Advanced Grammar and Composition

ENG 3203.01

Fall 2008 

Essay #3 Assignment

Your third essay (November) will be a submission for a journal article in your field.  You will define your field.  Your purpose in writing is to communicate a critical perspective to a specific audience clearly and persuasively.  Your essay should be about 3-5 pages long, but it can be as long as ten pages if necessary.  It should be typed and double-spaced.  Please use the appropriate format for your intended audience (or the Modern Language Association [MLA] format if you are uncertain).  To start, you may want to examine journal articles in your field that interest you and respond to one or more specific articles or to the topic in general, quoting those other articles.  If your field is literature, you are welcome to write a literary analysis, but you must define "your field."

Sources:  Please use at least two sources from journals or books.  Do not use They Say/I Say or Grammar and Usage in the Classroom as a source.

You will turn in a printed copy of your essay to me in class on Monday, 1 December, and upload your essay to www.turnin.com before the beginning of that class period.

Basic Instructions

1.           Your paper should be 3-5 pages long, double-spaced, and typed (but it can be as long as ten pages if necessary to sustain your argument).  It should have a clear "works cited."

2.           Please use a 11-12 pt. font (Times Roman or Courier New).  Your margins should be at least one inch per side.

3.           Do not use staples.  All documents submitted should be held together with a paperclip. 

Of course argumentation is a central focus of your  essay, and They Say/I Say will help you structure and find that critical perspective.  Every essay should have a strong thesis, strong topic sentences, good grammar, and good evidence.  When I report your essay grades to you, I will try to communicate as much specific information as possible by breaking down the grade into five areas, each weighted differently.  Fifty percent of your essay grade will come from my assessment of the essay's content and organization: Was there strong content?  Were the ideas presented logically and as requested by the assignment?  Does the paper contain a clear introduction and summary statement?  For style, I will look specifically at sentence structures and transitions.  For diction, I will examine your spelling and word choice.  For mechanics and grammar, I will focus on whether or not you are using the MLA conventions correctly and whether or not you are making any serious grammatical errors.  In particular, I will look for fragments, comma splices, agreement errors (both pronoun and subject/predicate), apostrophe errors, and fused sentences.  Four of these errors in any combination in any essay will merit a “20” for the essay.  "1" is the lowest mark for one of these areas; "5" is the highest.  I will use this grading scale:

 
Content (1-5)
Organization (1-5) x 5 = _____________
Style (1-5)
Diction (1-5) x 3 = ___________
Mechanics and Grammar (1-5) x 4 = _______________
Total:__________________

Last updated 4 November 2008