GUIDELINES FOR SHORT PAPERS

You will write four short essays (1-2 pages) evaluating selected essays in our primary text casebook.  Your essay should be clear and concise:  Make sure your sentences say what you mean to say, and make sure that they are not empty verbiage.  In your essays, you should do the following things:

1. Summarize the author’s argument(s):  What is (are) the author’s main point(s)?  What specific evidence does the author give to support this argument?  Use your own words as much as possible, but you may include short quotes from the essay that are so well-stated that paraphrasing them interferes with or alters the meaning.

2. Evaluate the quality of the essay from two perspectives:  (1) How well is the essay written—organization, diction, coherence, specificity?  Can you follow the argument?  Does the author include any points that do not relate to the primary argument?  (2) Does the author use the methodology of the particular literary theory?  (Remember, the author does not have to address all the possible aspects of the theory; he or she must simply write from the indicated “slant”).   To answer this question, you will have to demonstrate that you understand the particular literary theory and that you understand the essay. 

3. Properly document any borrowed material.

4. Proofread your essay before submitting it.