Getting Started

To Get You Started

To jump into the first weeks' assignment, read below. To read some great literature from the course, visit Literary Works.

Week 1: MLA Style

At the beginning of Week 1, you will be required to format an essay using MLA. You can prepare yourself by watching the following three videos and following their directions in your word processor.

1. MLA Style in Google Docs

2. MLA Style PCIT's

3. MLA Style Works Cited

Note that you will need access to Google Docs, the recommended free word processor for this course, to follow the instructions in the lessons. All Cerro Coso students have a college-provided Google account and have access to this resource.

Week 2: What Is Argument? and Raymond Carver's "Cathedral"

Study the following:

1. "Cathedral" by Raymond Carver. (This story was originally published in Carver's collection of the same name. A pdf can be found using a simple search for the title with the author's name.)

2. We will go into more detail about the following in class, but for now, you may find it worthwhile to consider now: 

   • An issue is a deep interpretive question that requires consideration, hypothesis, plenty of evidence, and reasonable conclusions, in order to be considered plausible. The question is not of fact but of interpretation. We must delve into the undercurrents of character, motive, and maybe even psychology, in order to find a plausible answer. "Why does Anakin Skywalker ultimately turn to the dark side of the Force?" is a better issue than "Is Luke Skywalker Darth Vader's son?" The former requires thought and interpretation, such as "Anakin turns to the Dark Side in order to fill the psychic void left by the premature and horrifying death of his mother," while the latter requires only one word, "Yes." Question: What is an issue of interpretation for Carver's story?

   • A claim is what follows an issue. It is, simply put, what you hope to convince your readers is a plausible answer to the big question you have asked. Another term for it is thesis, but I like the word claim better because it more clearly identifies the spirit of this essential element of argumentation. Anything you claim requires evidence.

   • Once you have an issue and a claim, you are obligated to provide plenty of evidence to show why that claim is plausible. Evidence may take the following RENNS forms: reasons, examples, names, numbers, senses. What evidence can you provide from the text that your claim about the story is plausible?