Use and Analysis of Quotations
What is so exciting about the three papers is the way that, even though all three students focus on some iteration of gender dynamics in the novel, their papers discuss these dynamics in entirely different ways. While Nicole focuses on the obsession of men with women, Anastasia looks at the ways in which misogyny is used to project ridicule, and Nem expounds on the idea that, despite all of this preoccupation, bonds with women are, ultimately, unimportant.
All three students successfully use passages from the text to present and consolidate their arguments and, to differing degrees, use close readings of O’Brien’s language to support their claims.
Nicole’s first body paragraph reads,
All three students successfully use passages from the text to present and consolidate their arguments and, to differing degrees, use close readings of O’Brien’s language to support their claims.
Nicole’s first body paragraph reads,
In this paragraph, while she has a strange area in the middle that basically reiterates what the passage said, Nicole efficiently and insightfully explains the ways in which men objectify women. She uses the technique of close reading phrases to do this.
Anastasia’s first body paragraph has a similar structure. It reads,
Anastasia’s first body paragraph has a similar structure. It reads,
Anastasia looks at specific words in this passage to support her argument that men use derogatory phrases against women to consolidate their own insecure positions.
Finally, Nem’s first body paragraph reads,
Finally, Nem’s first body paragraph reads,
In this case, Nem discusses the etymology of a specific word in order to shed light on its usage in the passage.
In all three cases, while the students cite excellent passages and pay attention to the specific language of the passages that they cite, they only use one element of the close reading framework on any given passage. Other paragraphs use different elements (Nicole in particular does an excellent job reflecting on how sentence length reveals characters’ mental states).
All three paragraphs have:
Though their passage analyses are perhaps not as rich as those done during the close reading framework and their arguments don’t have as much movement or direction as they did in the blog posts, these are three solid, body paragraphs. The students clearly learned what I was teaching and exhibited transfer of those skills.
In all three cases, while the students cite excellent passages and pay attention to the specific language of the passages that they cite, they only use one element of the close reading framework on any given passage. Other paragraphs use different elements (Nicole in particular does an excellent job reflecting on how sentence length reveals characters’ mental states).
All three paragraphs have:
- Clearly stated arguments
- An analysis of quotations relevant to the argument
- An explicit discussion of the quotations and the way they support the argument
Though their passage analyses are perhaps not as rich as those done during the close reading framework and their arguments don’t have as much movement or direction as they did in the blog posts, these are three solid, body paragraphs. The students clearly learned what I was teaching and exhibited transfer of those skills.