Assignment Templates for UCOR 102
These assignments, particularly when used in sequence, effectively achieve the learning outcomes of the UCOR 102 class. Please tailor them to your class’ particular focus or themes.
Classes should include one paper from all three categories; as most classes assign four major papers, this will allow instructors to also offer a major writing assignment of their own design. Finally, those classes that choose option 3A should also include other papers (comparative papers, or other types of papers) that require students to find, select, understand, summarize, and use scholarly sources in literary studies.
Page lengths are guidelines only. You may tailor them as you see fit, so long as students are producing 16–25 pages of final-paper writing over the course of the term.
- CLOSE READINGS. Classes should include at least one. Assigned as first paper. Probably best with poetry or short stories. 4-5 pages
- LITERARY CLOSE READING.
Students must choose a single text or single passage in a text (probably best to use poetry or fiction) and “close read” it: i.e. describe how the text uses the tools of literature, and particularly of its specific genre, to create meaning and/or, if it is just a passage, how it relates to the whole work. The main skills this assignment fosters are
a)coming up with an interpretation of a work of literature
b)using specific textual details to support that interpretation
c)linking a thesis statement with paragraph topic sentences
d)structuring an essay
e)using vocabulary specific to literary interpretation (e.g. “narration,” “symbol,” “setting,” “meter”)
Example:
Using one of the stories listed below, answer the following question:
How do this story’s setting and narrative point of view contribute to the overall meaning of the story?
Although this question seems simple and straightforward, it actually requires two separate operations. In order to explain how the setting contributes to the meaning of the story, it is necessary to first establish what you think the story “means.” This is more difficult than it sounds, and will require not only that you read the story several times but that you think very hard about how all of the story’s elements—character, plot, symbols, language, as well as setting—work together to create this “meaning.” Therefore, your thesis must make a statement both about the meaning of the story and the role of setting and narration in creating that meaning.
B. RHETORICAL ANALYSIS OF LITERARY TEXT. 4-5 pages
Example:
Rationale: Under the course objectives for knowledge of literature, our course syllabus states: “Students will apply tools of rhetorical analysis to literary texts.” Furthermore, under the course objectives for writing skills, our course syllabus states: “Students will produce thesis driven, coherently organizes, evidence-based, academic analyses of literature.” This assignment is designed to meet these two objectives, connect UCOR 101 content matter (rhetoric, argument, analysis) to UCOR 102, and give students an opportunity to practice the what-how-why thesis format.
Directions: Do a rhetorical analysis of Kreon’s argument to Oedipus in scene 2 of Oedipus Rex. Start with a thesis that includes the following elements:
- what (name the text, the relevant character(s) and the immediate context)
- how (the methods of appeal)
- why (the character’s purpose or intended outcome)
Sample thesis (from Antigone): In scene 2 of Antigone, Haimon presents an appeal to his father (what) by establishing his filial loyalty, building logical arguments, and using extended metaphors (how) in order to persuade him to free Antigone from prison (why).
Support your thesis with 2-4 paragraphs. Each paragraph should be centered on one main point, have a topic sentence, and be coherently organized. In the paragraphs, make sure to explain the “how”: what methods of appeal does Kreon use to make his argument? How do these methods of appeal connect to the intended outcome of his argument? Give specific textual examples (direct quotes and paraphrases) to support your thesis. Make sure to analyze the textual examples in your own words and connect them to your larger argument.
Brief review of rhetorical analysis: Arguments are built upon claims and reasons to support those claims. The main methods of rhetorical appeal are ethos, pathos, logos, and style. Ask, what claims does Kreon make, what specific methods of appeal does he use to try to persuade Oedipus, and how do they connect to his purpose?
- COMPARATIVE PAPERS: classes should include at least one.
