Tim O'Brien'sThe Things They Carried
Writing Assignment: Fiction & Film
Mary Jo Garcia
We
have had the opportunity to read a novel, The
Things They Carried, and to
view a film, M*A*S*H, both of
which deal with the futility of war and the relationships that develop
among soldiers in battle. For your first writing assignment, you
will be expected to find points of comparison or contrast between these
two works and discuss them. For example, you may choose to
compare or contrast character development, narrative structure, point
of view, theme, conflict, gender issues, issues of race (or the curious
lack thereof), the things soldiers carry…the list is endless.
Whatever your focus, you must find analogs of your chosen concept in
both the novel and the film, develop a unifying thesis, and expand upon
this thesis in the body of your essay. You must provide support for
your ideas from within the text and the film using quotations,
paraphrase, and summary. MLA-style documentation including a
works cited page is required.
Format:
1) Essay must be word-processed, double-spaced, with 1”-1.25” margins all the way around.
2) Use only Arial or Times New Roman 12 point fonts.
3) No title page, please. Use a double-spaced heading on the upper, left-hand corner of the first page of your essay. The heading should include your name, the course name and section number, the instructor’s name, and the date.
4) You should have a running header inserted in the upper right-hand corner of every page of your essay that includes your last name and the page number. Use Word’s header/footer feature to accomplish this.
5) A creative, thoughtful title should be centered on the first line immediately following the heading. Do not underline, boldface, place in quotation marks, or otherwise accentuate your own title. You need only capitalize the significant words in your title.
6) Hit enter one time after typing your title, hit tab once, and begin the first paragraph of the essay. You need not hit return at the end of each line. Let word wrap take care of that for you. Just hit enter when you end a paragraph and tab to indent.
7) When you have completed your essay, save the file as a MS Word document (a .doc file). If you do not have Word on your home computer, save the file as an .rtf file. DO NOT send .wps files!
8) Name the file using your last name and the assignment number (i.e. Garcia1) and mail it to me as an attachment. Do not cut and paste the text into the body of the e-mail.
9) See either your Little Brown Handbook for a sample MLA-style manuscript or visit Research and Documentation Online.
10) Please note that following instructions for correct manuscript format DOES factor into your overall course grade!
Content:
1) Your essay should be 2-3 pages or 500-750 words long.
2) Review your notes and study guide questions from The Things They Carried and M*A*S*H. It may also help to review the links to the websites on writing about fiction and film and the handout on literary terms I have posted for you on WebCT. Ask yourself where the novel and the film intersected. Where did they diverge? What can you say about those points? What about the book interested you the most? What about the film interested you the most? Was there anything about the book or the film that repelled you? Do you see any similarities there?
3) If you find it helpful, use the link to the Venn diagram generator under the WebCT “Helpful Links” organizer page to assist you as you prewrite. The purpose of a Venn diagram is to help you visual points of comparison and contrast.
4) Your introductory paragraph should contain a unifying thesis that clearly states the focus of your essay and the main supporting arguments.
5) Each body paragraph should contain at least one reference to the text or to the film. This means using MLA-style citation! Either use your Little Brown Handbook to guide you or refer to Research and Documentation Online. You should also review this handy guide to integrating source material into your essay.
6) We will peer review the rough draft of Writing Assignment #1 in class on Thursday, 9/28. Bring a printed copy of your typed draft for the peer review session. Failure to come prepared that day will constitute an absence from class. Should you be absent that day, please complete this absentee peer review outside of class with a partner.
7) The finished draft of Writing Assignment #1 and Postwrite #1 are due by the end of class on Tuesday, 10/3. No late assignments will be accepted. If you are absent, you must e-mail your work to me by the end of the period.
Format:
1) Essay must be word-processed, double-spaced, with 1”-1.25” margins all the way around.
2) Use only Arial or Times New Roman 12 point fonts.
3) No title page, please. Use a double-spaced heading on the upper, left-hand corner of the first page of your essay. The heading should include your name, the course name and section number, the instructor’s name, and the date.
4) You should have a running header inserted in the upper right-hand corner of every page of your essay that includes your last name and the page number. Use Word’s header/footer feature to accomplish this.
5) A creative, thoughtful title should be centered on the first line immediately following the heading. Do not underline, boldface, place in quotation marks, or otherwise accentuate your own title. You need only capitalize the significant words in your title.
6) Hit enter one time after typing your title, hit tab once, and begin the first paragraph of the essay. You need not hit return at the end of each line. Let word wrap take care of that for you. Just hit enter when you end a paragraph and tab to indent.
7) When you have completed your essay, save the file as a MS Word document (a .doc file). If you do not have Word on your home computer, save the file as an .rtf file. DO NOT send .wps files!
8) Name the file using your last name and the assignment number (i.e. Garcia1) and mail it to me as an attachment. Do not cut and paste the text into the body of the e-mail.
9) See either your Little Brown Handbook for a sample MLA-style manuscript or visit Research and Documentation Online.
10) Please note that following instructions for correct manuscript format DOES factor into your overall course grade!
Content:
1) Your essay should be 2-3 pages or 500-750 words long.
2) Review your notes and study guide questions from The Things They Carried and M*A*S*H. It may also help to review the links to the websites on writing about fiction and film and the handout on literary terms I have posted for you on WebCT. Ask yourself where the novel and the film intersected. Where did they diverge? What can you say about those points? What about the book interested you the most? What about the film interested you the most? Was there anything about the book or the film that repelled you? Do you see any similarities there?
3) If you find it helpful, use the link to the Venn diagram generator under the WebCT “Helpful Links” organizer page to assist you as you prewrite. The purpose of a Venn diagram is to help you visual points of comparison and contrast.
4) Your introductory paragraph should contain a unifying thesis that clearly states the focus of your essay and the main supporting arguments.
5) Each body paragraph should contain at least one reference to the text or to the film. This means using MLA-style citation! Either use your Little Brown Handbook to guide you or refer to Research and Documentation Online. You should also review this handy guide to integrating source material into your essay.
6) We will peer review the rough draft of Writing Assignment #1 in class on Thursday, 9/28. Bring a printed copy of your typed draft for the peer review session. Failure to come prepared that day will constitute an absence from class. Should you be absent that day, please complete this absentee peer review outside of class with a partner.
7) The finished draft of Writing Assignment #1 and Postwrite #1 are due by the end of class on Tuesday, 10/3. No late assignments will be accepted. If you are absent, you must e-mail your work to me by the end of the period.