ENGL 214:Thesis Instructions One thing I love about studying poetry (and literature in general) is that it allows you to see and consider multiple points of view. By nature, academic writers (that’s us!) are curious, observant, and open to thinking outside of the box! However, once we discover something to say, we are analytical, focused and persuasive. Persuasion—convincing peers (in our case, fellow students of poetry) to understand and agree with your particular point of view—is the heart of academic writing. Therefore, we must practice making and proving assertions throughout this class. You may notice that a large portion of your grade comes from regular Thesis assignments. The Thesis assignments are short response papers. I call them Thesis assignments because you need to make one clear assertion in every paper. This assertion can relate to any poem or any theme that you notice; however, you must: State your idea Support your idea with evidence from the poem (or textbook) I have created possible topics for each Thesis paper that is assigned; however, if you feel compelled to write about something else, then please do! The key is to state a point of view (related to a poem) and then explain where/how/why you have that point of view. What is evidence? In order to be convincing, you must include direct quotes or paraphrases from the poem you’re studying. These direct pieces from the poem serve as proof for the idea you’re trying to assert. Here are a few resources:Work in the proof using the “sandwich” method: http://www.csun.edu/~hflrc006/quote.html" http://www.csun.edu/~hflrc006/quote.html. If you need help with including direct quotes, review Chapters 23: Writing about a Poem (beginning on p. 502) in your textbook. I particularly like the sample essays and quote examples in Chapter 23. Guidelines for Thesis papers: There are a total of five (5) Thesis assignments due throughout this semester. Each paper should be about ¾ page (single spaced) or 400-500 words long; this is about 3-4 substantial paragraphs. These papers are fairly informal. This means that you can leave off the flowery introductions. Instead, get straight to the content: what do you think and why? Although they are informal, you still need to state your thesis/idea, document all source material with in-text citations (Chapter 24 outlines basic MLA format), and use standard grammar. Informal does not mean sloppy or unclear.Stay focused on your main point! Because these are short papers, there’s no time to wander into unrelated topics. Stick to your idea, and explain your evidence. Rubric for Thesis papers: I will read and respond to each Thesis paper individually (so check back after the grades have been entered to read comments). I will look for you to assert some stance and to support that stance with evidence from the text. Noticing something particular about the poem and including textual evidence from the poem to support your view are k ...

1. ENGL 214:Thesis Instructions
One thing I love about studying poetry (and literature in
general) is that it allows you to see and consider multiple points
of view. By nature, academic writers (that’s us!) are curious,
observant, and open to thinking outside of the box! However,
once we discover something to say, we are analytical, focused
and persuasive. Persuasion—convincing peers (in our case,
fellow students of poetry) to understand and agree with your
particular point of view—is the heart of academic writing.
Therefore, we must practice making and proving assertions
throughout this class.
You may notice that a large portion of your grade comes from
regular Thesis assignments. The Thesis assignments are short
response papers. I call them Thesis assignments because you
need to make one clear assertion in every paper. This assertion
can relate to any poem or any theme that you notice; however,
you must: State your idea
Support your idea with evidence from the poem (or textbook)
I have created possible topics for each Thesis paper that is
assigned; however, if you feel compelled to write about
something else, then please do! The key is to state a point of
view (related to a poem) and then explain where/how/why you
have that point of view.
What is evidence? In order to be convincing, you must include
direct quotes or paraphrases from the poem you’re studying.
These direct pieces from the poem serve as proof for the idea
you’re trying to assert. Here are a few resources:Work in the
proof using the “sandwich” method:
http://www.csun.edu/~hflrc006/quote.html"
http://www.csun.edu/~hflrc006/quote.html. If you need help
with including direct quotes, review Chapters 23: Writing about
a Poem (beginning on p. 502) in your textbook. I particularly

2. like the sample essays and quote examples in Chapter 23.
Guidelines for Thesis papers: There are a total of five (5) Thesis
assignments due throughout this semester. Each paper should
be about ¾ page (single spaced) or 400-500 words long; this is
about 3-4 substantial paragraphs. These papers are fairly
informal. This means that you can leave off the flowery
introductions. Instead, get straight to the content: what do you
think and why?
Although they are informal, you still need to state your
thesis/idea, document all source material with in-text citations
(Chapter 24 outlines basic MLA format), and use standard
grammar. Informal does not mean sloppy or unclear.Stay
focused on your main point! Because these are short papers,
there’s no time to wander into unrelated topics. Stick to your
idea, and explain your evidence.
Rubric for Thesis papers: I will read and respond to each Thesis
paper individually (so check back after the grades have been
entered to read comments). I will look for you to assert some
stance and to support that stance with evidence from the text.
Noticing something particular about the poem and including
textual evidence from the poem to support your view are key to
earning high scores on this frequent assignment. Respond with
your own point of view, and be sure to back it up with analysis
and textual evidence.
14-15 points: The writer clearly states his or her idea about a
particular poem; this idea is interesting and convincing because
the writer provides textual evidence in support of his/her
opinion. The writer includes analysis, details and specifics to
further develop his or her Thesis. The writer documents all
source material with MLA in-text citations, and there are zero
grammatical errors.
12-13 points: The writer states an idea about a particular poem;
this idea is interesting, and the writer provides textual evidence
in support of his/her opinion. Although the writing is clear, the

3. writer needs a little more analysis, details and specifics to
further develop his or her Thesis. The writer documents all
source material with MLA in-text citations, and there are few
distracting grammatical errors.
10-11points: The writer generates an idea about a particular
poem, but it isn’t stated clearly; the writer provides textual
evidence, but it doesn’t always directly support his/her opinion.
The quality of writing borders on vague, and the writer needs a
little more analysis, details and specifics to further develop his
or her Thesis. There are some simple errors in documenting
source material, or there are obvious grammatical errors.
5-9 points: The writer lacks an idea about a particular poem, or
it isn’t stated clearly; the writer has problems including textual
evidence. The quality of writing is poor, and there is
insufficient development. There are serious documentation or
grammatical errors.
1-5 points: The writer submits the assignment, but there are
significant weaknesses. The writing either lacks a main idea,
fails to provide textual evidence in support of his/her opinion,
or is unclear because of grammatical errors.
0 points: No submission or late submission.