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Welcome to Unit 9.

In this section you will write an explication of a short story cycle from the list below.  The first slide presentation gives background information about short story cycles.  The second slide presentation contains a sample explication of a short story cycle. 

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The written assignment for Unit 9 is Paper 5.  Paper 5 is an informal essay of at least five hundred (500) words which explicates a short story cycle.  You must declare an option (either "B" or "A") before submitting Paper 8.  

Before you do the readings and view the presentations below, please be advised of the following:

1. This unit is optional.  Once you have officially completed Unit 7 by submitting Paper 3 and having it returned marked "Accepted," you have earned a grade of "C" in Web 2413.  If you are satisfied with a grade of "C," there is no need to complete Unit 9.   Instead, you should E-mail your instructor that you do not wish to write Paper 5 and would like to take a grade of "C."

2. In this unit you will complete and submit your seventh written assignment.  However, your Paper 3 must be submitted and returned marked "Accepted" before you can submit Paper 5.

3. The written assignment for Unit 9 (Paper 5) is an explication of a short story cycle.  It should be written in an informal style.  However, you should use good basic sentence and paragraph structure.  There should be an introduction, a conclusion, and a separate body paragraph for each section of your explication (see the "structure" section of the second slide presentation for details).  You must cite your quotes.  However, you will not need to do a Works Cited page for Paper 5.

4. The first step in completing Paper 5 is to submit an E-mail message to your instructor in which you state that you plan to complete the "A" Option and write Paper 5.  You MUST receive an approval message from the instructor BEFORE submitting Paper 5.  

5. Next, choose a book from the approved list and do an explication (much like the explication you did for Paper 1).  It will be easier if you do a topic outline first.  Use the sample outlines of paragraph structure for an explication in the second slide presentation to set up your own outline.  However, you do not need to submit a Formal Outline for Paper 5.

6. The final step is to write your explication and submit it to your instructor as an attachment to an E-mail message.  Remember that your Paper 5 must be accepted in order for you to receive a grade of "A."

Note: Remember: you may turn in only one assignment per day.  This is true even on the last day to turn in work for the course. 

For background information on the short story cycles and a sample explication of a short story cycle, please click on the hyperlinks below and view the presentations.

Paper 5

Write an informal essay of approximately five hundred (500) words which explicates a short story cycle from the approved list below.

Explications of books not on the approved list directly below the assignment section of this page will not be accepted.

Explications which do not use the format laid out in the second PowerPoint presentation above—including at least one quote in each of the body paragraph sections—will not be accepted.

You need not evaluate the book.  However, you must COMPLETELY fulfill the assignment for the "A" Option.  Please see the list of criteria below.  Use these—and only these—tools to fulfill the assignment:

1. "A" Option: Find three (3) stories with similar styles and/or subject matter in one of the short story cycles on the approved list below and discuss how each of these stories uses any three of the criteria on the approved criteria list below.  You MUST identify examples of all four of the criteria you choose in all three of the stories you use in your explication.  You MUST discuss how all four of these criteria are important to all three of the stories you choose to write about.  

Notes:

1. Any explication that fails to cover at least four of the tools contained in the criteria list below will not be accepted.

2. Any explication that does not follow the format laid out in the second PowerPoint presentation above—including at least one quote in each body paragraph—will not be accepted.

3. You need not submit an outline for Paper 5.  Once your five hundred (500) word explication has been completed, submit it as an E-mail attachment.

4. Paper 5 must be accepted for you to receive a grade of "A" in Web-based Introduction to Literature.

Choose any four (4) of the following nine (9) criteria for your explication.  You must use the same criteria for each of the stories you choose to write about.

1. Theme

2. Setting

3. Characters

4. Conflict

5. Point of View

6. Imagery

7. Symbols

8. Symbolism

9. Use of Figurative Language (Metaphors, Similes, etc.)

1. In Our Time, by Ernest Hemingway

2. Whispers in Dust and Bone, by Andrew Geyer

3. Woman Hollering Creek, by Sandra Cisneros