Overview
     Throughout the term, we have examined story telling through a number of different modes from biography to fictional autobiography and from oral traditions to letter writing.  Each author covered--Woolf, Tan, Ba, and Alvarez--has represented the challenges and rewards of women’s lives in a variety of cultures. We have considered how women make the best of their resources during war or widowhood, as well as how women gain prosperity and success. For the final essay, I want you to write about Alvarez's !Yo!.  Make sure that you articulate an understanding of story telling in women's literature and that you make important connections to other texts.  You will also need one scholarly article as part of your analysis.

Requirements:  Submissions that do not meet all of these requirements will be given a zero.
1. Write a polished, 5 page word processed draft; make two copies for the peer critique on Thursday 6/6
Bring Writer's Reference to class!
2. Make revisions according to Peer Critiques.
3. Submit 5 page final with drafts and peer critiques on Tuesday 6/11 at 8:00 p.m.
No extensions. No late work will be accepted. If you want your essay returned, include a self-addressed stamped envelope.

Approach:
1. Focus on one historical idea or concept and apply it to one specific chapter or passage in the text.
(Don't try to do too much; rather, you should analyze fully the topic you do have).
2. Announce the thesis in your introduction in bold, support the thesis in the body, and make sure you have a conclusion.
3. Once you have narrowed your topic, you should then elaborate on your interpretation. (So what?)
Assume that your reader knows the text intimately, especially the plot.  Jump into your analysis, in media res-- in the middle of things.
4. Begin your paper by announcing your thesis: "This essay addresses Alvarez's use of literary devices in !Yo!"
5. Address the following compositional issues:

• Use active verbs (get rid of the "to be" verbs: is, are, was were, be being, etc.)
• Get rid of expletives (there are, there were, it is, it was, etc.)
• Use literary present tense ("Alvarez registers a discomfort with noisy Americans.")
• Use transitions between paragraphs to connect ideas
• Use author, page citations (see MLA below).
• Include a works cited
• Limit quotes to one or two a page and integrate them (single space; introduce them and respond to them)
• Avoid first person
• Find a unique approach
• Place thesis in bold
• Number your pages

Format of Work: Word process your work with a computer.
Double space all hard copies; Use 12 point font, Times New Roman; 1 inch margins all around
(no padding with wide margins; you need to change the default)
Use the Modern Language Association Style to document outside sources, including web pages.
Include the following information (no title pages, please):

     Your Name
     The Date
     Dr. Ramirez, California State University
     Women Writers 336
     Title of the Essay

Scholastic Responsibility:  You should document your texts with "author's last name, page" citations: (Alvarez 105 ).  When you use outside sources, be sure to properly quote and paraphrase, rather than plagiarize.  Use the Writer's Reference as a guide.  Plagiarizing (submitting work that is not your own or failing to document other people's analyses or using their words) or any other form of scholastic dishonesty (cheating) will result in an F in the assignment and possible failure of the course.  Plagiarism happens frequently when students are not prepared, when they are confused or rushed, or when they assume the professor will not know. But this is a poor assumption.