Write a 5- to 7-page analysis of one or more popular culture representations of authors and/or plagiarists.

The texts you choose must include at least one assigned in this course, and your paper must engage that text(s) in a substantial manner.

Suggestions:

1. Think about how the film(s), website(s), or other popular culture text(s) you've chosen represent what an author is and does. Think about how the sources you've chosen communicate those representations to readers/viewers. Think about why this would matter, and to whom.
2. As you write, point to specific parts of the text(s) that demonstrate your claims. If you're talking about a film, you'll need to describe the scene well enough that your readers can locate that part of the film and see how your analysis works. If you're talking about a written text (whether online or in hard copy), you'll need to reference specific page numbers (if available), or you'll need to describe/summarize the passage you're talking about--again, so that your readers can locate that part of the text themselves.
3. As you make claims about the text, you'll need to reference the relative passages, even if you're not quoting from the text. Paraphrase has to be referenced, too.

Manuscript preparation: Follow the specifications here.

Due date: The final draft is due in hard copy in class on October 12. You'll have a meeting with me on October 10 to go over your draft.

Grading: The draft you send me counts as part of the grade for the paper. If you send me a well-developed draft by October 7, your grade on the final draft will go up by a 1/3 letter--from a "B+" to an "A-", for example. If you don't, the grade on the final draft will be reduced by a 1/3 letter. As I read the final draft, I'll be looking for a thesis-driven essay. If I'm convinced that the writer cares about what s/he's saying, I'll feel that I should care to read it. I always appreciate arguments that take multiple points of view into account--arguments that offer evidence for and consider counterevidence to the thesis. Editing matters; so does the manuscript presentation. If you do the assignment as requested and hand it in on time, you'll get a "C." If you do it well, you'll get a "B." If you do it exceptionally well, you'll get an "A." This paper counts as 25% of your final course grade.

WRT 428
Authors, Writers, Heroes

Section 1, Fall 2006
Syracuse University
Time: TTh 11-12:20
Place: 323 HB Crouse

Instructor:
Rebecca Moore Howard
Office: 237 HB Crouse
Office hours
Phone 315-443-1620
FAX: 315-691-9821
rehoward@syr.edu
AIM: ProfBfromWV