Jane Austen’s Pride and PrejudiceJane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice

For this essay, I am not going to give you a topic, but instead we will focus on using a variety of means for developing your own topic.  Both academic and real world writing often varies between closed and open assignments, so here we will focus on the open.

As I had mentioned at the start of class, it’s important to try to use your reading journal to not only figure out what you think about the novel, but to begin isolating patterns or areas of interest in the text that you might wish to pursue in your essay.    Between the journal and in-class discussions, you might consider this to be step 1 in the process.

So, step 2 is your conference.  Before this conference, complete a sheet that includes the following:

·      At least two sentences reproduced from your journal that links to something you might want to write about.

·      A developed paragraph where you propose a topic for your essay.  This paragraph should also include some sense of why you want to write about this (a motive in its early stages), why you think it would make for a compelling essay, and areas in the text you think your discussion will likely analyze.

·      If you already have a sense of what your central claim or central question will be, include that too.

·      If you are not sure yet, use this space to sketch out various possible interests and ideas you have.

We’ll discuss what you have produced.  Please share this with me as a google doc in advance of your scheduled meeting.

Here’s a link to the signup sheet for conferences.

Step 3:

Meeting with (our Writing Associate):  The following students are required to meet with at some stage of their process, preferably after they have started a draft: 

Here is the sign up sheet for appointments with Ivy.

Or

Peer Review: I will provide separate instructions for those doing peer review: M, T, N, A, L, C, M, N and J.   You will need to share a draft of your essay with your peer review partner and myself .You will then have 48 hours to provide feedback on that draft, shared with me and your partner

Other Factors:

Audience: Consider your classmates and myself to be your audience for this essay.  We know the work you’re discussing, so your essay should not dwell on summarizing, but should draw in specific evidence in order to persuade us of the merits of your interpretation (and of course build your ethos).

Motive: as we have discussed in class, make it clear what is motivating your discussion and claims.  (See our handouts on motives).

Focus: Bear in mind, that since this is still a relatively short essay, you need to focus your discussion accordingly.   Consider, for instance, an essay that considers why one or two characters are not given the chance to marry by the novel’s end might work well, whereas an essay that seeks to compare all of the couples of the novel might be too unwieldy for this length essay.

Nuts and Bolts:

Your essay should be approximately 1250 words in length (going over that is fine), in Times New Roman Font and should follow MLA citation rules (consult the OWL, Purdue’s Online Writing Lab for rules on in-text citation).