Essay 1
Assignment Sheet
Fall 2019
Final draft due to Blackboard Learn/Turnitin by Friday October 4 at 5:00 PM
This essay is worth 15% of your final grade
Assignment:
You are being asked to compose a close reading of one of the texts we have covered up to the midterm
exam. A close reading essay requires students to carefully examine a single text and defend an original
thesis about it using textual support.
In addition to articulating a close reading, your paper should also demonstrate basic tenets of college
essay writing: thesis, motive, evidence, analysis, clarity, and cohesiveness.
Key Features:
1) Brief summary of the text
2) Attention to the context
3) A clear interpretation
4) Reasonable support for your conclusions
Requirements:
In-depth engagement with a text that we have covered between 08/26-09/18 (The Iroquois Creation StoryCotton Mather). An in-depth engagement should demonstrate:
– Understanding of the text in terms of themes, genre, and historical context
– Critical engagement with the text through argument
– Appropriate selection of supporting evidence (quotations)
No outside sources should be used in your close reading.
MLA Citations
1200 words
Time New Roman, 12 Point font (preferred)
Themes you might explore:
Gender
Religion
Us and Them
