WRITING 102 - Winter 2015 Paper Assignments

Below, you will find the assignments for all three papers you will need to complete this winter.
BASIC PAPER REQUIREMENTS
All of the essays for this class will:
Be
typed,
double spaced, size 12-point Times New Roman font with one-inch margins

Include your name, the due date of the assignment, the course and section number, and instructor name at the
top-left corner of your first page
Include your last name and the page number in the top right corner of each page
Be at least as long as the listed minimum requirement of each paper (remember, you need at least 15 pages
for your portfolio)
Be electronically uploaded to SafeAssign, and have a hard-copy to be submitted in class
BE ON TIME. I will not accept late papers
PERSONAL NARRATIVE
TWO COPIES of a Rough Draft due January 8th
Final Draft due January 9th
For your first essay, I would like you to take a look at a meaningful moment, event, or accomplishment from
your own life. Write an essay that is (at minimum) 4-5 pages on one of the following prompts:
Describe one time that you overcame some form of adversity or unfavorable odds.
Describe a specific time in your life that significantly changed you as a person, even if you didnt realize it at
the time.
Discuss a time in which you were underestimated. What were the circumstances, and what was the result of
your eventual success?
What has been your greatest accomplishment? Describe what lead you to achieve it, and the impact that it has
had on your own life and possible others who were also affected.
For whichever prompt you choose, you must describe how this event or accomplishment changed you, and what
lessons you learned throughout your experience. Alternately, I will allow you pick a topic of your own, but you
must clear it with me beforehand. If you want to choose your own topic:
It must be a narrative of a personal experience that has had a profound impact on you
You must email me about it no later than January 7th
If you write on a topic that is not one of the four listed above and you do not clear it with me first, I WILL NOT
ACCEPT YOUR PAPER.
A good narrative essay will be filled with telling details and should remain focused on the given prompt. Be
sure to start off with a strong introduction, and finish with a conclusion that does more than summarize. This
paper should have an argumentative thesis that revolves around how this event has impacted your life.

TEXTUAL ANALYSIS
Outline Assignment due January 9th
TWO COPIES of a Rough Draft due January 13th

 Final Draft due January 14th

Write a (minimum) 4-5 page textual analysis using only the text from Knellers Happy Campers. You may use one of
the following prompts or come up with one of your own.
What can be said about the way the characters miss things in this story? How are the things that they miss
important in the grand scheme of things? Are their lives better or worse with(out) these things?
How is the character of the Messiah a commentary on society? Do his followers represent something larger in the
metaphorical sense?
Discuss the miracles that happen throughout the story. Mordy seems to be the only character who cannot create a
miracle, why is this? What does his desire say about him in comparison with the other characters?
In answering any of these questions, keep in mind what Etgar Kerets purpose was in writing this piece. The decisions
that the author made were deliberate, try to explore what he was trying to say in making the choices he did.
Your introductory paragraph must include a clear thesis statement that effectively guides your audience and previews
the structure of your paper. You must also include at least one quotation for each of your body paragraphs. Do not
use first or second person, avoid questions and clichs, and be mindful of your punctuation.
Your thesis statement needs to have a subject, argument, and directives for you to be able to effectively argue your
point. Each paragraph should make use of the ICE structure, Introduce the piece of the argument, Cite where it happens
in the text, Explain how it relates back to your thesis.
I-SEARCH PAPER

Research Questions due January 14th

Research Worksheet due January 15th
TWO COPIES of a Rough Draft due January 16th
Final Draft due at 2nd Conference

Your second essay for this class is a research paper with a SEVEN page minimum. This paper will use FIVE different
sources. Your assignment is conduct research on a topic that has a major effect on your life, and document your
research throughout this paper.
In researching for your essay, you must include at least two BOOKS and two SCHOLARLY ARTICLES. Other
sources may include, but are not limited to: interviews (from TV/radio, or done on your own), surveys, newspapers,
journals, documentaries, and NO MORE THAN ONE electronic source (this does not include scholarly articles that
you find through the University Databases). All citations must be in proper MLA format. When choosing electronic
sources, be sure to question the credibility of the source. Wikipedia is not a reputable source and should not be
used.
Your Research Questions should consist of the following:
1. What is your topic?
2. Why are you interested in this topic?
3. What do you hope to learn from your research?
4. What question do you want to answer in this paper?
5. List three more questions that might help you explore this topic.
Your Research Presentations will be a short presentation to a small group in class. The assignment for this is on
Blackboard.

FORMATTING: Your essay will be broken down into FIVE SECTIONS each detailing a different aspect of your
research paper. They are as follows (each section should be labeled this way in your actual paper):
I.

II.

III.

IV.

V.

MY QUESTION
This section will introduce your reader to your topic and why it interests you. You will identify the research
question that you have chosen. Using the word I, as well as asking your research question are appropriate
and even necessary in this section. (at least one page)
MY SEARCH PROCESS
In this section, you will write a narrative about the entire research process step by step. This means that
while you are researching, you need to keep a detailed record of everything that you have done. This include
every search term, every article read, etc. You will also describe all of the successes and challenges you
faced in doing this research. You may use I in this section as well. The following is a sample of what this
might look like: I started off by Googling my topic and did not have any success finding useful websites. I
decided to talk to my parents to see if they had any ideas. They advised me to talk to the high school
librarian which I did the following day. The librarian I spoke with directed me to some great resources
which I found to be very useful in the completion of this project. (at least one page)
WHAT I HAVE LEARNED
This section is going to look more like a traditional research paper, and thus I should not be used here,
because you are going to be discussing what the experts on the topic are saying. In this section, you will
write a formal introduction to the topic along with a thesis statement that argues for one side of the issue,
you will focus on three or four of the major findings you came across in your research, and use your five
sources to prove the points youre trying to make. You should also have one paragraph on the counterargument to your point. This will be the longest section of the paper. (at least three pages)
WHAT THIS MEANS TO ME
In this section, you will reflect on what you have learned over the course of this project. Think about the
following: What have you learned in writing this paper? Did what you thought you knew about your topic
match what the experts in your topic have written about? How will what youve learned affect your view on
this topic in the future? These questions are just suggestions, and you can certainly explore things in any
way you see fit. Once again, you can use I in this section. (about one page)
ANNOTATED WORKS CITED
In this section you will list your sources in proper MLA format and you will write a bit about each source
youve used. For each source, you will: have a completed Works Cited entry, write a few sentences
summarizing the article/book/source, a few sentences on he reliability of this source and its author, and a
few sentences on how this source was helpful in writing this paper. (one paragraph per source/at least one
page)