First, a hearty welcome to all first year students! I realize how busy you are this week, and you might even be feeling a bit overwhelmed. So I wanted to take a moment to give you some very practical writing advice that should serve you well, both for your Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close assignment, (Due September 23!) and for that matter, most writing assignments you'll have this semester.
An essay or paper where you discuss a particular topic, (like the prompts for your Common Reading assignment) and include your ideas on that topic to make one or several points, must include basic analysis. Why? Because you have to explain the reasoning behind your statements or assertions to your reader. You can't just make a statement about something and leave it at that-you have to answer the questions that you think your readers are likely to ask about your statement. If you don't back up your statements with a least one "reason" and some "evidence" for that reason, your paper will be superficial, and you want it to be substantive-to make a few important points that are explained well.
Just think about how a typical conversation goes:
__ Statement or claim: Boy, is my car a lemon!
Why, what happened to it?
__ Reason: [Because] it keeps stalling every time I stop at a light.
__ Evidence for the reason: I've had it towed from three intersections in the last week.
This is a very basic pattern for analysis that you should follow for each statement or claim you make in your paper. Now let's apply this pattern to something you might say or "claim" in discussing one of the writing prompts.
__ Statement or Claim: Throughout the novel, Oskar is searching for some way to physically and/or emotionally reconnect with his father.
__ Reason or reasons: Because Oskar's father died suddenly and without warning, and Oskar is too young to understand what "death means" (if that's possible for anyone of any age), or understand why his father is gone, or why he is no longer able to communicate with his father...
__ Evidence (that will likely be a quote or paraphrase from the novel): Oskar's obsessive search for the "other end" of the key, his decision to dig up his father's grave...etc.
Hope this helps you flesh out your thoughts. Any questions or comments, please jump in!
An essay or paper where you discuss a particular topic, (like the prompts for your Common Reading assignment) and include your ideas on that topic to make one or several points, must include basic analysis. Why? Because you have to explain the reasoning behind your statements or assertions to your reader. You can't just make a statement about something and leave it at that-you have to answer the questions that you think your readers are likely to ask about your statement. If you don't back up your statements with a least one "reason" and some "evidence" for that reason, your paper will be superficial, and you want it to be substantive-to make a few important points that are explained well.
Just think about how a typical conversation goes:
__ Statement or claim: Boy, is my car a lemon!
Why, what happened to it?
__ Reason: [Because] it keeps stalling every time I stop at a light.
__ Evidence for the reason: I've had it towed from three intersections in the last week.
This is a very basic pattern for analysis that you should follow for each statement or claim you make in your paper. Now let's apply this pattern to something you might say or "claim" in discussing one of the writing prompts.
__ Statement or Claim: Throughout the novel, Oskar is searching for some way to physically and/or emotionally reconnect with his father.
__ Reason or reasons: Because Oskar's father died suddenly and without warning, and Oskar is too young to understand what "death means" (if that's possible for anyone of any age), or understand why his father is gone, or why he is no longer able to communicate with his father...
__ Evidence (that will likely be a quote or paraphrase from the novel): Oskar's obsessive search for the "other end" of the key, his decision to dig up his father's grave...etc.
Hope this helps you flesh out your thoughts. Any questions or comments, please jump in!
This is excellent advice, Joan!
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