Engl. 555/755

African Literatures


Spring Semester 2008

MWF 12:00-12:50, Grubbs 312

Instructor: Dr. K. Nichols



Writing Assignments


NOTE: All major assignments must be
completed to pass the course.





Paper #1: Aidoo

Length: 3-4 pages (typed, double-spaced). If secondary sources are consulted, use MLA documentation (online) and add a separate "Works Cited" page. See also typing instructions (online).


Due: Monday, 2/18. Late papers will be downgraded.


Grading: 10% of final grade (Engl 755 students: 8.5%); based on substantive content, insight into your material, focus and organization, quality and appropriateness of your evidence, documentation (if needed), grammar.


Topic: Discuss the portrait of post-colonial Ghana revealed in the following stories by Aidoo: "Certain Winds from the South" and "Two Sisters" (in No Sweetness Here and Other Stories). To what extent has post-colonialism transformed Ghana? In what ways? How well have Ghanians adapted to their changing world? To what extent does colonial thinking ("psychological colonialism") remain a problem in the post-colonial era? What has been lost in the transition?

As you study the stories, develop a solid thesis about this topic--some conclusion you have arrived at--and make sure you cite lots of examples and details from the stories to support and illustrate your thesis and sub-points.

Some attention might be paid to the relationship of these two stories to other stories in the collection, but keep the focus on the two assigned stories which should be subjected to "close readings."

This assignment assumes that you will not be consulting outside sources; however, if you do (including the "Afterword" at the end of the Aidoo collection), you must still develop and support your own thesis/analysis, plus cite the outside source(s) according to MLA requirements. See MLA documentation (online).


Focus and Organization: Please read Organizing your Paper (online).





Paper #2: Cliff

Length: 7-8 pages (typed, double-spaced). If secondary sources are consulted, use MLA documentation (online) and add a separate "Works Cited" page. See also typing instructions (online).


Due: Friday, 3/28. Late papers will be downgraded.


Grading: 20% of final grade (Engl 755 students: 16.5%); based on substantive content, insight into your material, focus and organization, quality and appropriateness of your evidence, documentation (if needed), grammar.


Topic: Discuss the theme of resistance (past and present) in Cliff's No Telephone to Heaven. What kinds of resistance are shown? What is being resisted? What is the purpose of resistance? Who are the non-resisting characters? Why? Why does Clare feel so conflicted about her past and about the American and European cultures? What are the major stages Clare goes through in the development of her identity as a political resister? What causes the changes?

As you study the novel, develop a solid thesis about this topic--some conclusion you have arrived at--and make sure you cite lots of examples and details from the novel to support and illustrate your thesis and sub-points.

This assignment assumes that you will not be consulting outside sources; however, if you do, you must still develop and support your own thesis/analysis, plus cite the outside source(s) according to MLA requirements. See MLA documentation (online).


Focus and Organization: Please read Organizing your Paper (online).





Paper #3: Toomer

Length: 3-4 pages (typed, double-spaced). If secondary sources are consulted, use MLA documentation (online) and add a separate "Works Cited" page. See also typing instructions (online).


Due: Monday, 4/14. Late papers will be downgraded.


Grading: 10% of final grade (Engl 755 students: 8.5%); based on substantive content, insight into your material, focus and organization, quality and appropriateness of your evidence, documentation (if needed), grammar.


Topic: Discuss the themes of power and powerlessness complicated by the intersecting issues of race, class, and gender in Toomer's "Blood-Burning Moon."

As you study the story, develop a solid thesis about this topic--some conclusion you have arrived at--and make sure you cite lots of examples and details from the story to support and illustrate your thesis and sub-points.

This assignment assumes that you will not be consulting outside sources; however, if you do, you must still develop and support your own thesis/analysis, plus cite the outside source(s) according to MLA requirements. See MLA documentation (online).


Focus and Organization: Please read Organizing your Paper (online).





Paper #4: Engl. 755 students only

Length: 4-8 pages (typed, double-spaced), depending on the outside reading assignment agreed upon by student and instructor. If secondary sources are consulted, use MLA documentation (online) and add a separate "Works Cited" page. See also typing instructions (online).


Due: Weeks 15-17. Late papers will be downgraded.


Grading: 16.5% of final grade; based on substantive content, insight into your material, focus and organization, quality and appropriateness of your evidence, documentation (if needed), grammar.


Topic: Appropriate novel, short stories, poems, or drama, to be selected by agreement between student and instructor.

As you study the selected text, develop a solid thesis--some conclusion you have arrived at--and make sure you cite lots of examples and details from the text to support and illustrate your thesis and sub-points.

This assignment may or may not require research of secondary sources. If it does, see MLA documentation (online).


Focus and Organization: Please read Organizing your Paper (online).





Organizing your Paper

All essays should include these three basic parts:

Introduction:
Introductions in short papers should be short--maybe 4-5 sentences long. Begin with some general statement about your topic (if you are going to write about the significance of the settings, get the word "settings," plus the author(s) and title(s), somewhere in the opening sentence). Perhaps provide some pertinent background, or explain how your topic will enrich our understanding of some aspect of the literary work(s). Most of the introduction will be your own writing, but it is all right to include short paraphrases/quotations, properly cited, of course. End the introductory paragraph with your overall thesis/conclusion. Remember that your thesis is what the rest of the paper will be about.

Body of Paper:
Since you can't talk about everything at once, sub-divide your thesis/conclusion into 5-6 sub-points. Those sub-points will form the topic sentences--your own writing, what you have to say about that subject, the point you want to make in that body paragraph.


WRITING TIP: Arrange your sub-points according to the Order of Climax-- begin with your second-best sub-point followed by your weakest sub-point and then work your way up to your best sub-point at the end so that the paper finishes on a strong note.


Each topic sentence should be followed by lots of specific details and examples and short quotations, etc., from your texts, as well as your explanation/analysis of that information.

For quotations, include a page number (in parenthesis) directly after the quote. Avoid long quotations in short papers. It is often much more effective to work a quoted word or short phrase into your own sentence.


NOTE: I hate skimpy paragraphs that are only 1-2 sentences long; put some meat on those bones--another 6-7 sentences of details and examples and explanations, please!)


Conclusion:
Conclusions in short papers should be short--maybe 3-4 sentences long. (Longer papers can support a longer conclusion.) Begin the concluding paragraph with a re-statement of your opening thesis/conclusion--but in language very different than was used in the introduction. In a couple more sentences, refer to your topic as a whole-- why it is significant and worth studying, for instance, or finally, what it all adds up to.


NOTE: In a short paper, do not repeat your sub-points--
much too repetitious!





Avoiding Plagiarism





Citing Sources, MLA Style

See this short summary of MLA style: Using Modern Language Association (MLA) Format, created by the Purdue University Online Writing Lab. It gives the basic "rules" for in-text citation and bibliographies, including how to list Electronic Sources. See also MLA Style: Frequently Asked Questions.


Put all documentation on a separate bibliography page (labeled "Works Cited") and follow MLA directions.


For more detailed information on MLA style, consult a hardcopy of the "official" MLA Handbook.





Typing Directions

Use Times New Roman font, size 11 or 12. Double-space everything--no exceptions. Use one-inch margins on all sides. Include your last name and page number in top-right corner (1/2 inch from top).


On the first page, in the top-left corner, put your name, your instructor's name, the class name and number, and the date. Below that, in the center of page, add a title.


See an MLA example (scroll down the page): Paper Format--Example


Put all documentation on a separate page and follow MLA directions.



See Organizing your Paper and Avoiding Plagiarism and MLA style.





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