Dearest students of argument and critical thinking, for this first major essay assignment let inspiration emerge from your careful and thoughtful ideas about the novel, The Marrow of Tradition. As a whole, think about the role of “violence” in the fight for equality among the races within Chesnutt’s tome. What types of “violence” are present within the fictional and non-fictional texts? Why? While you won’t be addressing these questions directly in this essay, they will definitely serve as reading and writing tools to formulating a response to this composition. The Essay Question/What Needs to Be Answered In a thoughtful, thesis-driven response of FIVE-SIX (PUSH FOR SIX) full pages minimum and typed in MLA format, answer the following: Why is the Miller’s child nameless and what is the meaning and relevance of this namelessness? Explain. Always remember, content and development of the student writer’s thoughts are important, but paragraph structure, organization, grammar, spelling, and MLA formatting are ALL paramount. Furthermore, be sure to address and answer the prompt. This prompt may appear deceptively easy, but I assure you, critical and careful reading and thinking will be of utmost importance. Remember to not point out the obvious within your essay. Thesis statement and topic sentences must be EXTREMELY clear and to the point. Remember, they must be arguable points and not facts from the novel or simply restating any assertions made in the critical articles (don’t repeat another writer’s argument). DO NOT use the language of the essay question ANYWHERE in the essay. Utilize your own words and thoughts. Active Reader and Annotation Tip when reading the Novel As active critical readers, you have all seen “behind the curtain” in some of the circumstances when dialogue and action may not be exchanged by the characters directly, so use this knowledge to your advantage. How has being able to understand the characters and their secrets, quirks, and truths, again unknown to the other characters, help you in the development of your argumentative interpretation? MLA Basics Reminder 12 point, Times New Roman font, 1” margins all around, heading and header, double-spacing throughout, proper in-text citations and documentation (Works Cited) and creative and relevant title. Textual Evidence Requirements/Limitations (Read carefully & choose wisely) Utilize the FIVE STEPS OF QUOTING of quote integration very carefully. The Marrow of Tradition by Charles W. Chesnutt – Incorporate FOUR direct quotes (3-4 lines) and ONE block quote (8 lines max. when formatted properly). Choose THREE critical articles from the Norton Critical Edition of The Marrow of Tradition that are listed below and utilize TWO direct quotes (3-4 lines) per article. Absolutely NO block formatted quotes from these articles. Chesnutt, “The Disfranchisement of the Negro” (NCE, pp. 231-247) Yarborough, “Violence, Manhood, and Black Heroism” (NCE, pp. 313-337) Thomas, “The Legal Argument of Charles W. Chesnutt’s Novels” (NCE, pp. 427-451) Pettis, “The Literary Imagination and the Historic Event: Chesnutt’s Use of History in The Marrow of Tradition” (NCE, pp. 452-463) George and Pressman, “From Confronting the Shadow: Psycho-Political Repression in Chesnutt’s The Marrow of Tradition” (NCE, pp. 413-419) Roe, “From ‘Keeping the ‘Old Wound’ Alive: The Marrow of Tradition and the Legacy of Wilmington” (NCE, pp. 463-471) Wagner, “From ‘Charles Chesnutt and the Epistemology of Racial Violence’” (NCE, pp. 510-513) Things to Remember for the Essay NO FIVE PARAGRAPH ESSAYS! PLEASE follow directions and meet the minimum parameters of the assignment to receive any credit. Thesis statements and topic sentences must be arguable points, not facts from the text. Facts from the text, as they are, function as the evidence to illustrate, prove and support your points. Utilize the FIVE STEPS OF QUOTING to avoid drop/floating quotations. Do not point out the obvious, nor be “matter of fact” or “passé” in your interpretive statements. Push your critical thinking and analysis skills! Have fun! All of the following will be assessed in this essay, so please make sure you are careful in your construction. Proofread, edit, and make changes BEFORE you hand the essay in for a grade. Introduction with an engaging “attention grabber” and intriguing and assertive thesis statement. Proper construction and development of paragraphs that begin with solid topic sentences (points of support for the thesis) and that end with smooth transitions (7-8 sentences per paragraph at least; strive for balanced paragraphs) Counter-argument that addresses possible opposition to your main claim or one of your supportive points. Thoughtful conclusion that emphasizes an important point that you could not elaborate on enough as a full body paragraph, but that you want to leave your reader thinking about. Do not do any of the following: Do not write a Five Paragraph Essay. Doing so will detrimental to the assignment. Do not summarize the text(s). I’ve read the text(s) and don’t need to know what it/they are about, again. For the thesis and topic sentences, do not state facts from the text. Doing so will lead to summarization. DO NOT FORGET to adhere to all the directions and minimum parameters of the assignment.