Help Please :(

[Adam]

Hello all!

I recently received an assignment in my ENC 1102 class. I am supposed to write a 750 word paper on the issues of belief and unbelief in Bartleby the Scrivener and Soldier's Home. I am new at analyzing works of literature and my professor didn't prepare us at all for this. I'm not sure what I'm supposed to be doing here. I can't even think of a thesis.

I aced ENC 1101. Writing argumentative essays was not hard for me. When it comes to works of fiction though, I'm lost. At least for now I'm lost. I'm not sure what it should look like or what the goal is really. Also, I don't remember any issues of belief/unbelief in Bartleby the Scrivener.

I'm not asking for someone to do it for me. A general direction, or template, or some good theses would be extremely helpful at this point. I can probably hack it if I just had a clue what I was doing here. This paper is due soon, I'm getting desperate and freaking out.

Thanks for your help.

[Adam]

Should this message be in General Discussion?

If not, would someone kindly move it to where it should be.

Thanks.

[BookBeauty]

I loved it when professors threw things at us with little preparation. I simply jumped into it, improvised, and did the best I could, making it as enjoyable and informative as possible. If they didn't put a rule down, I made my own rules. They never seemed to mind, either, as long as I did my best and the work was there.

It was the experience that counted, not the grades. Not sure what that does for you, though. :)

Unfortunately, I can offer no thoughts, having not read these pieces. All I can say is... Don't be afraid to take risks! You improve that way.

Good luck!

[Adam]

That's what I'll have to do since the deadline is rapidly approaching. Better a C than an F. *Sigh* I would have liked to keep my > 3.5 GPA though.

Thanks for your help.

[PMLondonderry]

Adam,

I apologize that I also cannot offer insight on a particular thesis or examples as I also have not read the texts. However, ironic as it is, Bartleby is an assigned reading for one of my classes this semester. We simply haven't gotten to it yet. :) Tough timing.

Is there a writing workshop-type resource available to students in your university? Would you be able to write a rough draft and then meet with someone to touch it up into something you feel confident presenting to your professor? Perhaps do your best to write an outline, thesis, or rough draft and then use your professor's office hours to make it to the satisfaction of both you and your professor.

At the end of the day, you are right that a C is better than an F but, at least with most of the professors that I have had, visiting with them when you struggle at least puts your name and face into their mind so when it comes time to grade papers, your professor will know that you had struggled and/or visited them for improvement and can grade accordingly. More often than not, it will work in your advantage.

Best of luck on your paper. Perhaps when I read the text, I can pick your brain for answers to my own questions :)

[Adam]

No, I underestimated how hard this paper would be for me. At first I thought it would be as easy as ENC 1101 was for me. Big mistake.

I'll take your advice next time though for sure. I wont be going to this professor though. He's an *** and I can't stand him.

Thanks for your help.

[OrphanPip]

Adam, a basic template for a literary essay is not too different from any argumentative essay.

Intro: Begin with an opening sentence outlining your general topic, belief in those two works. Then elaborate on this until you get to a specific argument about the topic in your thesis. I haven't read the works, but I have the inclination that there are probably two characters, one from each novel, that have either similar or dissimilar relationships to the question of belief.

Body: you only have 750 words so you're looking at around 2-3 pages, a short paper.
One paragraph arguing what one character's relationship to belief is.
One paragraph arguing what the other character's relationship to belief is.
One paragraph arguing what these two characters taken together show about attitudes towards belief in literary text of the period/genre.

Conclusion: Basic restatement of your thesis as you have demonstrated it. Then open up the debate to other characters/texts to demonstrate why the reader should think your argument significant in the grand scheme of things.

What to avoid:
General vague statements. (since the dawn of time... blah blah blah. Or this demonstrates that love is eternal or blah blah blah) Instead focus on specific analysis, i.e. this passage demonstrates this character or works X attitudes about Y subject to Z effect.
Avoid summarizing plot.
Limit yourself to 2-3 quotes per page, avoid quoting anything you don't analyse, it just looks like padding.
Analyse any quote you provide, don't expect them to speak for themselves.

I can't give specifics about theses because I haven't read the books.

[Adam]

Bravo! I like where you're going with this. :hurray:

My biggest problem is not summarizing plot.

I just haven't been taught on how to approach this kind of essay properly. For the first 3 weeks all we did was talk about stories. Then all of a sudden we have a serious paper due. No template, no guidance in the slightest bit what-so-ever. Just a general topic. He says he doesn't want a "boring 5 paragraph standard essay", but screw him. At this point, I'll take a C on this one paper. Ratemyprofessors.com will be hearing about this.

In ENC 1101 we actually talked about the structure of different essays, their different forms and uses, etc. I'm going to have to pay my ENC 1101 teacher a visit after this. He was always super helpful.

I don't like having to use a hand-holding template like this, but I'm friggin' desperate!

Thanks a MEGATON!

[OrphanPip]

http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~wricntr/documents/CloseReading.html

This resource might help you with working on how not to summarize when analysing literature. You want to find phrases, passages, or scenes that pertain to your topic. Then you want to think about what these things are saying about that topic.

Edit: This one is good too:

http://www.personal.psu.edu/users/s/a/sam50/closeread.htm

[irinmisfit92]

Bravo! I like where you're going with this. :hurray:

My biggest problem is not summarizing plot.

I just haven't been taught on how to approach this kind of essay properly. For the first 3 weeks all we did was talk about stories. Then all of a sudden we have a serious paper due. No template, no guidance in the slightest bit what-so-ever. Just a general topic. He says he doesn't want a "boring 5 paragraph standard essay", but screw him. At this point, I'll take a C on this one paper. Ratemyprofessors.com will be hearing about this.

In ENC 1101 we actually talked about the structure of different essays, their different forms and uses, etc. I'm going to have to pay my ENC 1101 teacher a visit after this. He was always super helpful.

I don't like having to use a hand-holding template like this, but I'm friggin' desperate!

Thanks a MEGATON!

I agree with Pip. The introduction should be a rough summary of what the two books are like, and what you actually want to focus on. There are definitely going to be A LOT of themes in the book, and so I suggest maybe just focus on one of them.

Or, another approach will be exploring the common themes in the book and then talk about how the author shows them. For example:

Both Brave New World and 1984 explore the theme of a dystopian, authoritarian regime where there is lack of freedom in the lives of the people. However, while Huxley depicts it in a more satirical manner in which a "perfect" life is constructed by allowing the people to give in to their utmost desires such as sex, absence of old age, and wealth, Orwell gives a more melancholic touch to his novel in which he portrays a dull, robotic society in which "The Party" reigns through manipulation of history, language, and memories, while the people are kept asleep through the concept of Big Brother and the Thought Police.

So this kind of format will be one of your paragraphs, for example. Afterwards, you give substantation (quotes, and analyse the language, of course) from both books, and then reiterate the stand at the end of the paragraph! Afterwards, continue with another idea that is prevalent in both books.

Therefore, it is up to you whether you want to do it character wise and theme wise. For my exams, my teachers always emphasise that I organise everything through themes and ideas instead of characters, so I've never approached it character wise.

I feel that a 750 word essay isn't that long, so I'm sure you'll have more than enough things to talk about! If you need any more help feel free to ask :D