Choose a play and write a critical essay discussing the overriding them or themes. State a thesis of what you consider to be the overriding theme of the play.

Written Assignment #1
A personal reflection
Think
about a
personal event or experience and how it has impacted or changed you or your point of
view. You
should analyse the experience, its meaning, and lessons that can be learned from it. You
should open up about your thoughts and emotions to uncover your mindset, personality, traits of
character, and background.
The reflective essay should include a descr
iption of the
experience/literature piece as well as explanations of your thoughts, feelings, and reactions.
Reflections are very personal and subjective, but they must maintain a formal tone and should be
well organized.
Minimum
Length: 500 words
Examples: (see Chapter 6)
Sue Kunitomi Embrey, Some Lines for a Younger Brother . . .
David Sedaris, Let it Snow

Written Assignment #2
Informative Essay
Choose a subject you are very familiar with and have a lot of knowledge about to
write an
informative essay. Your goal is to pass on as much information to the reader as possible while
keeping him interested and not overwhelming him with information. Make sure you keep the essay
objective and not use any type of persuasion or argumenta
tion. You will use persuasive and
argumentative writing in the 5th assignment.Minimum Length: 500 words
Examples: (see Chapter 8)
Kheehong Song and Allison Cui, Understanding China’s Middle Class
NASA, The Current and Future Consequences of Climate Change
2m

Written Assignment #3
Literary Analysis
Write a literary analysis essay of a book or story you have recently read. Analyze the story in terms
of
plot, character, and theme. Be sure to have a thesis (central idea) that you want to express about
the story. Don’t forget that everything you write must be somehow directly related to the central
idea and must contribute to the reader’s understanding of
that central idea. Be sure to use facts and
examples to support your thesis.
See essay study guide
#3
Minimum Length: 500 words
Examples: (see Chapter 9):
Kate Chopin, The Story of an Hou
Written Assignment #4
Option One:
Causal
Argument
Option Two:
Evaluation Argument
Write a causal or evaluation argument on anything you choose. Look at the examples in chapter 10
and 11 and choose something that you feel strongly about. Make sure you specify which type of
argument you are using.
See essay
study guide
#4
Minimum Length: 500 words
Examples: (see Chapters 10&11):
Bill McKibben, The Only Way to Have a Cow
Rachel Laudan, In Praise of Fast Food

Written Assignment #5
Research Paper
Write a research paper using a position argument on anything you have a strong opinion about. It
should preferably be based on something that is controversial and subject to debate. It may be
based on what you wrote in the previous assignment but should be
considerably different or much
improved upon. Make sure you research the subject thoroughly before beginning to write. When
you begin writing, make sure to address both sides of the argument before you state your personal
opinion. You should not only be p
ersuasive, but also effective, thorough, and fair. Do not assume
your reader has any previous knowledge of the subject. Explain everything from scratch. Use plenty
of outside sources but be sure to document everything you include according to the MLA forma
t we
learned in chapter 3Minimum Length: 500 words
Examples: (see Chapter 12):
Frederick Douglass, What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?

Written Assignment #1:
Character analysis
Assignment: Compare and contrast two similar characters from any book or short story you
have read. Make sure to include plenty of examples from the book, and make sure to have a
introductory paragraph, a body, and a conclusion. If you cite any works, m
ake sure to use a
proper bibliography format. See examples below.
If you wish
,
for extra credit
you may
research and discuss opposing views to yours and argue why your opinion is more credible.
Minimum Length: 500 words

Written Assignment #2:
Literary analysis
Choose any two stories that you have read that both focus on the same theme.
Write an essay explaining how the different literary elements reveal the theme to
the reader. Research different literary critici
sms of the stories you have chosen.
Comment on ideas and conclusions you have found that you differ from your own
opinion and discuss why your ideas are better. Be sure to use evidence from the
text of stories themselves to back up your opinion statements
.
See examples above
of Eli Wiesel’s “Night” vs. Perl Benische’s “To Vanquish the dragon”
.
As
always, make sure to cite all your sources using the MLA guidelines reviewed in
lesson 2.
Minimum Length: 500 words

Written Assignment #4:
Critical analysis
Choose a play and write a critical essay discussing the overriding them or themes.
State a thesis of what you consider to be the overriding theme of the play. Discuss
how all the dramatic elements we learned about in the previous chapter can be used
as evi
dence to support your thesis. Research other opinions which support or argue
against your thesis and address them accordingly. Restate your thesis as a
conclusion and briefly restate your supporting evidence. Document all sources
using the MLA format.
Min
imum Length: 500 words

Written Assignment #5:
Research paper
Choose a piece of literature that you
consider being the best one you’ve read by that author. Make a thesis statement
about this piece describing what m
akes it so good. Discuss what elements make it
so outstanding, i.e., plot, setting, conflict theme, etc. Compare and contrast this
piece with similar pieces written by others or
this author
. Discuss what other
commentators or critics have to say about this
piece and comment on them.
Discuss what external elements, such as the author’s background may have
influenced the writing of this piece. Restate your thesis as a conclusion and briefly
restate your supporting evidence. Document all sources using the MLA
format.
Minimum Length: 500 words