The document outlines grading criteria and instructions for Paper 1, focusing on the development of a thesis, analysis of a literary text, and the incorporation of evidence. It emphasizes the importance of organizing the essay, adhering to formatting guidelines, and conducting research to support arguments. Key components include analyzing specific passages, identifying literary features, and presenting a clear and coherent conclusion.

1. Name:_______________________
Grading Criteria for Paper 1Your
Introduction_____________________
Guides the reader into the topic and thesis of
Weak
Competent
Above&Beyond
Great
your paper
Offers a clear and interesting thesis statement
Weak
Competent
Above&Beyond
Great
that a) makes a claim about the meaning, argument
or key idea conveyed by your text; and b) states
how your text conveys that meaning or idea.
Your Analysis and Discussion ____________
Closely analyzes 2-3 passages in the text
Weak
Competent

2. Above&Beyond
Great
Draws on relevant outside sources
Weak
Competent
Above&Beyond
Great
Offers a conclusion that discusses the implications
Weak
Competent
Above&Beyond
Great
of your observations
Your Essay Structure:______________________
Organizes each paragraph around one central
Weak
Competent
Above&Beyond
Great
claim or idea
Orders the paragraphs in a logical way
Weak
Competent
Above&Beyond
Great
Pulls together key points in a concluding para-
Weak
Competent
Above&Beyond

3. Great
graph
Your Grammar and style:________
Uses an appropriate style
Weak
Competent
Above&Beyond
Great
Uses academically-standard grammar
Weak
Competent
Above&Beyond
Great
Your Adherence to formatting guidelines:
States name, title, and other front page infor-
Weak
Competent
Above&Beyond
Great
mation in a professional format, and uses ap-
propriate headers on subsequent pages
Adequately cites sources in MLA format
Weak
Competent
Above&Beyond
Great
Includes a Works Cited page
Weak

4. Competent
Above&Beyond
Great
Thesis + Outline – Essay 1
Due: Tues, Jul 16, 12 pm - submit through Blackboard
Instructions:
Tell me your basic topic:which text you will analyze
and which themes or topics you plan to discuss
Passages from the text: Identify 2-3 key passages from the text
that you intend to discuss. Describe what aspects of these
passages that you consider most important.

5. Literary / rhetorical features: Identify the literary or rhetorical
features of the text you plan to discuss. For example, what
literary or rhetorical strategies do you think the author is using
in these passages? Or what features of the genre are important
to understanding the text? Or what elements of the text’s
structure shape it’s meaning?
Fact-checking / Spot-Research: Identify 1-2 historical,
religious, or other issues that you might need to research.
Thesis: Draft a tentative thesis statement that contains your
ideas. Remember that a thesis statement can be more than one
sentence long. (I know, I know, this is hard! I expect that
you’ll eventually change this. But it can help you to focus if
you start out with a basic hypothesis.)

6. Outline: Based on what you have written in the previous
paragraphs, outline your paper including a full-sentence
description for each line in the outline.
Assignment – Essay 1 – pg 3
Essay 1
Due Dates
Thesis + outline
Tues, July 16, 12 pm
Final Draft
Sat, July 20, 5 pm
Summary
For this paper, you will analyze a course text using the concepts
and techniques covered in class.
Goal

7. The goal of this assignment is to strengthen your ability to
develop a complex, independent thesis, and to work closely and
analytically with a text. You will also gain additional practice
in doing a minimal level of research on some topic that’s
important for understanding your text.
Requirements
· State a thesis. Your thesis should make a claim about what
meaning, argument, or idea your text conveys, and how (that is,
what literary techniques or features contribute to that meaning,
argument, or idea).
· Support your argument with evidence. After laying out your
thesis, you should proceed to support your argument with
relevant evidence. For this course, two types of evidence may
be necessary:
a) Evidence from the primary text. In literary analysis, your
main evidence must come directly from the text itself. The
details of the text must support your claim, and you must offer
examples and quotations from the text to back up your claim.
b) Evidence from at least 1 secondary source.For this essay, I
am requiring you to consult at least one secondary source for
factual information about some issue related to your text, for
example, an aspect of its historical context or the author’s
religion. You will need to go beyond encyclopedias and
dictionaries and seek out at least one scholarly book or article
by a historian, religious studies scholar, or cultural studies
scholar.
Make sure you offer enough evidence, and the right kind, for
each argument you make.
· Analyze and Explain. It is not enough to include quotations.
You need to analyze and discuss them, explaining why and how
they support your thesis. It is usually best to discuss a few
important passages in detail, focusing on the words, tone,
images, metaphors, arguments, information, formats, or other

8. literary/ rhetorical devices your text uses in order to convey its
meaning.
· Follow an organized sequence.
a. An introduction that captures your reader’s attention and
guides him or her into the topic and thesis of your paper.
b. A well-organized body that lays out your points in a logical
order, with focused paragraphs, and with clear transitions
between ideas.
c. A conclusion that discusses the implications of your
observations. Drawing on your ideas for item #5 above, explain
how the strategies you have identified help the author to make
an important point about his settlement or colonization in
America.
· Use standard English, including correct grammar, spelling,
and punctuation.
· Use the following format:
a. Contain 900 words not counting the Works Cited page (~ 3
pages – use Word Count.)
b. Use Times New Roman 12 pt font, double-spaced lines, and
1” margins
c. Cite all in-text sources according to MLA format
d. Include a Works Cited page in MLA format using NoodleBib
(through the Library)
Step-by-Step Instructions for Getting Started
1. Choose a Text:
Choose any text we have read in class. Then pick a section or

9. two of the text to focus upon. You need to select sections
which we have not extensively discussed in class. Thus, you
should either:
--pick sections that I did not assign for class reading, by reading
other portions of the text provided in the reading or checking
the complete text (on reserve at the library)
--pick a section that I assigned but that we did not extensively
discuss in class.
2. Read the text through thoroughly.
3. Focus in on some specific passages.
Identify 2-3 key passages that you think are important. In a
short paper, you really can’t discuss more than a few specific
passages, so don’t try to analyze the WHOLE text. However, if
you’ve picked good passages, you should be able to make some
true statements about the text as a whole, based on those
specific places.
4. Research any factual issues you need to know – either related
to history, religion, or literature.
For example, if you want to reference Apess’s Methodism, you
should find out a little more about Methodistm in the early 19th
century. For this essay, you should consult at least one outside,
academic source that discuss some aspect of your text. It
cannot be an encyclopedia or dictionary entry. You may also
consult a web source if and only if it is associated with a
credible institution or publication.
Can you use Wikipedia? Yes and no. It’s a great place to start
out as you try to get a grasp of the issue you’re trying to read
about. So sure, look up the “Methodism” entry there. You
should also check the “reference” section of the “Literature”
research page at the library.
But you can’t cite Wikipedia (or other encyclopedias) in your
Works Cited page. That is to say, it’s never good enough as

10. your final source. After you have read an overview of the issue
that interests you, you need to find a more in-depth source
written by a scholar.
5. Now for the hard part:draw out the implications of what you
have observed.
Based on your observations and your research, explain how
these literary features shape the overall meaning of the work.