English 101 | Essay #3: Deserted Futures | Essay Prompt & Rubric For this essay you will write a 1,100-1,300 word discussion of the way The Water Knife critiques current political and environmental trends in the United States. Your work will need to provide a directed summary of the book, carefully calling out details small and large that connect to real-world scientific, social, emotional, cultural, or technological trends. For instance, you might spend a paragraph on technology; there you might note the types of cars, the methods of energy production, and how the characters use those technologies, and how those technologies exist, are thriving, or are threatened in our current moment. Or you might spend a paragraph or two discussing the religious or spiritual aspects of water in the book. (Think about the Merry Perrys, Maria′s dreams, etc.) Your essay will be making a firm claim that the text in question is arguing something. Support your critical reading by quoting or citing relevant passages in the text. Additionally, there will be a research component. You will need to back up your claims with reputable sources. If you want to discuss global warming, cite at least one peer-reviewed source that talks about the relevant science. Edits: Cite at least two (2) sequences from Mad Max: Fury Road, which we will screen in class. FIVE CITED AND AN ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY Details: ˃ 1,100 – 1,300 words (final draft). You should have a completed rough draft that is at least 1,000 words in length printed for the peer review; it should be complete in concept and execution too, not an incomplete, sloppy, unedited 900 words printed out in the hope that you will get credit for it! ˃Formatting. All essays (except those written/submitted in class) must be double-spaced (use one-inch margins on all sides) and typed (Times New Roman font, size 12) ˃Works Cited Include a page that gives the bibliographic information for your texts as well as parenthetical citations (for page numbers) within the body of your essay. All citations should be in the correct MLA format. ˃General Guidelines You should carefully proofread your essay to eliminate spelling, grammatical, syntactical, and organizational errors. Do not rely simply on a computer spelling/grammar check to do your proofreading. Read your essay out loud – you are much more likely to catch errors this way. ˃See Canvas for important dates related to peer review and final submission on Canvas. I will collect hard copies of your rough drafts and peer reviews, but only ask for electronic copies uploaded to Canvas. We will discuss the submission process in detail when we undergo peer review. Plagiarism will not be tolerated. See the syllabus and OCC’s Academic Honesty Policy. Your essay is graded holistically, as the sum of its “parts.” The below percentages indicate the approximate weight given to the individual scoring categories. Please be aware that an “average” paper that is the appropriate length, meets the formatting requirements, and generally makes a successful bid for the prompt’s goals shall merit a “C.” A substandard paper will receive a grade of “D” or “F.” Papers that show proficiency and some advanced levels of writing will fall in the “B” range. Scores within the “A” range are reserved for advanced writers whose work command attention and demonstrate a very high level of execution on all fronts. Content, Development, and Organization 50% A Dominant impression and perspective. Ideas (or ‘elements’) are divided into paragraphs. Highly effective controlling ideas and highly effective transition sentences. The introduction, middle, and conclusion are all carefully and powerfully balanced. The essay argues not only for a correlation between author and theorist, but also how that theory illuminates something about the character′s emotional state, or parses the way that technology affects us (be specific!), or fosters a new understanding of how culture relies on certain processes of replication.
