This Documented Essay should be 5-8 pages in length. This essay is still an analytic argument and is no different from the other essays you have written this semester, except it is longer with more sources. Remember you are writing a documented essay and not a book report or simple research paper reporting facts about a topic. Your sources should support what YOU have to say and help develop the ideas you have; they ought not to replace or overwhelm your voice.
Make sure that when you use words and ideas from other sources that you quote and cite the sources correctly. Ideas or words that are not yours must be properly documented and credit must be given to the original author. You should avoid over-summarizing and paraphrasing your essay. Your essay must also have a properly formatted Works Cited page. It is also important that you select strong quotes that accurately reflect the writer’s point of view and how this supports or refutes the issues addressed in your essay. Your selection of quotes must be thorough and in context with the writer’s central claim and opinions. The quotes you select should move your argument forward and not just fill in space. Be sure to properly introduce your quotes and then thoroughly involve them in your discussion. Any quoted or paraphrased materials should be properly cited to avoid plagiarism.
You are required to cite at a minimum: The White Donkey, one other source assigned from our unit, and three scholarly articles from the library databases or Google Scholar. Pay attention to properly formatting both your intext and Works Cited page citations.
Topic
Consider Uriarte’s medium of a graphic novel instead of a traditional novel and the ways in which it impacts both the connection with the reader and the way plot, characters, and emotions are developed. In a central claim driven essay, present an argument based upon your thoughts about the ways in which this changes the way the story is told and how the readership connects with it.