Final Project Proposal

For you final project proposal, which is due next Thursday for workshop, you must write a two page proposal that answers the following questions. Make sure to use complete sentences, and to present your proposal in a clean, neat manner. This should not be rushed through or you will receive a zero.

Please remember that you are choosing one of the following options (fairy tale or monster); you should not answer both prompts.

Make sure to print and bring two copies!

Fairy Tale Project Proposal

What is the fairy tale you will re-write? State its primary title or titles. EX. Beauty and the Beast

What is the earliest iteration of this fairy tale? (Culture, time, place) EX. The Story of Grandmother, oral folk tale, medieval Europe

What is the essential tale type to the story? Remember, the tale type is the basic plot structure that remains the same in most re-tellings.

What changes do you plan to make to the fairy tale, to update it for today? Or, alternately, which cultural problems or issues do you plan to apply to the tale type? Why do they fit the tale type?

What inspired you in particular to write a story that deals with these cultural issues? Where did you "find" them? (i.e. news article, library research, etc). *Please note that you must not "guess" at what the issues are; they must reflect some real world cultural problem, condition, or set of beliefs held by a group of people.

Where will your story be set, and how will the setting reflect these cultural issues?

What will happen in your story (the plot), in order to best reflect these cultural issues while staying true to the tale type?

Which other aspects of the tale type do you see connecting to your story? What is their relationship?

Ex. Famine in Hansel and Gretel will connect to the high cost of living in NYC, absent parents will be overworked just as the parents in the older version were starved so could not care for their children, the witch who lures the children will be an online catfisher.

What changes will you make to the characters to best reflect these updated cultural values or issues?

Include as well a bibliography with three outside sources you plan to use for your analytical essay. These must be library-based research about either the fairy tale itself, or the cultural values/problems your fairy tale analyzes.

Monster Project Proposal

What cultural fears and desires does your monster represent? These should be as specific as possible, and you must connect them to a particular time and place. The "problem" that your monster reflects should be as specific as student loan debt in the US or pollution in the rivers of the Midwest; it should not be something vague and unrefined like "fear of the unknown" or "fear of death." Look for a real world problem--news articles are a good place to start--that is happening in our world today and use that as a jumping off point.

What is the time and place your monster represents? This should be as specific as Whittier, CA in 2018. (Please note your time must be contemporary).

How does your monster's physical body represent the cultural fears/desires? Be as specific as possible, and discuss multiple elements of its body.

How does the monster's powers (skills) represent the cultural fears/desires?

How does the monster's habitat (home) represent the cultural fears/desires?

What inspired you to focus on these cultural fears and desires? Where did you "find" them? (i.e. news article, library research, etc). *Please note that you must not "guess" at what the cultural fears and desires are; they must reflect some real world cultural problem or condition such as the imminent threat of a twitter-induced nuclear war, or the death of the polar bears due to the arctic ice melting.

What form will your creative component take? How does this form best reflect the cultural fears and desires your monster embodies?

Were you inspired by any other monsters when creating yours? If so, which ones and why?

Include as well an annotated bibliography with three outside sources you plan to use for your analytical essay. These must be library-based research about the cultural fears/desires your monster represents. Discuss how you will utilize each in your paper.

Pairs Questions

1) This novel is considered to be a precursor to many zombie films. What is zombie like about the monsters?  

What aspects of human nature might zombies represent more generally? 

2) What other monsters have we encountered that remind you of these vampire/zombies?

3) How might our understanding of the monsters shift if the POV of the novel was not Neville's?

4) What kind of person is Robert Neville? How does his personality and identity possibly affect our view of the monsters in the novel?

 

5) What is the relationship between beliefs/perception and monsters?  Please re-read page 17 and then respond.

 

“Fear is probably the key word in Matheson’s work, and the defining affective feature of horror fiction. It is a striking fact of human anxiety that the things we fear are non-randomly distributed: humans acquire fear not just of any old thing, but of things dangerous in our evolutionary past. That does not mean that we are born pre-programmed with a completely inflexible fear system. Like so many other human capacities (such as language), the innate fear system depends on interaction with the environment for its development and optimal functioning."

