Follow these instructions from yesterday’s announcement and resubmit.
Dear Students,
Most of the points lost on student essays come from one single cause–failing to carefully read and follow assignment instructions. This was true of the drafts I saw on Essay One in this class, with some exceptions. The two additional instructions for this assignment appearing at the end of the announcement are an attempt to save students from not following instructions, and save me from repeating myself in responding to drafts. The last two instructions will also increase the likelihood that your essay contains a focus and clearly responds to the objectives of the assignment. I’ll begin with a copy of the assignment requirements, then add what I hope will help students ensure they’ve followed the assignment.
Here are the requirements:
Required Elements
Be sure that your essay has:
your name, the date, the course and section number, and the assignment in the upper left corner
an introductory paragraphthis should provide context for the reader; it should include relevant information about the visual image and related ideas, concerns or issues; it should also include your thesis statement.
a thesis statementthis sentence should be direct and make clear your interpretive claim and include the specific rhetorical elements to be examined. (There is a good example of this in the thesis lesson you can find in this unit.)
a paragraph offering a detailed description of the visualthis should simply summarize, not analyze, and highlight the important visual and/or aural elements (i.e., paint a picture in words).
at least four supporting ideas, each connect to a specific rhetorical element.
focused and well-organized paragraphs, with clear topic sentenceseach topic sentence should specifically address a rhetorical element or an idea that functions to support the thesis.
direct quotes and/or paraphrases, cited in MLA format, from all of the sources used.
a clear concluding paragraph.
a Works Cited page, in MLA format, listing a minimum of 3 (three) sources.
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All drafts turned in for help must follow two guidelines:
1. The thesis statement should appear in either the first or second paragraph–no later, and it must be in boldface type. A well-crafted thesis statement is one grammatically complete sentence, and not more than one.
2. Each paragraph after the one with the thesis statement must have a single topic sentence that is underlined.
In a well-written analysis essay, the thesis statement controls the entire essay, and each paragraph works to illustrate and support the paper’s thesis.
