

8 & 9) the final draft of the personal research paper ]  [worth 30%]

10) participation in the class activities [worth 5%]

The is no final exam.

Please note: The assignments must be done in the numbered order above, and only one assignment can be turned in at a time. Only after you get a graded response from me can you hand in the next assignment.

 

The following is a detailed explanation of each assignment:

1) The Preliminary Research paper

The rough draft of the Preliminary Research Paper is due during week FIVE. The final draft is due during week SEVEN. Plan ahead to meet this deadline! Failure to meet this deadline will result in a grade reduction for each week missed. For example, if you hand the final draft in during Week Seven, and you would have received a grade of A, then your grade will be a B; if you would have received a grade of B, then your grade will be a C, etc.. If you receive a failing grade, you will be asked to withdraw from the class because all of the remainder of the class depends on successfully mastering the skills necessary to write this paper. NOTE: Go to Week Three in the Course Calendar for Student Examples of the Preliminary Research Paper.

2) the persuasion analysis

Go to the site, Structure of the Essay, that illustrates the technique for analyzing another writer's introduction to a persuasion paper. Review this technique and then find a persuasive essay and then analyze the writer's technique. Remember: you analyze technique not content. There is no rough draft for this assignment. The criteria for grading this assignment will be discussed in class, but briefly, here they are:

a) you must identify the TYPE of introduction that the writer uses;

b) you must give all of the bibliographical information (such as the writer's name, the name of the publication, etc.);

c) you must quote enough from the writer's article to establish the truth of what you say about the type of introduction that the writer uses;

d) you must give your opinion of the article, and your opinion must be based on HOW the writer has written not WHAT the writer has written.

 

3) The Literary Log

To do the literary log, you answer one of 100 Questions on The Girl. There is no rough draft of this assignment. The criteria for grading this assignment will be discussed in class, but briefly, here they are:

a) your question must be answered as thoroughly as possible. Use one of the student models as guidance.

b) you must quote from the novel to illustrate the statements that you make about it;

c) you must use the standard quoting techniques so that your quotes result in grammatical sentences;

d) there must be no Hanging Quotes;

e) you must use the standard citation techniques, correctly punctuated.

4) The literary paper

This assignment is not the literary log. You do the log before you do this assignment.  The literary essay entails writing an analysis of a literary work of fiction, usually the novel The Girl by Meridel Le Sueur. Take a look at the site called The Literary Paper: Suggestions for Success. Then look at the student literary essays. Then go back at look at the site called The Literary Paper: more suggestions. Your essay should include a very brief summary of the novel, perhaps only a sentence or two. You are writing under the assumption that your reader has not read the novel; therefore, you must give the reader a good idea of what the novel is about so that what you write about it will be understandable. You must use quoted excerpts from the novel to establish the truth of what you say about the novel. If you are unsure of how to quote from a text, examine this site about using quotation marks. There is a rough draft for this assignment.

5) the library log

The Library Log  must be done before writing your personal research paper. You may start working on the log at any time. No research paper is acceptable without a log that illustrates your progress from inception to completion of your research paper.

Go to the site that explains the Library Log.  If you change your mind about  your research topic, that's fine. You still need to find all of the sources listed even if they are not about your research paper topic.

There is no rough draft for this assignment.

6) the rough draft of the personal research paper
The rough draft is graded differently from the final draft. The final draft must be perfect; the rough draft is rough. But it should be complete enough to give the reader a very good idea of your research,  your thesis, and your sources. And it MUST contain quoted examples not just summaries of your research. If the paper does not contain ALL of the 4 standard ways to use quoted examples, it will receive a failing grade. Go to the site called The Research Rough Draft Criteria for an extended explanation. Be sure that you read all of Real Research. There is no rough draft of the rough draft. This rough draft is a graded assignment. Please Note: For this research paper you can use only one online source, but you can use interviews, books, magazines, newspapers, and other print sources.

7 &8) the final draft of the research paper

RESEARCH: The research requirement will be met by successfully researching and writing an extended length paper that includes the use of appropriate citations from research sources. Go to the site called Varieties of Research Papers for a sample of the different kinds of research papers that you may write. Remember: if you are going to write a non-standard research paper, you must get prior okay from the instructor. If you have not successfully demonstrated that you can use quoted references in standard form by successfully completing the literary log and literary paper assignment, you must write a standard research paper in the MLA format.

AND THIS IS IMPORTANT: Under NO circumstances will a research paper be acceptable unless it contains a personal component. This paper must be about something that you are interested in. Your interest is an integral part of the paper. If the story of your interest in the topic, how it affects you,  why you are writing about the topic, how the conclusions of the research affect you, if all of this is not a part of the paper, then it is not acceptable. A so-called objective research paper is NOT acceptable, nor is a research paper used for another class.

 9) attendance and participation in the class activities.

Return to Joe Napora's English 102 Syllabus