Farewell Argument Paper
Weeds & Roses
Why this weeds and roses is extremely
important:
 You are likely to have concerns, comments,
questions, gripes about your paper once you
get it back (Think summer assignment) Most
of your questions about grading will be
answered here!
 You will do this assignment again--but with
higher stakes. Precise notes here ensure
great grades there!
Weeds you’ve since WeedWhacked!
 Examples are not sub-claims
Remember: “Sub-claims are abstract ideas,
not concrete details.”
 You must take a strong stance!
Qualify, add evaluative verbage (better, best,
only, always, etc.) add causality
New, festering, weeds!
#1--CITE OR DIE!!
 Not sure how to get much more descriptive
than this.
 Seriously--the consequences of not citing…?
 How to properly cite:
 “We will all die in the rain” (Hemingway 315).
 Fix this one:
 “If you don’t cite, you will die in the rain. (Bisera, p.
316).
 “If you don’t cite, you will die in the rain, (Bisera, 347)
and we all know she doesn’t lie.
 “If you don’t cite correctly, Bisera will make sure you die
in the rain,” [page 388,Bisera.]
Weed #2--Quotes in Context
 Many of you left your poor, lonely quotes
floating out in the ether. It’s cold! It’s
depressing out there all alone. Support your
quotes. HOLD THEM. Give them context and
friends and a home!!
 In a few words, you can:
 Identify speaker
 Give a snippet of background info
 Come to think of it, introducing quotes is a lot like a
quote quiz – speaker, situation, and why it matters
For example…
 Turn this…“Hemingway
argues that over time, these
experiences create a mental
block in a soldier’s head that
only lets them believe that
there is no other life other than
dying a gruesome death in a
war. “I had no feeling for him
He did not seem to have
anything to do with me”(325).
When F. expresses this, it
illustrates that the
dehumanization caused by war
escalated so much that F. felt
no emotion even towards his
own son.
 Into this…“Hemingway
argues that over time, these
experiences create a mental
block in a soldier’s head that
only lets them believe that
there is no other life other than
dying a gruesome death in a
war, as F. makes clear upon
seeing his dead son: “I had no
feeling for him He did not
seem to have anything to do
with me” (325). When F.
expresses this, it illustrates
that the dehumanization
caused by war escalated so
much that F. felt no emotion
even towards his own son.
Now You Try!
 Hemingway says, “One had only so
many friends in a war” to illustrate that
soldiers of the Lost Generation had to
stick together because they were the
only people…
 Embed the speaker/context of the
quote (Hint: F, before his leg is injured)
Weed #3--Commentary!!
 We’ll talk and talk and talk about this
until you feel like we ONLY talk about
this! It will be in EVERY weeds and
roses.
 That’s just how much you need to work
on it.
 That’s just how difficult it is to write.
 SO…keep trying!
Writing CM
 What questions should you ask
yourself?
So what?
What’s the significance?
How does this prove my claim?
What are the consequences of this?
 We’ll work on this later this week when
we write your first synthesis essay.
Weed: #4:
Random quotes!
 When you quote material it should be
from the book. Don’t quote random
words just because you want them to
stand out. Use italics.
 When you quote single words it’s
confusing – and weird.
RIDICULOUS!
 If you EVER spell the author’s name
incorrectly in a paper – your paper will
automatically start at a C and lose
points from there.
 REALLY!!!
 Hemingway has one “M”
 Ernest has no “A”
Some tips for
your next paper.
 Most of your evidence should come from the
novel.
 If you have less than two quotes per page
you are not citing enough!
 Your argument must be central. You must
use the whole paper to prove YOUR thesis.
 We will be using Turn-it-in.com for this paper
so be sure that you cite EVERYTHING that
does not come from you.
So…here’s the info on your
next argument /research
paper.
 This time you will choose a novel from
a list of choices.
 You will read the novel and mark it up
with post-its or directly in the book
looking for evidence on what you see
as the author’s argument.
Novel Titles
 Bless Me, Ultima –
by Rudolfo A,
Anaya (*)
 The Kitchen God’s
Wife – by Amy Tan
(*)
 Their Eyes Were
Watching God – by
Zora Neale Hurston
(*)
 Dandelion Wine –
by Ray Bradbury (*)
 A Lesson Before
Dying – by Ernest
J. Gaines
 Ethan Frome – by
Edith Warton
 East of Eden – by
John Steinbeck
(you can read
Grapes of Wrath
too – it’s in the
bookroom)
Requirements
 Read the book and mark pages for
argument.
 Research – You will find a minimum of
five sources (Literature Criticism).
 Your paper will be 5-7 pages in length.
 You will create a works cited page
using MLA format.
Torturing you is not the ONLY
reason for this paper
 This paper will help you to synthesize
sources – something you are asked to do on
the AP exam.
 You must learn how to cite correctly before
you go to college.
 It is good to do research – most papers in
college will require you to do this whether
you are studying English, science, economic,
psychology…many different majors.