Word Count: 1,000 to 1,250 words.
Instructions: For our second major assignment, we’re going to continue to talk about College-Level Writing; now, however, you’re going to focus on revising your essay to talk less about your own personal definition, and more about how scholars and experts think a college-level essay should be written. You won’t be using your own personal definition. This time, you’re going to be citing our listed course source material to explain the process of writing an essay that qualifies as “college-level” material.
The goal here is to move away from your own personal voice, and start to synthesize outside source material. You must cite at least two articles from our reading list for the Analysis Essay:
- Donald M. Murray
- David Bartholomae
- Elizabeth Wardle
You must use at least two of those three articles. Do not use any other source material in this essay, or any previous course readings; you may only use these three assigned readings. Use of other outside source material will result in an automatic failing grade on the assignment for the Source Material and Documentation portion of the rubric.
Please note that this essay will not be a personal essay; this means that you won’t be using a personal voice, but will instead focus on explaining and synthesizing your views with the source material. This means you will need to be using MLA format to cite specific quotes from the source material. Please bear in mind that this changes the context of your writing — I want you to consider how you’ll engage audience interest and make me feel a direct connection to your work, while citing outside source material and developing a formal tone.
One of our goals in this assignment will be to follow the writing process. This means you’ll have to plan the essay, write a draft, revise the draft, and then submit the final product. Please do not just write a first draft and submit that — the goes against the goals of learning the writing process. First, you’re going to brainstorm ideas for the essay; then, you’re going to write a rough draft and revise it based on notes written to you by your peers and myself.
