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Essays

Each student is expected to produce two Essays during the course of the semester. Essays are thesis-driven arguments supported by evidence. Different types of literary analysis essays are discussed on this page from the University of Vermont's Writing Center. The Purdue OWL's Writing in Literature section provides additional detail. Essays will be submitted using DROPitTOme. Before submitting, students should convert their files to .pdf format and title them using this nomenclature:

  • lastname-firstname-essay1.pdf

Once the file has been named correctly, follow these instructions:

  1. Go to this website: http://dropitto.me/jtirrell
  2. Enter the password "tirrell"
  3. Click the "Choose File" button, select your document, and click "UPLOAD"

Excellent Essays should:

  • connect with the theme of virtual realities in some way
  • be at least 1,500 words (about five pages) plus a Works Cited section
  • provide a contestable thesis supported by evidence
  • incorporate at least one of the course texts and one external scholarly source
  • follow the conventions of Edited American English
  • be in MLA format

Tips:

  • Familiarize yourself with our "Engaged Reading" notes. They provide information about the course's goals for reading and how to use source texts.
  • Focus tightly on a manageable subject. The likely danger here is focusing too generally, so try to find specific passages or ideas in our readings that you can connect into a controlled narrative. When it comes to subjects, it's more effective to start narrow and build outward than to start broad and focus inward.
  • Don't write in sequential order from introduction to conclusion. Establish a working thesis and then address the middle of your work by providing support for your claim. Revise your working thesis as you go. Once you have a grasp of the middle move on to the conclusion and then the introduction. If you try to write in sequential order your work likely will have an overly general introduction and a weak structure. This is because it is very difficult to set up what you are going to say before you know what that will be.
  • Make sure to forward an appropriate thesis. "Thesis Statements: How to Write Them in Academic Essays" from Dennis Jerz's Literacy Weblog can help you with this.
  • Make use of UNCW's fantastic Writing Lab. Its tutors can help you move from ideas to drafts and beyond.