Cordelia’s Game of Life

In Cordelia the Crude, author Wallace Thurman creates a “me vs. you” environment both for the readers and the narrator. Cordelia’s entire life is described as a long battle that she is neither winning nor losing. It is difficult for the reader to pinpoint where Cordelia stands in her life, which presents a mind game…

Do I have a good thesis? (checklist)

You can download the Thesis Check-list, featured on the image for this post by clicking the following link:  Writing_Checklist for Thesis Statements.  Use this document as a guide to help you put together your draft thesis. Please Note: While the syllabus asks for a draft of the introduction with a thesis, your intro draft does not…

Musical Literacy in Narrative of the Life of Henry Box Brown

As a slave narrative, Narrative of the Life of Henry Box Brown boasts an impressive display of control of the English language. This uniquely American genre that told the exciting and perilous life stories of former slaves intended to show the great feats that that former slaves could accomplish, both literary and physical. Control and mastery of the English language was necessary at…

Three Traps: On Making a Strong Textual Analysis Argument

Common Pitfalls of Scholars’ Close Reading and Textual Analysis Arguments 1-Beyond the Scope of the Text: One of the common traps for young and old scholars is making claims about the text that ultimately go beyond the scope of what we could ever prove with that one text. Examples:  This book shows that black people…

What’s a Logical Fallacy?

Imaged accessed at: https://michelerosenthal.com/portfolio/logical-fallacies/ image accessed at: https://www.freetech4teachers.com/2015/11/videos-and-poster-explaining-logical.html

Argumentation

“Argumentation” refers to how well (convincingly) you layout the text-based details and reasoning for your claim and explain the possible stakes of your claim.  The two primary areas I look for when assessing the strength of  your argument are: 1- the clarity and effectiveness of how you organize or layout your argument.   -Do you provide your…