ENGL 1A: Reading and Composition

 

1. My Most Memorable Character: Descriptive Essay

Proposal:

(a)              Who is your most memorable character

(b)             What is his or her (or its) age?

(c)              What are your most memorable moments with them?

(d)              Why are they so memorable to you?

Essay:

(a)              3-6 pages

(b)             Introduction

(c)              Body paragraphs with descriptions

(d)              Conclusion

 

2. A Room of One’s Own: Research Paper

Proposal:

(a)              How does Virginia Woolf, in A Room of One’s Own, challenge her society?

(b)             Three sources required (in addition to A Room of One’s Own)

(c)              MLA style

Essay:

(a)              3-6 pages (not including Works Cited Page)

(b)             Citations, Works Cited Page and MLA style

(c)              Comment on your citations/sources to integrate them into your essay

 

3. Oranges are Not the Only Fruit: Book Review

Proposal:

(a)              Summary with introduction to characters (think of it as a trailer/film preview)

(b)             Quotes from the book you would like to use/comment on (to give people an idea of the writer’s style and the characters’ voices)

(c)              Value judgments (your own opinions and comments on quotes, techniques used in the work, and the characters)

Essay:

(a)              3-6 pages beginning with the following information:

Book Title

By Author

Publisher, Year

_ pages; Paperback/Hardcover Price $__

ISBN: (10 digit)

(b)             Quotes as appropriate from the text as evidence

(c)              Your own value judgments on techniques, characters, quotes, the entire work

SAMPLE BOOK REVIEWS:

Humorous: http://www.raintaxi.com/online/2002spring/picket.shtml

Critical: http://www.raintaxi.com/online/2004fall/baker.shtml

Literary: http://www.raintaxi.com/online/2006winter/gardiner.shtml 

　

4. The Electronic Millennium and Hypertext

Proposal:

Possibility 1.  The Reading Life

 

Since reading can mean "reading a book" as well as "interpreting a book/movie/tv show/real life experience," think about the influences in your life since you began to read and understand the world.   What books or movies or experiences influenced you the most, and in what ways?  Try to write an autobiographical fragment, as Birkerts does, that traces your reading life, your coming-of-age story.  Your story may not be about books at all, but about how you interpret events.    3-6 pages.

 

Possibility 2. A Labyrinth Story

 

Write a story that has at least two different endings.  The easiest way to go about this is to find a fairytale and write an additional ending for it, maybe a unhappily-ever-after one.   3 pages or more.

Sample outline:

Rapunzel is in a high tower, her hair growing every day.  The wicked witch keeps her there.

Plot A. Rapunzel's hair is beautiful and glossy.

Plot B. Rapunzel's hair is matted dreadlocks, and she doesn't smell very good.

Ending of Plot A. Prince rescues Rapunzel.

Ending of Plot B. The witch becomes repelled by Rapunzel, and pushes her off the tower.