Due: Thursday 10/28 in the dropbox in OAKS labeled “Unit V Synthesis Paper.” You must turn your paper in before the beginning of class on 10/28 (10:50 AM).
Description & Purpose
Synthesis papers are designed to bring together the ideas and texts discussed in a unit of study and to allow students to develop and practice skills in interpreting literature.
Synthesis papers are argumentative: you must stake out an argumentative thesis and use literary examples (typically in the form of direct quotation) and reasoning to support your thesis.
Unit V Synthesis Paper
One of the characteristics of Romanticism is its privileging of imagination, intuition, and powerful states of feeling over reason and rationality. This paper asks you to consider this characteristic. You will write about Dickinson and two other writers: either Whitman or Emerson AND either Poe or Hawthorne.
In what ways do these writers compare in their emphasis on imagination, intuition, and/or powerful states of emotion as opposed to reason and rationality?
Advice: as always, you should try to narrow your focus. Say more about less territory by focuses on a fairly narrow band of comparison/contrast and really digging into the writers’ language.
Length: no less than 3 full pages, no more than four full pages (following the formatting requirements below)
Format: Standard MLA document formatting, 1″ margins on all sides, Times New Roman 12pt font. Word, PDF, or Pages format preferred. Use MLA style for handling quotations from prose and poetry. See Purdue University’s OWL (Online Writing Lab) for a quick and dirty guide to using MLA style citations. There is no need for a works cited page.
ALSO: please leave your name off your paper. Where your name ordinarily goes, use your student ID number.
Evaluation: Your grade for the assignment will be determined in accordance with the characteristics described in the scoring guidelines below.
Characteristics of an A Paper (91-100 pts.)
- articulates and develops a clear, sophisticated thesis, allied with a strong sense of exigence*
- brings the texts it discusses into direct and thoroughgoing comparison, contrast, and /or conversation with one another
- reads as a continuous argument in which each text is necessary to the elaboration of the position the paper takes
- focuses intently on developing an argument that affirms its case and effectively anticipates opposing viewpoints as needed
- supports clearly-marked claims with compelling evidence in the form of nuanced interpretations of carefully-selected textual material
- deploys source materials carefully, accurately, and in an rhetorically-deft manner
- features impeccable reasoning in tying together claims and evidence
- offers tightly unified and coherent paragraphs
The “A” paper is also characterized by rhetorically-sophisticated sentences; logical and artful transitions; precise syntax; and apt, precise, and vivid word choice. Additionally, the “A” paper is free of major errors in grammar and syntax and avoids mechanical and technical errors.
*”exigence” in this context refers to a sense of the significance of the argument, its importance, the necessity and urgency of articulating it, that which answers the “so what?” question.
Characteristics of a B Paper (81-90 pts.)
- offers a clear thesis, though it may lack some sophistication, development, and/or a sense of exigence*
- presents a logical argument, backed by clearly-marked claims
- offers some connections between texts
- uses solid textual evidence and interpretation
- logically connects evidence to claims
- may fail to anticipate opposing viewpoints as needed
- may interpret evidence in a limited way
- may use secondary sources in an ineffective manner
- and/or may offer foreshortened reasoning to tie claims to evidence.
The “B” paper does offer rhetorically-sophisticated sentences from time to time and may transition fairly effectively between sentences and paragraphs, but it may also be predominated by basic sentence patterns, may have occasionally awkward or unclear constructions, and may make ineffective choices in diction. The “B” paper has few, if any, spelling, mechanical, and/or technical errors, and the number and types of errors in the paper will not interfere with meaning.
Characteristics of C and D Papers (61 to 80 points)
- may offer an overly general or somewhat unclear thesis or vague controlling idea
- may present a rudimentary argument that lacks a sense of exigence*
- may read as separate discussions of separate texts
- may offer little or no historical and cultural grounding for its argument
- may makes claims that are overly broad or general
- may wander through or stack ideas rather than articulating a planned argument
- may prefer summary to analysis
- may lack evidence to support claims and/or lack clear and logical connections between claims and evidence
- may use sources in an inaccurate and/or unsophisticated manner
- may offer loosely-defined and incoherent paragraphs
The “C” or “D” paper may have awkward or confusing sentences; may very weakly transition between sentences; may use terms/words imprecisely; may demonstrate numerous errors which interfere with meaning; may have spelling, capitalization, and/or usage errors; may have sentence fragments or fused sentences; and/or may have errors in punctuation.
Characteristics of F Papers (up to 60 points)
- may have some of the characteristics of the C or D paper articulated above and/or
- fails to follow the assignment guidelines