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Essay Instructions: Instructions: Shakespeare's "Othello" - secondary source essay assignment. Secondary sources have already analyzed a primary source. Example; journal articles, published essays or books. The secondary source should not be a plot summary of the play. This essay has to be scholarly sourced please.

Topic: One critic suggests that "Iago is the personification of evil". Discuss the truth or falsity of this statement. Take a position and use secondary research to supplement or substantiate your thesis.

The essay must have a - Title page, (do not number this page)
- each page must be typed double spaced,
- no contractions, proper font (12)
- proper citation.
- each paged numbered in top right hand corner
- Reference page (do not number this page)

Essay Instructions: Writing to Learn 1.1: Comparing Heroes
Your assignment is to write an essay comparing and contrasting King Arthur and the ancient heroes that preceded him (Beowulf, Gilgamesh and Achilles) How are they alike? How are they different?

This essay should be structured as a literary essay and include at least five paragraphs. Your first paragraph should be your thesis paragraph, where you state your position and explain how you will prove it. Your last paragraph should be a conclusion of your main points.

Your essay will be graded on:

* The quality of your thesis statement
* The completeness of your support for your argument
* The concrete support of your argument with specific quotes and details from the text
* The quality of your writing (word choice, syntax, organization)
* The accuracy of your spelling and grammar
* Demonstration that you used the writing process. (I want to see proof of prewriting and the different drafts you've written.)

To write the essay, I want you to first brainstorm in whatever form works for you (making lists of similarities and differences, free writing, etc.) From your notes, I'd like you to create a first draft. Look over your draft for spelling, grammar and punctuation errors. Read it and check for logical fallacies or inconsistencies. When your essay is structured well, you should be able to easily create an outline from your essay of your thesis statement and your supporting arguments. The Writer's Handbook section found on page 1153 of your text can be used as a reference guide.

Please label your essay: Essay 1.1. You will submit two files: writing_to_learn_heroes_draft.rtf and writing_to_learn_heroes_final.rtf. Please include your initial prewriting, your first draft in one file and your final essay in the second file.

Writing to Learn 2.1: Carpe Diem!

Choose two of the carpe diem poems you have read and evaluate each author's use of poetic devices to portray the theme. Compare and contrast the poems and indicate which poem was most effective in portraying theme, as well as why it was most effective. (Images, hyperbole, personification, setting, tone, theme)

After you evaluate your poems, write a two- to three-paragraph argument indicating whether or not you think the poet's use of images and other poetic devices contribute to the theme. Make sure to support your argument with specific examples from the text and clear, specific logic. Your essay will be graded on:

* The quality of your thesis statement
* The completeness of your support for your argument
* The concrete support of your argument with specific quotes and details from the text
* The quality of your writing (word choice, syntax, organization)
* The accuracy of your spelling and grammar
* Demonstration that you used the writing process.

To complete this assignment, you will submit two documents to your instructor: one containing your notes (see chart above) and a rough draft. This document should be saved as writing_to_learn_2.1_draft.rtf. The second document should contain your final, error-free draft and be saved as writing_to_learn_2.1_final.rtf. You will be graded on both your prewriting and your final draft


Writing to Learn 3.1: Composing a Modern Parable

Using your notes from Journal 3.2A as a starting point, you will write your own modern parable. To make sure that the characters and plot of your parable have both literal and symbolic meanings, use a chart to organize your thoughts. You can write an updated version of The Prodigal Son, another biblical parable, or you can create your own original parable.

Your parable will be evaluated according to the following criteria:

1. Parable makes a moral statement or teaches a lesson.
2. Characters, places, and events have a literal and a symbolic meaning.
3. Writing is clear, concise, and correct (good word choice, good syntax, free from
grammatical, spelling, and punctuation errors).
4. The writing process is utilized.


Writing to Learn 4.1: Writing a Reflective Essay

This is an independent writing project that will be submitted to your instructor.

Prewriting: Reflective Essay: Choose an important personal experience-something in your life that really affected you. It can be an event you personally witnessed or participated in or unusual conditions you have experienced or special concerns you've dealt with. Make a list of 5 or 6 possible topics. If you can't think of anything, you can look back at old pictures, yearbooks, or journals or talk to friends and family about what they think has had the greatest effect on you.

Writing a first draft: Reflective essays go beyond simply describing experiences; they reveal a greater truth about an abstract idea like love, patience, courage, hope or honor. Your reflection on your experience should lead to a new understanding about life and what it means to be human. Pages 656 - 658 of your text give specific, detailed instructions on how to begin.

