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Your midterm and final essay exams for this semester are open book and open note, and will include a component building off of your previous Course Engagement and/or Share & Tell assignments! A Works Cited page is not required except if you cite something other than one of our assigned books for the semester.
Whatever you do, do not plagiarize! Plagiarism (or stealing someone else's ideas or words and passing it off as your own), as discussed here, can lead to many bad things including getting expelled from the university. Besides, you learn how to write by writing, so having someone else write just means that we're all wasting our time.
Your essay, as indicated below, must have a thesis statement or argument and have evidence from your semester's texts to support that argument, along with analysis of how that evidence does so.
If you have worries about plagiarism or just about writing and organizing your thoughts on paper, contact me and/or make an appointment with the UIndy Writing Lab. Don't forget that working with the Writing Lab gets you extra credit this semester.
You will turn in your midterm essay to Brightspace Assignments on the date/time indicated on the syllabus course schedule.
You will turn in your final essays to Brightspace Assignments on or before your scheduled final exam time.
DO NOT PLAGIARIZE. This includes copying from other sources without crediting the source, using AI such as ChatGPT, and more. Please come talk to me if you have concerns about this, and/or review the Academic Integrity policy in the syllabus.
If we have substantial plagiarism on the midterm and/or final essay, we will switch as a class to exams using a blue book.
Recommended format for body paragraphs:
Recommended format for body paragraphs:
Also known as the M.E.A.L. plan paragraph format!
The "A" or "analysis" portion of each body paragraph is a great option for a place to incorporate the critical approaches we have been practicing in class. Don't forget to consult your critical approaches handouts and your notes for other suggestions and examples on critical approaches analysis and applications.
Advice
Advice
To maintain organization and "flow" throughout your essay, use the M.E.A.L. plan format above your body paragraphs.
Give yourself time to revise; often we don't know what our argument is until we've written that first draft.
Consider freewriting to get your ideas down. Set a timer and write non-stop for a set period of time!
Please be sure to credit any sources you use in your Works Cited page, and to properly attribute quotes and original ideas to these authors.
Please, for the love of all things holy, do not plagiarize.
If you find yourself feeling the end-of-the-semester pressure, contact me as soon as possible. (Don't wait too long as the registrar has deadlines your professors cannot control.) Let's chat!
Final essay instructions
Final essay instructions
Your essay must be 5 to 7 full pages (not including your Works Cited and original CE paragraph), in MLA format (double-spaced 1-inch margins, Times New Roman 12-point font, no unnecessary line breaks).
Choose three (3) texts.
At least two must be on the course schedule / syllabus that we have read so far (including short stories, poems, novels, comics, etc.). One of those must be from the second half of the semester.
One of your three texts can be a Share & Tell presentation book (either chosen by you or your classmates in your section).
Choose one critical approach from your handouts. You will apply this to all three of your chosen texts.
Make one argument about a YA topic below of your choosing, using evidence/quotes/examples from your three chosen texts to support your argument.
You must choose a different topic from the one you chose for your midterm essay.
Please note that the registrar does not give deadline extensions. Therefore, you must turn in your final essay on time. Any essays turned in before the end of finals week but after the final exam scheduled date will receive a letter grade penalty for each day it is late. The Brightspace assignment will close at the end of day Friday during finals week.
Your introduction paragraph should:
give a brief background about your topic with YA literature
1-3 sentences
Be specific; avoid saying something like "all teenagers experience mental illness" and instead tie your theme directly to an overview of its presence in YA literature),
briefly introduce your three chosen texts and authors specifically in the context of your chosen topic.
announce your chosen critical approach (i.e., your method) and why you feel this approach works best for your topic and argument
Again, be specific. Don't just say "new/formal criticism" when you can instead say "new/formal criticism with a focus on historical settings"
announce your argument about that topic
Your argument (aka your thesis statement!) should be in the form of one sentence about your chosen YA topic. (Scroll down for examples and advice.)
Your body paragraphs should be:
in support of your main argument. If a paragraph doesn't support or advance your argument, take it out.
formatted using a version of the suggested M.E.A.L. plan paragraph format above.
