The husband stitch carmen maria machado explained

ESSAY #2 GUIDELINES

Short Story Essay

1. Choose one of the three short stories we’ve read

“All of Me” by Manuel Gonzales

“The Paper Menagerie” by Ken Liu

“The Husband Stitch” by Carmen Maria Machado

2. Create a THESIS about the story that includes:

a) a careful observation (something you’ve noticed that might not immediately be evident upon first reading the story)

b) and your theory as to the larger meaning of this observation (“What does it MEAN?” Ask yourself if you are answering the question, “Why is this observation important to a new reading of the story?”)

3. Use AT LEAST THREE QUOTES. For this paper, you may introduce more than three quotes from the story, but don’t allow this to spread your argument too thin. Remember that all of the quotes you bring in should serve the purpose of supporting the argument you have made in your thesis.

4. The length of your essay should be at least 1000 words.

5. You should include a Works Cited page (not included in the word count) that lists the story and work in which it appears.

6. Use ONE peer-reviewed, outside source. But remember: this is about your close reading of the text and YOUR original ideas about what you’ve found important in that text. The source does not have to be a critical article on literature.

7. The essay and Works Cited should be formatted according to MLA Guidelines and use Times New Roman in a 12pt font.

8. If you have questions or would like me to read a draft/thesis, you must submit this by email or speak to me in office hours/class.

9. Submit the paper by the due date/time in Blackboard in WORD DOCUMENT

format.

Creative Project

The creative project is open to interpretaion and should incorporate in some way at least three quotes (though how you do this is also somewhat up to interpretation). Keep in mind that the purpose of the project will be to illuminate or “respond” to the story creatively so that, in its own way, it provides a new way of seeing the original text. In short, what does your project contribute to a discussion about this text? How is it interacting with that text?

For the Creative Project, you will be required to submit one 50-word synopsis as a proposal by email to Dr. Armstrong one week before. Dr. Armstrong will approve this proposal or recommend slight revisions as necessary.

If the Creative Project does not lend itself to being turned in on Blackboard (is a physical object or performance, etc.), it will be due at the time of presentation.