To summarize:

* Gather the details that will bring your experience and its significance together. Think about a series of events that you witnessed or experienced, which changed your life dramatically. Then list the details of the events.
* List the events that you want to recount, and under each event, record specific details that will allow you to create concrete images.
* Balance the events you are discussing-if you're talking about three events, don't spend half your essay talking about one of them.
* Organize your essay: it can be arranged chronologically or in a flashback/flash forward format. You can also organize it according to the order of importance of events.

Revising your draft: Read pages 661-663 of your text for good directions about how to revise your essay. Make sure that you follow the suggestions for revising your essay on page 661. When you turn in your final draft, you will also turn in your first draft-and I will want to see that you've followed the instructions (i. e. in your first draft, you've bracketed sentences that provide the background information and underlined the sentence in the introduction that hints at the significance). You can perform most of the instructions for revision described within a word processing program. If there are items you cannot perform (like circling), use another method like highlighting in a different color or changing the font size or type.

You will submit two files to your instructor:


Writing to Learn 5.1: Comparing Short Stories

Choose two of the three stories we have read that are examples of realism ("How Much Land Does a Man Need?" "The Bet," and "The Jewels") and compare and contrast them. Carefully read the works you've selected and take notes on their literary elements-settings, characters, plots, and themes. Then, ask yourself, "How do the literary elements relate to major issues of the historical period, particularly realism?" (If you need to, do further research on the literary movement known as realism, see the Internet, your text books, or the library. Page 785 of Elements of Literature: Sixth Course has an example of a chart you could modify to help you organize your thoughts. Follow this pattern in your prewriting.

After you have a general chart outlining the two stories, you'll want to look at the smaller details. More than just looking at the elements, you'll also want to look at the tone of the story, the complexities and the ambiguities. To help you discover many dimensions of literature, analyze the stylistic devices in the works you're comparing. Page 391 of your text offers further suggestions about analyzing stylistic devices. Consider how the writers use tone, imagery, figures of speech, concrete sensory details, repetition, and irony. Make another chart where you list examples of these things and explain their effects.

Formulate a thesis:
Look back over your notes and formulate a thesis statement that explains how three or more literary elements, stylistic devices, or a combination of elements and devices develop the historical issue you've identified. This statement is your thesis statement. Everything in your essay should support and further explain your thesis statement.

Once you have your thesis statement, look back over the two stories to identify support for your thesis. Literary evidence should include direct quotations from the text or paraphrases of passages or scenes and summaries of events. Make sure to include the page number at the end of each quotation to identify what page it came from in your reference citations. After you've identified a specific piece of evidence, and either quoted it or paraphrased it, you need to explain how it supports your thesis. Your good analysis is essential to a quality essay.

Once you have your thesis statement and supporting evidence, organize your essay so that it follows logically. Page 787 of Elements of Literature: Sixth Course gives excellent guidance about what should be included in each part of your essay. After you've written your essay, follow the steps for revision on page 789 of Elements of Literature: Sixth Course. Make sure to follow the directions in the "Tips" column specifically. After you've revised your essay sufficiently, compile a final draft and submit your prewriting and first draft and your final draft to your instructor. Label your prewriting/first draft file Writing_to_Learn_5.1A_draft.rtf, and label your final draft Writing_to_Learn_5.1A_final.rtf. Your first draft should include the prewriting charts you created


Writing to Learn 6.2: Writing an Original Short Story
Your task: Compose an original short story about a quest or dream that a young person sets out to fulfill. The quest or dream should be one that might occur in everyday life (rather than one involving extraordinary circumstances). Your story may reflect an experience you've had or one that you imagine. In either case, use the first person (I) point-of-view, but make the narrator older and wiser than he or she was at the time of the quest.

Follow the following steps in writing your short story. Write these out briefly in either outline or list form and then refer to your outline as you're writing:

1. Identify a story idea. The story can be based on anything that could be sought after. One way to find an idea for as story is to remember an important event in your own life and imagine what might have happened if you made a different choice. Another way is to observe people around you, both people you know and people you just observe. Imagine seeing a man in a tuxedo standing in the express lane of the grocery story buying eggplant and air freshener. Making up the events that lead him to that point could make an excellent short story. Please remember that this is supposed to be fiction, so if you use your own life for inspiration, make sure to alter the details enough that you are not simply writing a memoir.
2. Consider your audience and purpose. Your short story is designed to entertain, but it should also have a broader message or theme. Choose a tone (ironic, humorous, nostalgic, bitter, etc.) that will be effective in demonstrating your theme.
3. Establish a setting: Where does the story take place? Is the time of year or time of day important?
4. Develop characters: Create one or two main characters and a couple of supporting characters. Try to create complex and evolving characters. Remember to use both direct and indirect methods characterization. Indirect characterization illustrates the characters through revealing what they say, think, feel, do, and how they react.
5. Develop the plot or sequence of events that will make up the action. Remember that a short story has a conflict, complications, climax and a resolution or denouement. Because short stories are short, it is important that the writing be and interesting throughout. Vary the pace of events and the order. Consider presenting ideas in flashbacks or dreams, etc.
6. Use stylistic devices: Good writers have a style that is uniquely theirs. An author's style is influenced by the choices he or she makes in using diction, figures of speech, imagery, irony and syntax.
7. Write the story.

