English 131: Introduction Literature

Writing Assignments

Creative Project:

Due Monday, April 28

This is the last week of class. students will present their creative project to the class and hand in a copy to be graded at that time. Presentations will be 7-10 minutes in length.

Suggestions writing projects: Written project must be a minimum of 1500 words. No more 5,000 words. You may use an existing work, but must explain the revisions you have made to make it new and fresh for the assignment.

  • Short Story
  • One act play
  • Chapter in a novel
  • Collections of poems
  • Collection of family recipes with stories for each recipe
  • Parody of poem or story
  • personal narrative essay: an interesting, significant event or person in your life
  • excerpts from a journal you kept on a trip or during a certain period of life. can even be fiction, one you make up, but it must have a point, a reason, so you will have to provide some explanation as to the meaning or importance of entries. There should be reflection that relates to the journal entries
  • a collection of letters. Letter writing is a lost art. You could create a fictional couple writing letters back and forth or write letters from just one person in the relationship
    • letters a dying mom might write to children or a daughter
    • letters from a soldier or to a soldier. Choose a time period: revolutionary war, civil war, WWII, even current war
    • letters between just friends
  • Work must be authentic, original. You may have to research a historical period; give credit
  • Write a movie review or book review. If you write a movie review, bring the dvd or video. Have scene selected to save time on the video. My lap top will play dvds and we have vcr in smart classroom.
  • Write a review of favorite music cd or video. Play music. bring your own player.
  • Include your own art work or photography, if you would like.

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Paper 2: Writing about poetry: Poetry Explication; 2-3 pages.

Due: Monday, April 14

  1. Select one of the poems that we have read
  2. Be sure to quote lines from the poem to serve as examples to demonstrate your point
  3. For suggestions on writing about Literature read p.1278-1289 and "Tips For Writing About Literature", p. 1294.-1301. These pages will serve as grading criteria: things that any essay dealing with a literary work must have. Include in your discussion these ideas:
    1. who the speaker is
    2. to whom the speaker is speaking and others in the poem
    3. symbolism, metaphores, and other imagery
    4. rhyme scheme and meter
    5. If you write about a sonnet, your discussion should include elements of the sonnet.
  4. Also read p. 1325-1327"Writing About Poems," which gives guidelines and provides a sample essay.
  5. Email me if you have questions or schedule a conference to meet with me in the office
  6. You may also use the Writing Center for help. Be sure to call for an appointment.
  7. No research necessary. I want to know what YOU think about the poem.