University Level English Major Assignment

Posted: January 20th, 2023

Description
Length: 1000 words [4-41/2 pages with standard formatting]
This is your first essay assignment. The text you will be writing about is your choice of one movie or one episode of a television show [not a series and not a reality television show; it needs to be a fictional show with characters and a plot].
The essay needs
1. pre-writing/brainstorming so that you can find a good text.
2. a good title
3. fully developed and unified paragraphs
4. formal tone and point of view
5. to underline the structure of the essay: the thesis statement and each topic sentence
6. do not underline the first sentence of the introductory paragraph and the concluding paragraph: neither has topic sentences.
7. an introductory paragraph, ending with a one-sentence thesis statement
8. each middle paragraph needs to begin with a one-sentence topic sentence
9. a concluding paragraph
10. correct/standard presentation [see the style sheet]
11. if you use quotations from the movie/show, be as accurate as possible, and integrate/format them; no documentation is needed.
12. a Works Cited page is not needed unless you use secondary sources. The movie/television show is a primary, not a secondary source.
13. research is not needed, wanted, or encouraged for this essay, as it has the great potential for weakening the essay, by overshadowing your own ideas, by increasing your workload and by causing plagiarism. If you do use research/secondary sources, through either quotations or paraphrases, they will be part of the evaluation process—eg. are they relevant? Formatted correctly? Have credible sources been used? Etc. Also, you are limited to only two outside sources.
14. to show an understanding of your reading audience. Don’t assume readers have seen your text, but neither fill the essay with too much description/plot summary at the expense of analysis
Topics: Choose ONE of the following two topics
1. Who/what is the antagonist of your text and why? Defend your choice by keeping in mind the characteristics of an antagonist, which include considering what the protagonist wants, if the protagonist defeats the antagonist, or is overcome by the antagonist, etc.
Or:
2. Analyze the importance of a minor character in your text. To find an argument and focus for your thesis consider such factors as is this character important in advancing the plot? Does the minor character play a major role in developing the character of the protagonist? Is the minor character a flat or a round character, etc?