Notes Allowance

For your in-class essay, you may have one page of notes, double-sided. These notes may be quotations from the book Frankenstein, and brief ideas, may not consist of elaborate ideas or analysis or arguments. You may type or hand write them, and you will turn them in with your essay. Please note that you may not share notes or use another person's notes.You will also not be allowed to use your book during the exam.

What should you cull quotes on?

I recommend culling quotes on the female companion for the monster. That is the only clue I can give you, but it's a big one!

Good luck.

In-Class Essay: Aim and Organization

AIM:

To successfully prove a clear, specific thesis. The thesis should, obviously, address the prompt given in class. Following directions here, as always, is crucial to receiving a passing grade.

ORGANIZATION:

An in-class essay is organized into five paragraphs. The first paragraph is the introduction, then comes three body paragraphs, then a concluding paragraph. No more—no less!

You will want to make a brief outline before you write your essay.* Make sure the body paragraphs appear in a logical order, not simply the order they came to your mind in. Build on the information as you go.

Introductory Paragraph: Make sure not to take too much time writing in introduction. This paragraph should be about five sentences long (give or take a sentence or two). Provide a clearly arguable, well-qualified, thesis.

Body Paragraph One: Don’t forget to provide clear examples to back up your argument, as well as a topic sentence at the beginning of the paragraph.

Body Paragraph Two: Don’t forget to provide clear examples to back up your argument, as well as a topic sentence at the beginning of the paragraph. And remember, Body Paragraph Two should follow Body Paragraph One in terms of building logically upon it.

Body Paragraph Three: Don’t forget to provide clear examples to back up your argument, as well a topic sentence as the beginning of the paragraph. And remember, Body Paragraph Three should follow Body Paragraph Two in terms of building logically upon it.

Concluding Paragraph: Re-state your thesis. Summarize what has been successfully argued in the essay. End with a thoughtful and strong statement. This paragraph, like your introductory paragraph, need not be longer than five sentences, but should also not be shorter.

Grammar and formatting: Make sure to check your grammar and spelling as you go along. There is a bit more room for error in an in-class essay, but your essay must be readable and legible (so make sure your handwriting is clear). Double-check your essay for errors before you turn it in. You may choose to double-space or single space an in-class essay (depending on what your teacher requests).

*You will be required to turn in your brief outline with your essay for your this class. See “Sample Outline” below for details.

SAMPLE OUTLINE FOR IN-CLASS ESSAY

Par. 1: THESIS: Write out thesis statement here.

Par. 2: TOPIC SENTENCE/MAIN IDEA: Write out topic sentence/main idea for Paragraph 1 here.

Par. 3: TOPIC SENTENCE/MAIN IDEA: Write out topic sentence/main idea for Paragraph 2 here.

Par. 4: TOPIC SENTENCE/MAIN IDEA: Write out topic sentence/main idea for Paragraph 3 here.

Par. 5: CONCLUSION: Final thought to leave reader with.

*Remember, this is just a sample outline—yours can differ slightly. Also, you obviously will want to fully develop your intro, body paragraphs, and conclusion—so while you are providing the main idea of these paragraphs here in the outline, you will flesh them out with evidence/support in your actual essay.

What is a "Murder Weapon" Example?

When supporting your ideas in a paper, when arguing a claim of any sort, you need to back up your claim with strong examples to support your claim.

Now, when you are writing about literature in particular, you need to support your claim with examples from the book in question. If you are writing about something else, then you may need examples from outside research or other sources. But in any and all cases, you need examples to prove your points. (And you need to support your examples with analysis, explaining to your reader how they fit your point).

How do you go about selecting the *best* examples? When there are many to choose from, it can be easy to be lazy and just pick the first example you see. However, not all examples are created equal.

I like to use an analogy to explain how to find the best evidence for your claim. Similarly to doing library-based research, it takes some time and effort--you cannot simply pick the first example that you see when you flip the book open. However, in the long run, choosing the best example will save you time, because it will do more work for you than if you picked a weaker example.