Struggling for the "A" or analysis portion? Your chosen critical approach will give you the basis for a good analysis, and you must nevertheless apply this approach to all three of your texts. Lean on your critical approach to strengthen your analysis.
free of block quote (quote over 4 lines of text) - for a paper this short, no block quotes should be used; shorten your quotes so that you have space to properly analyze them
At most, one (1) to two (2) body paragraphs should be revised versions of your Course Engagement or Share & Tell paragraphs or freewriting. Most of these paragraphs were done in class and either e-mailed or submitted via Brightspace.
Include the first draft paragraph at the end of the essay so that I can see how much work you did to revise. Revisions should not just be grammar/punctuation. Instead, focus on making the paragraph better support your thesis statement.
Your conclusion paragraph should:
briefly suggest something thoughtful about how you think this topic will evolve within the future of YA literature.
Topic choices:
Topic choices:
ability
assimilation
class (e.g., poverty/wealth, inequality)
critical approaches:
Feel free to use any one of the major terms in your critical approaches handout for a possible topic (for example, stereotypes from the sociological critical approaches handout, or historical topics from the historical approaches handout)
education
fairy tales in YA
family (siblings, parents, etc.)
finding your voice
friendship
gender, including masculinity, femininity, LGBTQIA+ issues
genre (choose a specific genre like comedy, romance, etc.)
heroism
history
inequality
jobs, employment
language and word choice
loss and death
magic
mental health
power
race, nationality, or ethnicity
rebellion
romance
stereotypes
violence
Writing Tips
For specific examples and advice about thesis statements, scroll down.Writing Tips
Don't pick the first topic or prompt or texts that come to mind. Instead, review all of your options and strategically choose the one(s) that will best support your argument.
As indicated below in the advice about thesis statements (scroll down) - narrow down your topic. So rather than just "parents", it may be helpful to make your argument just about "mothers" or "fathers."
Similarly, while your draft can be written in any order you want, when you revise, consider arranging your essay so that you can best show your argument in its strongest light.
Focus the majority of your essay on your analysis of your chosen texts and on strengthening the foundation of your thesis statement.
Aim for about 1/3 or less of each paragraph to be comprised of someone else's words and ideas.
Revision is where the real writing happens. On your first draft, just get your ideas down. Work towards finding the line of your argument in your revisions.
When revising, pay attention not just to grammar, spelling, and punctuation. Instead, consider organization and overall structure:
Have you adequately examined all the terms necessary for readers to understand your argument?
Do you apply at least one critical approach in your essay, as they are defined by your critical approaches handout? Is it clear in the essay when/where you are doing so?
Does each paragraph work in support of your argument about your primary text?
Does each body paragraph have the elements discussed in the M.E.A.L. plan example above?
Is your argument and essay trying to do too much? Can you narrow down your thesis statement in order to clarify and strengthen your overall argument?
Do you need to revise your thesis statement?
I strongly recommend a reverse outline to help you better address organization and the above questions.
Literary thesis statements
Literary thesis statements
Advice
Advice
Your aim is for a narrow & debatable argument about about your texts and your topic. To a certain extent, a lot of young adult texts do similar things. Therefore, it is important to set your argument apart from everyone else’s by making sure it is specific to the texts and topic you have chosen. Some advice:
Once you choose a topic, try narrowing that down further if you think it will help make your argument specific.
Rather than having a broad, generic thesis statement that can apply to any text in YA literature (such as "these books help young adults relate to this topic"), instead aim for a more specific argument that ties your three texts together with your topic in a unique and interesting way.
Just like any thesis statement for this class, you will want to devise a very narrow and specific main argument about your text(s) as a whole. Thus, your thesis statement will largely depend on how narrowly you present your topic.
Examples:
You may want to focus on a specific trend(s) you see happening in your particular chosen topic based on the texts you chose, and/or your insights into your topic and how it has evolved over time.
Maybe you make an argument about the major recurring patterns you see with your topic, and/or how those patterns shift and change throughout YA literature history and specifically in your three texts.
Oftentimes, students will create an argument that is more about the topic, rather than about YA literature. Direct your focus so that it is appropriate to a literature class by using one or more of our literary approaches handouts.
