Gwendolyn B.Bennett
Paper : This essay will be based on the author featured in your Author Presentation which is the one I chose (Gwendolyn B. Bennett). Your essay should contain the following:
A bio-bibliographic section that details the author’s life, his or her publishing history, and a discussion of the importance of The New Negro and/or Fire!! to the author’s development and legacy.
An analytical section that: 1) provides a close reading of the author’s contribution(s) in The New Negro and/or Fire!!
A comparative section that discusses the author’s contributions in relation to the rest of The New Negro and/or Fire!!
Ultimately, your essay should explain to what extent the author echoes and/or troubles Alain Locke’s ideas about “The New Negro.”
These are the basic elements of your paper. You will need to figure out your central organizing idea (your thesis), and you will construct the essay according to the logic of your thesis. You will also be required to use a minimum of two legitimate outside sources (2000 words minimum). Paper Two is worth 30% of your final grade and is due via Turnitin on Thursday, May 19 before 11 p.m. .
Your essays will be graded for both content (ideas) and style (grammar, writing quality, etc.). Therefore, before you submit a paper to Turnitin, you should print out a hard copy and proofread it.
Outside Sources: The following electronic information databases are available through the Lloyd Sealy Library’s homepage (http://www.lib.jjay.cuny.edu). These databases provide access to articles, reviews, overviews, and biographies from legitimate academic sources. I strongly encourage you to begin your search for outside sources by visiting these databases, rather than using generalized, nonacademic sites such as Google. Excellent material can be found on these databases:
• Literature Resource Center • Artemis Literary Sources •Project Muse •JSTOR
Students are sometimes confused by the terms “outside source” and “secondary source,” so a word of clarification is in order. First, “outside source” and “secondary source” mean the same thing; these terms are synonymous. Think of it this way: the books you are reading for this course are the primary sources (or primary texts). Anything else—anything that is not that text—is a secondary or outside source. So, for example, The New Negro is the primary source, while a review of the anthology is outside or secondary. A history of the Harlem Renaissance is a secondary or outside source. A newspaper report from 1925 is an outside source. If what you are quoting is not The New Negro, it is an outside source. Please see the “MLA style” Blackboard folder for additional guidance.
Purdue University provides an excellent resource for writers, including a lot of very good grammar help, here: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/
Required Texts
Locke, Harlem: Mecca of the New Negro ISBN 0933121059
Locke, The New Negro ISBN 0684838311
Thurman, Fire!! Devoted to the Younger Negro Artists ISBN 0912607009
Thurman, Infants of the Spring ISBN 1555531288
ESSAY RUBRIC
I will be using the following rubric to assess your work. You should keep this in mind and make sure your paper delivers on all the criteria.
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| To get an “A” | To get a “B” | To get a “C” | To get a “D” |
| Close reading: comprehension & interpretation | You demonstrate an excellent understanding of the text’s meaning and how it is produced (both thematic and formal elements). | You demonstrate a solid understanding of the text’s meaning and how it is produced. | You get the general sense of the meaning of the texts you discuss. | You do not demonstrate comprehension of the texts you discuss. |
| Argument | Your essay makes an argument, with clear, persuasive points. You make a clear thesis statement in your first paragraph and all of your following paragraphs directly connect back to it. | Your essay has an argument, but the points are not particularly clear or persuasive. You stake a claim in the first paragraph, but your thesis needs elaboration (How? In what way? Why?). Your body paragraphs develop your claim but the connections aren’t always clear. | Your essay’s argument is hard to follow. There may not be a thesis on the first page, and your paragraphs don’t make their main points clearly or connect to each other logically. | Your essay does not make an argument about the text(s). |
| Textual support | Your essay provides abundant, specific support from the text, including both examples and quotations, and you explain how the evidence supports your claim. | Your essay has some support, including both examples and quotations, but you don’t fully explain how the evidence supports your claim. Your essay may summarize the plot or list details without specifying why these details function as evidence. | Your essay provides examples but no quotations from the text and no analysis of the examples support your claim. Your essay may be primarily comprised of plot summary. | Your essay does not provide support for your claims. |
| Writing & proofreading | Your essay contains minimal spelling and/or grammatical errors. | Your essay contains some spelling and/or grammatical errors. | Your essay has several spelling and/or grammatical errors. | Your essay is full of spelling and/or grammatical errors. |
Checklist for MLA Style:
Did you review the material in the “MLA style” folder? ____ YES ___ NO
Did you use in-text citations? ____ YES ___ NO
Are all quotations and paraphrases quoted? ____ YES ___ NO
Works cited list with correct bibliography ____ YES ___ NO
Does your paper have a title and page numbers? ____ YES ___ NO
Did you provide the correct header and not a title page? ____ YES ___ NO
Statement of the College Policy on Plagiarism
Plagiarism is the presentation of someone else‘s ideas, words, or artistic, scientific, or technical work as one‘s own creation. Using the ideas or work of another is permissible only when the original author is identified. Paraphrasing and summarizing, as well as direct quotations require citations to the original source.
Plagiarism may be intentional or unintentional. Lack of dishonest intent does not necessarily absolve a student of responsibility for plagiarism.
It is the student‘s responsibility to recognize the difference between statements that are common knowledge (which do not require documentation) and restatements of the ideas of others. Paraphrase, summary, and direct quotation are acceptable forms of restatement, as long as the source is cited
