The purpose of this essay is to help you use writing to struggle through, and thereby deepen your understanding of, some critical theory that we have encountered by applying it to a literary work that we have read.
Start by reading this "prompt" (the question that is intended to stimulate your ideas):
In her essay, "Introducing Cyberpunk" (especially pages 18 through the end of the essay), Sabine Heuser dissects the term, "cyberpunk," discussing elements that she and others have associated with the "cyber" part of the term and elements that she and others have associated with the "punk" part of the term. How well do her ideas apply to Philip K. Dick's short story, "We Can Remember It for You Wholesale"?
In a formal, argumentative essay of 1000 to 1250
words (according to the word count
tool in Microsoft Word), respond to the prompt. To do this, develop a
thesis (main argument) that answers the prompt. The rest of the essay
will comprise your attempts to convince the reader of the veracity of
your thesis. Consider your audience to be a smart, educated person who
has read, but
is not an expert on, Dick's story and Heuser's essay, so you do not
need to summarize the story's plot or Heuser's whole article.
Just refer to the parts of each that you need to mention to make your
point. You should use specific examples to illustrate the points
you want to make.
As a formal piece of university writing, your essay should be typed and double-spaced throughout, using a standard font (like Times New Roman) in 12-point size, and with margins of one inch all the way around each page. Use MLA style, as described in the latest edition of The MLA Handbook (available in the Bookstore and in the reference section of the Library). In the top, left-hand corner of the first page, place a heading that includes (using one line per item) your name, the course number, the date, and my name (Prof. David S. Goldstein). (See item #20 in "Tips for Better Prose.") Provide a meaningful but brief title for your paper (not "Essay" but rather a short hint of your paper's main argument) that is centered just one double space beneath the heading on the first page and in plain type (no underlining, bold, italics, or quotation marks). (See item #22 in "Tips for Better Prose.") You must use Microsoft Word (not Microsoft Works or Wordperfect) or I will be unable to open and read the document, and the paper will be considered late.
Please do not use a cover
page, footnotes, or a bibliography. If you wish to quote, do so only
after reading Becky Rosenberg's document, "Using Direct Quotation" at
<http://faculty.washington.edu/davidgs/Quotation.html>. You do not need to include the word count
on your document. I can check that myself.
I have posted an example of a very good essay (written in a previous literature course but on a different topic) in the "Course Documents" area of Blackboard at <http://bb.uwb.edu> You may read it if you want to see an example of an essay that I have liked. Note especially how the author lays out a specific argument (thesis) in the opening paragraph, and uses each subsequent paragraph to directly and explicitly support that thesis.
Because all teachers have their own
idiosyncratic preferences for writing, you should review what mine
are by re-reading "Tips for Better Prose" at <http://faculty.washington.edu/davidgs/Prose.html>.
Re-reading this document is a required part of the assignment, but I
recommend doing so only after you have a completed draft of your paper
so you do not get too distracted at first with the mechanics of the
paper. When I
return your paper to you, I might mention some ways in which your
paper's mechanics might have been distracting. I will use a list
of codes such as "T1," "T2," and so forth, which refer
to the numbered items of the "Tips for Better Prose" document. Of
course, it would be better for you and for me if you pay close
attention to the document so you can avoid some of the
mechanical errors that I commonly find in student (and even
professional) writing, rather than have them pointed out to you
afterward. I recommend printing that document, and, after you finish
writing your paper, check the items off one by one to make sure your
paper is as mechanically sound as you can make it. Although the
mechanics of writing are less important to me than the ideas
expressed (which is evidenced in the proportion of your grade
allocated to each of these aspects of your essay, as described
below), the mechanics inevitably improve the effectiveness of your
communication of ideas, which, after all, is your ultimate
goal with each piece of writing that you do.
Needless to say, your work must be entirely original. Using another person's ideas or words without proper attribution, whether intentional or accidental, constitutes plagiarism, and will result in a zero on this assignment. Please re-read "Maintaining Academic Integrity" at <http://faculty.washington.edu/davidgs/Integrity.html>.
Your essay is due in your mid-quarter
portfolio at 10:50 a.m.
sharp on Wednesday, April 27. I will post separate
instructions for the mid-quarter and course-end learning portfolio to
explain how to submit the essay in your portfolio.
My goal is to return midquarter portfolios
within ten days of their submission. In your returned midquarter
portfolio, you will find my comments on your essay. I will not
comment on essays submitted after the midquarter portfolio deadline,
so
you will not have the benefit of my feedback when you produce your
final version unless you submit the midquarter version on time.
Optional Essay Revision: If you like, you may revise your essay after getting your evaluated essay back if it was submitted by the original deadline. You will still adhere to the length and formatting requirements outlined above for your original paper. Remember to check the word count of the revision as you did for the original paper. Then, when you submit your final Learning Portfolio (no later than 10:50 a.m. on Monday, May 30), include both the original and the revision. I will grade only the latest version of your essay that I find in your course-end learning portfolio. In other words, if you choose not to submit a revision, then I will assign a grade to the midquarter version of your essay if it appears in the course-end portfolio.
Criteria for grading: Please carefully read "Criteria for Assessing Writing" at <http://faculty.washington.edu/davidgs/WritingAssess.html> for an explanation of these items:
Content 50 percent Organization 10 percent Reasoning 20 percent Rhetoric 10 percent Conventions 10 percent TOTAL 40 percent of final course grade
Let me emphasize that I expect your best effort in this and every exercise. Your most serious work now will enable me to provide the most helpful comments, which in turn will improve your grade on later assignments. In other words, this assignment helps determine your grade in this course both directly (with the score it earns) and indirectly (with its capacity to teach you how to improve your writing), so it is worth the investment of your time and effort to do the best you can.
Some additional advice:
This page last updated March 25, 2005.