More examples:
More examples:
Let's say your chosen topic is "tennis" and your chosen texts are Girl Against the Universe by Paula Stokes, Game. Set. Match. by Jennifer Iacopelli, and When No One was Looking by Rosemary Wells.
(I know that this is not a real topic in the midterm list and that we have not read any of these books this semester - this is just an example :))Bad example:
"These three texts shows how playing tennis also teaches you about life."
This example is not a good one because, to a certain extent, all YA literature about sports and other similar activities does this. Therefore, there isn’t much of an argument here for which to provide specific evidence. It's also super broad and vague, which means that likely no one will agree or disagree - that's the sign of something being a summary, rather than an argument.
Good examples:
"These three texts shows how competitors in YA tennis novels can also be friends by embracing female solidarity even despite competition."
"These three texts show how carrying on a family legacy started by your parents can sometimes lead to a positive self-image in both sports and life."
"These three texts all allude to tennis player Billie Jean King in order to draw attention to the specific ways in which both King and the protagonists fight harassment and being underestimated in a male-dominated sport."
"Focusing on the masculine stereotype about female tennis players in these texts allows us to understand how age, gender, and race together can make advancement in tennis difficult without support from someone in power."
The above examples are good because they are: (1) specific, (2) can only apply to those three texts and the chosen topic, and (3) can be debated (meaning someone can agree or disagree or provide another alternative, thereby proving it's an actual argument.)
Midterm exam instructions
Midterm exam instructions
Your essay must be 4 to 6 full pages (not including your Works Cited and original CE paragraph) in MLA format (double-spaced 1-inch margins, Times New Roman 12-point font, no unnecessary line breaks).
Choose three (3) texts.
At least two must be on the course schedule on the syllabus that we have read so far (including short stories, poems, novels, comics, etc.).
One of these can be a work that you or someone else used in the Share & Tell presentation.
Choose between one and three specific critical approaches from your handouts.
Make one argument about a YA topic below of your choosing, using evidence/quotes/examples from your three chosen texts to support your argument.
Your introduction paragraph should:
give a brief background about your topic with YA literature
1-3 sentences
Be specific; avoid saying something like "all teenagers experience mental illness" and instead tie your theme directly to an overview of its presence in YA literature),
briefly introduce your three chosen texts and authors specifically in the context of your chosen topic.
announce your method (i.e., your critical approach(es)) and why you feel this approach works best for your topic and argument
Again, be specific. Don't just say "new/formal criticism" when you can instead say "new/formal criticism with a focus on historical setting"
announce your argument about that topic
Your argument (aka your thesis statement) should be in the form of one sentence about your chosen YA topic. (Scroll down for examples and advice.)
Your body paragraphs should be:
in support of your main argument. If a paragraph doesn't support or advance your argument, take it out.
formatted using a version of the suggested M.E.A.L. plan paragraph format above.
Struggling for the "A" or analysis portion? The critical approaches handouts we've studied so far are great examples of ANALYSIS!
free of block quote (quote over 4 lines of text) - for a paper this short, no block quotes should be used; shorten your quotes so that you have space to properly analyze them
At most, one (1) to two (2) body paragraphs should be revised versions of your Course Engagement or Share & Tell paragraphs. Most of these paragraphs were done in class and either e-mailed or submitted via Brightspace.
Include the first draft paragraph at the end of the essay so that I can see how much work you did to revise. Revisions should not just be grammar/punctuation. Instead, focus on making the paragraph better support your thesis statement.
Your conclusion paragraph should:
briefly suggest something thoughtful about how you think this topic will evolve within the future of YA literature.
Topic choices:
Topic choices:
ability
assimilation
class (e.g., poverty/wealth, inequality)
critical approaches:
Feel free to use any one of the major terms in your critical approaches handout for a possible topic (for example, stereotypes from the sociological critical approaches handout, or historical topics from the historical approaches handout)
education
family (siblings, parents, etc.)
finding your voice
friendship
gender, including masculinity, femininity, LGBTQIA+ issues
genre (choose a specific genre like comedy, romance, etc.)
heroism
history
inequality
jobs, employment
language and word choice
loss and death
magic
mental health
power
race, nationality, or ethnicity
rebellion
romance
stereotypes
violence
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