A. TRANS-GENERIC COMPARISON. Assigned sometime after the close reading, not necessarily immediately following. Probably best with poetry and short fiction; could also work with drama. 5-6 pages
Students must compare two texts with some commonality (instructor can determine this—could be a shared character, a shared narrative POV, a shared theme) in different genres. This assignment is ideally a non-source-based close reading allowing students to elaborate more fully than the Close Reading paper, although instructors using it later in the term might want to have students use sources, particularly sources chosen and provided by the instructor. The main skills this assignment fosters are
a)coming up with an interpretation of a work of literature
b)using specific textual details to support that interpretation
c)linking a thesis statement with paragraph topic sentences
d)structuring an essay
e)using vocabulary specific to literary interpretation (e.g. “narration,” “symbol,” “setting,” “meter”)
Example:
For your second paper, answer the following question:
Pick a theme or idea that runs across several of our works: love, poverty, consumerism, racism, oppression, crime, the character of the city of Pittsburgh, urban decay, or anything else. Using two works of different genres (poetry, drama, fiction), write a paper that compares how each work deals with this theme or idea using the formal features of its particular genre.
In the first paper, you carefully read one story and wrote about how John Edgar Wideman used setting—one of the key elements of fiction—to create meaning. In this paper, my goal is for you to demonstrate that you understand how works of different genres of literature use the “tools” of their particular genre. As with the first paper, I put a premium on your use of quotes from the story itself; in addition, for this paper I want you to use terms of literary analysis when comparing the two works.
B. TEXT-PERFORMANCE COMPARISON. Assigned after the close reading, at whatever point the class sees the performance/film. 6-7 pages
Students compare a text with a staged or filmed version of it. Ideally, instructors can have students read a play, and then see a production of that play by the Red Masquers, Pittsburgh Irish & Classical Theater, Point Park Theater, City Theater, or other local company. The objective here is for students to reflect analytically on how directors, actors, set designers, lighting designers, costume designers, etc., can determine to the meaning of a performed work. The skills this assignment fosters are
a)coming up with an interpretation of a work of literature
b)using specific textual details to support that interpretation
c)linking a thesis statement with paragraph topic sentences
d)structuring an essay
e)using vocabulary specific to literary interpretation (e.g. “narration,” “symbol,” “setting,” “meter”)
f)coming up with an interpretation of a performance of a literary work
g)using specific details from the production, with specific vocabulary, to support this interpretation
Example:
As we have discussed several times in class, the experience of reading a script is very different than the experience of seeing that same play staged. In the former, the reader makes most of the interpretive choices; in the latter, such choices are made by the director, actors, producer, costumers, set designers, and any number of other people.
In 5-6 pages, please compare your interpretation of the play Stones In His Pockets that you derived from reading the work to the PICT production of the play we saw yesterday. Focus on specific points in the production where the PICT staging differed from how you had imagined the play. Please comment on how these different choices created a different interpretation of the play than the one you developed after reading the script.
You might look at:
Costumes
How the actors chose to portray particular characters
Use of music
Use of lighting
Set design
Any issue relating to the director’s choices
How the actors chose to signal to the audience that they were changing character
- RESEARCH PAPERS. Assigned in the second half of the semester. Could work with any primary text. NOTE: classes that use option A should also include another paper or project that uses scholarly sources in literary studies.
- ANALYTICAL PAPER WITH NON-LITERARY OUTSIDE SOURCES. 6-7 pages
Students use 3-4 outside sources to explicate a single text. However, they do not use sources from literary scholarship: they use sources (scholarly or general-interest, this can be up to the instructor) from other disciplines that elaborate on aspects of the text that would be of interest to individual students. For example, students enrolled in the Pharmacy program might want to research the pharmacology of opioid addiction and withdrawal in their discussion of Baldwin’s “Sonny’s Blues,” while psychology students could research depression and write about its manifestations in that story. The skills this assignment fosters are
a)coming up with an interpretation of a work of literature
b)using specific textual details to support that interpretation
c)linking a thesis statement with paragraph topic sentences
d)structuring an essay
e)using vocabulary specific to literary interpretation (e.g. “narration,” “symbol,” “setting,” “meter”)
f)finding relevant and credible sources in a particular field
g)incorporating those sources into an argument
Example:
For this analysis you must use 2 outside sources from academic journals or articles that are not about the work specifically. The outside sources must come from other disciplines (not literature or literary criticism) and function in your paper as a way to more fully and usefully understand a particular element of thematic importance in the work you are writing about. For example, in Robert Hayden’s poem, “Those Winter Sundays,” you might find an article from a journal in sociology, or psychology that addresses the expression of emotion in father/son relationships. Or looking at Yusef Komunyakaa’s poem “Facing It,” an article about post-traumatic stress disorder might help you understand something important about the speaker’s state of mind. The purpose of bringing in what might seemingly be unrelated evidence to bear on your analysis is to extend the way you think about and understand literature. The themes of literature are about the human condition, and many other disciplines also study these aspects. The relevance of integrating outside information to enhance the focus and scope of your literary analysis, and how well that information is used to further your analytical agenda will be part of how you are evaluated for this assignment.
