Essay on "New African by Andrea Lee"

Quoted Instructions for "New African by Andrea Lee" Assignment:

I need a (6) six-page essay on the American Literature course.

There are seven exercises that need to be answered.

The EXERCISE 5.6C is the most important.

I*****ll include all the literature materials (short stories, poems, etc.).

Exercise 5.1A: Evaluation Essay

Directions: When you finish the Contemporary Period (Collection 21), you*****'ll write an evaluative essay in your journal. This essay can be about any work of literature either from this course such as New African by Andrea Lee and Autobiographical Notes by James Baldwin or outside work.

In this essay you*****'ll write your own statement about the value of a work of literature and then provide reasons why your evaluation is correct and evidence to support those reasons.

On one level this essay is about your opinion -- you set the criteria by which the work is judged -- but it is also about thinking clearly and supporting your ideas with evidence. If you*****'d like to sneak a look at this exercise before you start the prewriting, it*****'s on pages 1181 - 1184 in your textbook.

Before you begin the reading for this section, make a list of stories, books, poems, or plays that have moved you. Some of your entries may have moved you because they seemed so wonderful and some because they seemed so downright awful. Either kind is a good candidate for this type of essay.

Give yourself a little time as you do this exercise. Perhaps you should update the list over the course of a few days, because the perfect essay subject may not be the most obvious choice. You should list at least five possible works. Be sure to identify them fully with title and author and perhaps a source if you own the book or an anthology in which it*****'s included, or know where to find it at the library or online.

Exercise 5.2A: Pre-Writing: Reread

Directions: When you finish the Contemporary Period (Collection 21), you*****'ll write an evaluative essay in your journal. This essay can be about any work of literature either from this course or outside.

Before you begin the reading for this part of the lesson, pick the piece you want to write about from the list you wrote in Exercise 5.1A. Then reread the piece, paying special attention to the content of the piece and how you react to it. Take notes now about points that strike you and flag quotes you think are significant.

Exercise 5.3A: Pre-Writing: Collect Your Thoughts

Directions: When you finish the Contemporary Period (Collection 21), you*****'ll write an evaluative essay in your journal. This essay can be about any work of literature either from this course or outside. Open the work you*****'ve chosen and write two quick paragraphs or a list about it.

Put your opinion of the work first and then add specific reasons why you feel the way you do. Include page numbers for quotes and details you can use to support your opinion. You should state your opinion and then write a paragraph or two or a list of at least six reasons you feel that way, along with page numbers for supporting details.

Exercise 5.4A: Pre-Writing: Establish Criteria

Directions: When you finish the Contemporary Period (Collection 21), you*****'ll write an evaluative essay in your journal. This essay can be about any work of literature either from this course or outside. Have you ever noticed that some reviewers list the criteria they use to evaluate something right in their review?

When you write your essay, you*****'ll need to be clear what criteria you used to evaluate the work. In this exercise, make a list of criteria that fit the type of work you*****'ve chosen. (These might differ for poetry, fiction, nonfiction, or even among genres like young adult fiction, *****"literary*****" fiction, historical fiction, etc.) For example, if you are evaluating a piece of science fiction, one criteria might be *****"Uses Believable Scientific Concepts.*****"

Your textbook lists more sample criteria and explains this step more completely on page 1182. In this exercise you*****'re just writing a list of criteria. (See the chart on page 1182; right now you will only fill in the first column. You*****'ll fill the rest of the chart in later.) You should establish at least four clear criteria.

Exercise 5.5A: Criterion-Assessment-Evident Chart

Directions: When you finish the Contemporary Period (Collection 21), you*****'ll write an evaluative essay in your journal. This essay can be about any work of literature either from this course or outside. In the last pre-writing 5.4A, you wrote down your evaluation criteria. In this exercise you*****'ll put those criteria to work by making a criterion-assessment-evidence chart.

For more information about how to make this chart and an example, please look at step 5 on page 1182 of your textbook. (Note that you should put your criteria list from Journal Exercise 5.4A in the first column.) You should list at least four criteria with an assessment and evidence for each.

Exercise 5.6A: Final Criteria

Directions: When you finish the Contemporary Period (Collection 21), you*****'ll write an evaluative essay in your journal. This essay can be about any work of literature either from this course or outside.

In a previous pre-writing exercise (5.5A) you made a chart with your criteria, an assessment of the work, and evidence. Look back at that chart now and mark off what you think will be your strongest point. Add new entries as you think of them. Search for new evidence if necessary.

Exercise 5.6C: Evaluative Essay

Directions: Now that you*****'ve finished the reading in your textbook, you*****'ll write an evaluative essay offering your well-considered judgment on a piece of literature. Your focus work can be anything you*****'ve read during this course or outside.

This essay is not just an opinion though; you offer your evaluation and then support it with reasons and evidence to support your reasons. It should be at least (5) five paragraphs long.

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