ENGL 201: World Literature
Professor E. Derek Taylor
Timed Writing Assignment Prompt
Posted 2-18-16
Due 2-21-16 (submit via email as an electronic attachment no later than 9:00 pm; please remember to provide a start and stop time in your email upon submission)
Topic: You are no longer you. Instead, you are one of the characters we have encountered thus far in our readings—your choice. One day, as you are out walking, a box falls from the sky and lands at your feet—weird, I know, but weird things do sometimes happen. The top of the box reads as follows:
“Are you satisfied with my performance? Do you have any complaints? Criticisms? Suggestions? Praise for a job well done? Your feedback is valuable! In order to improve, I need to know exactly where I’ve gone wrong (or done well?) in your opinion, so be sure to give specific examples. You’ll find a handy electronic writing device inside this box—it should have 2 and ½ hours of battery-life remaining. Please place it back in the box when you have had your say. And please be honest in your assessment!
Sincerely,
[insert name of appropriate god or gods here]”
“Wow,” you mutter to yourself. “A divine suggestion box—it’s a miracle!” It occurs to you that finally, at long last, you have been given something you’ve long desired: the opportunity to tell your respective god or gods just what you think about the way he, she, or they operate.
As promised, inside the box you discover a laptop computer which, surprisingly enough, you instinctively know how to use as a word processor. For purposes of clarity, you decide to conclude your first paragraph with a carefully crafted sentence that captures the overall point you intend to develop in your response. It also strikes you that the best way to support your claims in the paragraphs that follow will be to quote directly and frequently from your own story, as presented in the Norton Anthology of World Literature (if you are Gilgamesh, in other words, you should quote from Gilgamesh). MLA formatting comes naturally to you, so you elect to use it throughout—as well as to double space and to use 12-point font (Times New Roman). Since time is of the essence, you decide to cite all quotations parenthetically but to not bother with a Works Cited page. Finally, you conclude that somewhere between 650-750 words (roughly three typed pages) should be about the right length.
Instructions: Feel free to think, outline, pre-write, drink coffee, walk your dog, talk with others, peruse your textbook, etc., as much as you like prior to writing your essay. But once you decide to begin writing in earnest, set a timer: at that point you have 2 and ½ hours to complete your work. As suggested above, I do not need a Works Cited page for this submission.
Although this essay invites creative approaches, be sure that you can answer “yes” to the following key questions prior to submission:
Professor E. Derek Taylor
Timed Writing Assignment Prompt
Posted 2-18-16
Due 2-21-16 (submit via email as an electronic attachment no later than 9:00 pm; please remember to provide a start and stop time in your email upon submission)
Topic: You are no longer you. Instead, you are one of the characters we have encountered thus far in our readings—your choice. One day, as you are out walking, a box falls from the sky and lands at your feet—weird, I know, but weird things do sometimes happen. The top of the box reads as follows:
“Are you satisfied with my performance? Do you have any complaints? Criticisms? Suggestions? Praise for a job well done? Your feedback is valuable! In order to improve, I need to know exactly where I’ve gone wrong (or done well?) in your opinion, so be sure to give specific examples. You’ll find a handy electronic writing device inside this box—it should have 2 and ½ hours of battery-life remaining. Please place it back in the box when you have had your say. And please be honest in your assessment!
Sincerely,
[insert name of appropriate god or gods here]”
“Wow,” you mutter to yourself. “A divine suggestion box—it’s a miracle!” It occurs to you that finally, at long last, you have been given something you’ve long desired: the opportunity to tell your respective god or gods just what you think about the way he, she, or they operate.
As promised, inside the box you discover a laptop computer which, surprisingly enough, you instinctively know how to use as a word processor. For purposes of clarity, you decide to conclude your first paragraph with a carefully crafted sentence that captures the overall point you intend to develop in your response. It also strikes you that the best way to support your claims in the paragraphs that follow will be to quote directly and frequently from your own story, as presented in the Norton Anthology of World Literature (if you are Gilgamesh, in other words, you should quote from Gilgamesh). MLA formatting comes naturally to you, so you elect to use it throughout—as well as to double space and to use 12-point font (Times New Roman). Since time is of the essence, you decide to cite all quotations parenthetically but to not bother with a Works Cited page. Finally, you conclude that somewhere between 650-750 words (roughly three typed pages) should be about the right length.
Instructions: Feel free to think, outline, pre-write, drink coffee, walk your dog, talk with others, peruse your textbook, etc., as much as you like prior to writing your essay. But once you decide to begin writing in earnest, set a timer: at that point you have 2 and ½ hours to complete your work. As suggested above, I do not need a Works Cited page for this submission.
Although this essay invites creative approaches, be sure that you can answer “yes” to the following key questions prior to submission:
- Does my essay have a thesis?
- Are my paragraphs constructed around thesis-directed topic sentences?
- Have I supported my claims with carefully selected words and phrases quoted directly from the text in question?
- Does my essay begin and end thoughtfully and deliberately?