B. RESEARCHED CRITICAL INTRODUCTION. Assigned as a final paper. 8-10 pages
In terms of what students write about (theme, text(s), genre(s)), the main research paper can be pretty much anything that the instructor chooses, but it is crucial that in UCOR 102, students use scholarly literary criticism: finding it, discerning which articles/books are relevant, summarizing it, and using it in their papers. They should be able to identify the main databases that index literary scholarship, do keyword searches to find relevant articles, skim abstracts and articles to discern which articles will be useful for their project, summarize those articles intelligently, and incorporate those articles appropriately into their paper. (These individual skills should probably be taught separately, as homework or in-class activities.) In order to combine close reading, research into the work’s historical and biographical context, and research into the ways the work has been interpreted, I like to ask my students to write a “critical introduction” to a work we’ve read in class, along the lines of the introductions to Penguin Classics. The skills this assignment fosters are
a)coming up with an interpretation of a work of literature
b)using specific textual details to support that interpretation
c)linking a thesis statement with paragraph topic sentences
d)structuring an essay
e)using vocabulary specific to literary interpretation (e.g. “narration,” “symbol,” “setting,” “meter”)
f)finding relevant and credible sources in a particular field
g)incorporating those sources into an argument
h)differentiating between interpretive criticism and contextual scholarship, and using both appropriately
Example:
Paper 4: Final Research Paper
For the final paper, you’ll be writing a 10–12 page introduction to a work of literature. You may choose any work included in our Backpack Literature book, or you may choose to write an introduction to Oscar Wao or As I Lay Dying.
An introduction needs to do two things: 1) it forwards the writer’s thesis about what’s important in the literary text (your interpretation of the text and identification of the literary tools the writer uses to communicate that meaning—i.e. a close reading) and 2) it provides context for the work, including information about the writer, about the time and place in which the work appeared, about the setting of the work, and about how critics have talked about the work.
In order to do this, you’ll need to do independent research and find a number of scholarly sources that you will incorporate into your paper. (We’ll start this process on the 15th). You’ll need to read your literary work thoroughly and come up with a thesis about it, and support that thesis with specific textual details. You’ll also need to research the author, the historical period and place in which the text was written, and the setting of the text.
As you can probably tell, this assignment combines two of the skills you’ve already developed in this class (close reading and comprehension and use of scholarly sources) with a third important skill: finding relevant scholarly sources.
You’ll be turning this paper in in stages. First up will be the topic proposal, which will consist of 1) an identification of the text you’ll be writing on, and a tentative thesis statement; 2) an annotated bibliography of 8–10 sources you’ll be using (at least 5 must be scholarly). The annotated bibliography will have a correct MLA citation of the text (including URL), a one-sentence summary of the text, and a one-sentence description of how you’ll be using the source. See below:
Potential thesis: Although we think of the 1950s as a conservative time, a strong current of dissent—based in paranoia about nuclear war, the Soviet threat, and dissatisfaction with American culture—opposed the dominant quiescence. Ralph Ellison’s novel Invisible Man expresses that dissent though its portrait of American society and institutions.
Sample entry: Mills, C. Wright. The Power Brokers. New York: Meridian, 1957. Print.
Mills argues that a small elite of political, business, and military figures, whom he calls the “power brokers,” exercises influence over American life that is unprecedented in the life of any society. I will use this book to demonstrate that Mills embodied a growing pessimism about American democracy characterizing the 1950s.