ESSAY I

Examine what you have written thus far:

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 Step back from that early work and consider how you might write a more thoughtful essay. 

Take that idea from the essay and analyze it in light of these questions: What are the larger 

implications of the idea? How does another text that you have read or viewed in this course 

or elsewhere shape the way you think about the idea? How does your own experience 

influence your thinking? What do you have to say about this idea?

 You want to deepen your understanding of the idea by playing out its larger implications 

against the backdrop of the selected essay that set this whole process in motion. That essay 

provides the foundation for your work, but the deepening will come through your thinking, 

aided by the connections you make between the idea you borrowed from the initial essay 

and the evidence you will draw from some other text(s) that you have read.

 Manuscript Notes: This essay should be five double-spaced pages and calls for MLA 

documentation; you must include a “Works Cited” list at the end of your essay. When you quote 

key phrases or clauses from the essay, you must provide parenthetical documentation. Follow the 

guidelines in your handbook.