The analogy: The Murder Weapon

Say you are a prosecuting attorney for an infamous murder trial. You have three pieces of evidence with which to make your case against the murderer, but you are only permitted to share one piece in the courtroom.

Here are your three pieces of evidence:

The murder weapon itself, a gun that still have a finger attached to it from the person who shot the victim -- their finger just ripped off when they shot the gun.

A glove that fell on the ground with fingerprints from the murderer on it.

A cat, who witnessed it all.

Which piece of evidence should you use to win your case?

Debate Structure

Hi everyone, here is the order of events for the debate. If you have any questions about these, please email me and ask.

Note: You will need to turn in your group's paper with your three main arguments, your examples for those arguments, your three anticipated arguments that the other side may hold, your rebuttals to those arguments and your examples to support your rebuttals. It should be typed and double spaced, and should have each of the group members names at the top. Please use complete sentences.

Note: Each person on your team will need to speak at one point during the debate. Feel free to divide this up however you like, provided each person shares at least one full argument or one full rebuttal.

Debate Order

Side 1 presents its three main arguments, with examples - 5 minutes

Side 2 presents its three main arguments, with examples - 5 minutes

Teams have 3 minutes to prepare rebuttals

Side 1 presents its rebuttal to Side 2's arguments - 3 minutes or less *may not present new facts

Side 2 presents its rebuttal to Side 1's arguments - 3 minutes or less *may not present new facts

Teams have 3 minutes to prepare rebuttals

Side 1 final rebuttal and closing argument - 3 minutes or less *may not present new facts

Side 2 final rebuttal and closing argument - 3 minutes or less *may not present new facts

Winning team gets ten participation points extra! And there will be a food prize.

Also, please read through these logical fallacies to make sure you aren't committing any in your argument. They are *really* common, especially in politics!

The Jury will base their decision on the following:

1) Arguments

Are they logical? Are they the strongest arguments for the team's perspective?

2) Rebuttals

Did they successfully address the other team's POV?

3) Teamwork

Did they work together well as a team?

4) Use of Examples

Are they "murder weapon" examples?

Rough Draft Workshop

DIRECTIONS: Please answer in complete sentences and take time and care in responding, as you will be graded on your answers. You do not need to write down the questions. You should address all questions within a given section. Give the notes to the Paper Author when finished. They will hand it in to me next week at the beginning of class on the day your final paper is due, and you will both get credit for the assignment.

Important: please do not spend your time during workshop correcting grammar. If you note a problem with grammar, you can spend any extra time at the end of workshop (if you have it) correcting grammar. Otherwise, please just let them know they have an issue, and they can correct it later.

1) Is the essay's thesis clear? Point out any areas where it could be clearer. Is it arguable? (It should not simply be a statement of facts). Is it well-qualified (specific)? Even if the thesis seems to be specific enough, suggest a way for the writer to make it even more specific and narrow (i.e. do they list the topics they plan to discuss in the body paragraphs in as precise a language as possible?).

2) Does the writer incorporate research from three scholarly sources into the essay? Do the sources seem to be strong and relevant for the thesis at hand? Do not ask the writer to tell you about them, but judge them based solely on what is in the paper. Write what you know about the sources below and give any suggestions for what you need to know more about. Also please note if they seem to be forcing irrelevant sources onto their paper.

3) Does the writer incorporate plenty of examples from their fairy tale and the outside sources examples in the essay? They should! Are those examples on topic and support their thesis?

4) Does the writer provide convincing, sufficient analysis for each and every one of their examples? Remember, analysis is as important than the quote itself. Make suggestions for improvement below, and be specific. The analysis should of course connect back to the thesis.

5) Is the paper organized? Do the main topics of the body paragraphs seem to build logically upon one another? Give at least one suggestion for improvement.

6) What are some ways in which the author might expand their ideas further? Are there any logical connections they could be making that are missing from the essay? Is their critical thinking going deep enough, or are they staying at a surface level with their interpretations of the text? Give suggestions for at least two places in the essay where they can go deeper.