All assignments are graded holistically according to the terms of my grading rubric.

Concept Application  (due 2/16): 
            For this assignment, you must read a book written in the last ten years that we are not reading in class. Using one of the concepts we have read and discussed from Searls and Giroux, analyze your book according to the concept. (3-4 pages for undergrads, 5-6 for grads).  

Concept Comparison (Midterm Assignment) (due 3/23):
      The goal of this paper is to trace a concept across a modernist and postmodern continuum. You will need to choose two books that address a similar concept--for instance, two books tied to the Arthurian legend, two survival stories, two books about family life, two books set in the same historical period, two biographies of the same person, etc. The books may be for any age group from preschool to young adult, but both books should be for the same age group. One book should have been written in the past 10 years; the other must be older than that.

Prewriting:
1. Read the books.
2. Make a chart where you list the concepts we have been talking about (such as narrative format, characteristics of the ideal reader, characteristics of the self/subject, discourses of power, value systems evident in the books, attitudes toward time and space, uses of history, etc.) and compare and contrast the books. 
3. Using your chart, construct a thesis that will allow you to compare and contrast the books in a meaningful way according to the ideologies of modernism and postmodernism. You may wish to address several points on your chart, or you may decide that you have enough to talk about within one of the points--you won't know until you've looked at your chart.

Write a coherent, well-organized essay (3-4 pages undergrad, 7-8 pages grad--grad students, this will be the paper you present to the class).

This essay is technically due on March 23rd, but I will accept them (hard copies only, please) until 2 o'clock on Tuesday, March 29, in my office door folder (323F).   
          

Concept Synthesis (drafts due 4/19, final papers due 5/4):
     You are to write a thoughtful, theoretically informed paper on a topic of your choice. You may choose to locate your argument in a close reading of one particular book, or you may choose to trace a theme or concept through several books. You should complete and include research relevant to your topic. Throughout the semester, we will discuss possible topics, so be alert, and if you find that you are unable to think of something before spring break, come see me.