There are several musts that we will explore throughout the semester and that you should adhere to through the writing process:
 Writing Musts:
*Your writing must be detailed and descriptive. There is a world of
difference between: Margaret likes character actors better than leading men and
Margaret prefers the strong, piercing gaze, buck teeth, and upturned sneer
of of the robust Steve Buscemi over Russell Crowe's size 40 chest.
*You must concentrate on the language you use, and gear that towards the audience you are attempting to convince of your argument. If you are writing a grant proposal for a child abuse sanctuary for social work, you want to focus on clearly stating your argument for the need of the sanctuary, supporting that argument, and utilizing language that will guide the reader to realization of that need.
*You must learn to use a computer. The computer will be vital to your editing and revisions, research, and communication.
*You must research sources to support your argument. There is a wealth of resources, such as reference texts, journals, magazines, and the internet, that you can use to support your statement, but they must be accurate and relevant to your intent.
*You must learn to accurately give credit to the works you have built your own upon through citation. You cannot simply take another individual's work and use it without giving the author, artist, etc. proper accolades.
LEARNING OUTCOMES
*You should walk away from this course with some true knowledge and the ability to critically read and write (along with sugarplum faeries dancing in your head). You should be able to:
*Read critically and analyze essays.
*Build on other authors' ideas, whether to agree with or to dispute them.
*Create a solid thesis statement that clearly and concisely summarizes your argument.
*Support your argument with substantial and relevant facts.
*Manipulate your language as to engage the audience you intend to reach.
*Overcome grammatical and mechanical flaws.
*Utilize transitions to make your ideas flow into each other.
*Conduct research and be able to ascertain whether the resources you have selected are accurate or not.
*Cite all sources in your work.
ENGL 230 Spring 2007
D’Amore
Paper #1
Due: March 20 at beginning of class
(i.e. not accepted after 4:35PM)
The first European explorers to Yellowstone National Park believed that they had discovered “Hell on earth,” due to the boiling, sulfur springs, geysers, and crappy tourist drivers. For our first writing assignment you are going to create your own journey through “Hell.” These are the rules:
* Your paper must be at least eight pages in length, one-inch margins, Times New Roman size twelve-font. The eight pages do not include the bibliography, title page, or your historical perspective (see below).
* You must use at least three outside sources from scholarly journals that reflect on literature or literary figures’ views on Hell (literary criticism of Lowry, Dante, Virgil, Sartre, etc.). Additionally, you should cite from Campbell’s The Hero with A Thousand Faces. You need to integrate the sources effectively and guide your reader into the quote or paraphrase (do not simply toss quotes into your paragraphs. They should only be quotes that are pertinent to your paper; the sources you choose should be investigated for authorial ethos, credibility, and reliability). You should use MLA format, with attached bibliography and parenthetical in-text citations. If you need help with citations, you should visit Purdue’s Writing Lab in HEAV 226.
* Your Hell must include at least nine levels, as Dante’s does, and those levels should have sub-levels. You will also need a guide (only rule: Britney Spears and/or Paris Hilton cannot be your guide). Do not just list the created levels and those you place there; you should write creatively, and your language and narrative should flow. You should also reflect on the mythology we read, and Campbell’s The Hero with a Thousand Faces. You must create symbols which reflect the levels and their punishments.
* While writing your paper, you should consider Hell from various historical and religious viewpoints: the Chinese Di Yu, Hindu Naraka, Catholic Hell (venial, temporal, mortal sin), Augustine of Hippo’s ideas on hellish punishments, the Hebrew Gehenna and Sheol, the Islamic Jahannam, the Japanese Yomi, Egyptian Duat, Welsh Annwn, Buddhist Naraka, Plato’s myth of Er, Dante’s contrapasso, and Virgil’s Mourning Fields and Tartarus. You can google each of these to find out more. Your paper should include a two-page summary including summaries of these ideas of Hell (IN YOUR OWN WORDS) and how they helped to form your paper.
* You should include a sketch of your version of Hell. Consider shape and size (of both whole and individual levels and sub-levels). The sketch can either be a physical drawing or computer-generated. This should be attached to the back of your paper.
* Rules are subject to change/enhancement due to whim(s) of the instructor.