After you've written it, look at the guidelines on pages 1031-1032. Reread your story and make any improvements. Is it interesting? Does the plot flow? Are the characters believable? Reread it for stylistic issues and correct them. Then, reread it for grammatical and spelling errors. Submit two files to your instructor:
Writing_to_learn_6.2_storydraft.rtf, which will include your prewriting notes and outline and your first draft and an error proof final copy, Writing_to_learn_6.2_story_final.rtf.

Essay Instructions: When responding to your classmates be sure to read the poem about which they are writing and pay particular attention to their second and third paragraphs.

1. Your responses--at least three per week--should be at least two developed paragraphs, roughly 300 words in total. These paragraphs should follow the same guidelines as given above regarding DB posts.

2. You should conduct yourself as you would in courteous conversation by responding directly and specifically to what the post communicates.

3. Say what drew you to the post to which you are responding--a particular insight, way of writing, or question being asked.

4. Be generous and name what you find engaging about the post.

5. Ask questions that invite clarification or further discussion.

6. Contribute your own thoughts and experiences where appropriate.


?Addiction?, by Sheryl St. Germain talks of the relationship that she has with heroin and her brother. St. Germain talks the injection process, the pseudo-incestuous relationship with her brother and the sexual manifestations that the drug procreated. Her brother has a heroin addiction and eventually get?s his kid sister using as well. She looks at the needle, the penetration, and the intimate self-discovery that is generated from the effects and envisions her brother and hers as lovers-of a different kind. The bond that is shared is ultra-personal and uniquely layered spawning a mutual affection that flirts with nature?s intentions and what is symbiotically confirmed through each ritualistic ceremonial injection. Indoctrinated with systematic spells of pure heavenly bliss, she see?s the decadence as a used-up junky, whose veins are so badly abused she has resorted to injecting into her ankle, lies down ?like a corpse? . The clarity from the realization and the eventual deaths of her brother and an unnamed keep her clean, and yet the longing for the intimacy and the chase for the invisible provider only affirms the ?reality? for the longing that she felt for heroin and the ?joy at any cost?. I really like this poem. I thought the lens in which she sees through, offers a different perspective from the standard losing a loved one poem. It is a testimonial to the intimacy of drugs and the hold it has, even when the costs are death, she still harbors the desire for usage.
St. Germain uses visual imagery throughout Addiction? to convey the feeling of action required to intake and to lay-out the impressionistic process of her drug use.
?the vein pushed up all blue and throbbing
And wanting to be pierced, -personification
His opposite hand gripped tight as death -simile
Around the upper arm
?The way I would try to enter the vein -point of view
Almost parallel to the arm,
Push lightly but firmly, not
Too deep,? -enjambment
?Like that I would enter him,
Slowly, slowly, very still,
Don?t move,? -enjambment.
The tone of this displays a very subdues mood. As we see, the needle punctures his skin and the plunger first retracting mixing the brown with the blood and then finally shot down with a smooth hallelujah.
The poem turns in two different spots. First when she talks up the love and implies heavy sexual connotations with her brother. We see her talk of him in a fashion usually reserved for lovers.
?An oh the movement of his lips
When he asked that, I open my arms
How careful,
How good he was, sliding
The needle silver and slender
So easily into me,?
This line with there figurative language could easily have been understood for actual incest, even though she is saying that the drugs use and the relationship with her brother was actually incestuous.
The clarification
?We both took lovers who loved
This entering and being entered?
Even though the reader is set up to see the end, for both her drug addiction and the death of her brother, the final denouement comes and we realize that the poem itself maybe wasn?t just about the loss of her brother but the loss of infinitesimal desire and longing for a state of bliss that will never be tasted again.
?You, it still stalks my dreams,
And death make no difference:
There is only the body?s huge wanting.
When I think of my brother
All spilled out on the floor
I say nothing to anyone.
I know what it is like to want joy
At any cost.?

Essay Instructions: I need the following for the poem "Evangeline": A Tale of Acadie by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow:

1. A plot summary of "Evangeline"
2. Using the vocabulary word "tremulous" from the poem, complete the following:
A) Personal Identification
B) Context Clue
C) Personification

3. Locate and copy each of the following: simile, metaphor, allusion, personification.

4. What is the mood of the poem.