Write an essay that analyzes one particular letter, a group of letters, or a particular concept/topic that we have discussed in class pertaining to WWII.
Select either some letters or an overarching topic to analyze that has intrigued you and left you wanting to learn more. Using those letters or topic, as well as readings, videos, other letters, content from class, and additional information you may find, write an essay that further explores what grabbed your interest. You’ve been introduced to a variety of different letters with different areas of context. This essay provides an opportunity to more deeply connect with one of those letters or areas of context.
Utilize the Five Analytical Moves we discussed in class to help you approach your essay in a more critical and analytical way. We also discussed other strategies for being more analytical in both our reading and our writing. Chapter 4 in Writing Analytically is another helpful resource for making your essay more analytical.
The essay should summarize and synthesize your particular focus or question from one of the letters, make connections with aspects of other letters, resources and other ideas or information, and present a compelling argument/point-of-view grounded in evidence from those resources.
For your essay, you should:
- Brainstorm and develop your topic and central idea. This can be done with a free-write, outline, mind-map, etc. What did you find interesting about the letters or letter topics so far? What questions are you trying to answer? What can you challenge about your own understanding of these letters? What claim do you want to make?
- Do research on your letter idea/topic and collect resources. You become a better writer on a topic by reading more and connecting your topic and ideas to other information. You should use and find information beyond your chosen letter or material covered in class.
- Have an interesting, relevant, perhaps even funny title.
- Include a brief summary, focus more on thoughtful analysis and evaluation (react to, identify strands, find problems or contradictions with, give strengths of, explain why you agree or disagree with, etc.)
- Synthesize (place in relation to, bring together themes with, relate to other resources) information to other letters/topics/discussions/readings/experiences.
- Engage thoughtfully, critically and originally with one or more of the WWII historical letters.
- Display a mastery of close reading and analytic skills in engaging with the letters and resources.
- Credible and relevant evidence supporting your claims, with clearly tied links to letters, readings, articles and other sources.
- Include relevant visual elements, such as quotes/screenshots/photos/visual representation of data or information.
- Present your analysis with a clear sense of order and organization and with a careful eye on spelling and grammar.
- Draw a conclusion about your thesis or idea.
- This is YOUR writing and should be in your VOICE, providing a unique argument building upon your own perspective.
- Meet the length requirement with a minimum of 500 words and a maximum of 1,500 words. Again, the focus should be on content and not on length or stylist elements, but a word count helps put some workable boundaries in place.
- Even though these are still blog posts, for this assignment you will properly cite using intext citations, proper links, and a list of references.
- Include the ‘fys183’ category. Create and add another category ‘letter essay’
- Include 2-3 meaningful tags/keywords.
- Meet with Keanna.
The Research and Writing Process
To become a better writer, you need to do research and read a great deal. To become a better researcher and analytical thinker, you need to read and write a lot. The two are very closely related and are tied together in the overall process. The more you research, the easier you will be able to write your paper, and, as you write, you may continuously reformulate your thesis and ideas, requiring you to do more research.
One of the main focuses of this class is to help you develop a variety of skills to become a stronger student. These skills include writing, critical thinking, analysis, research, evaluation, synthesis, and communication. The research and writing process should not be a solo endeavor. Ask if you have questions.
Take advantage of the resources you have here for you: myself, Keanna, the Writing Center, librarians, peers.
Due Date: Essays are due by the start of class on Tuesday, October 4. Submit the link to your post of the essay.
