Your final draft should be typed, double-spaced, w/approximately one-inch margins. Include a cover sheet w/the title of the essay, assignment number, your name, my name and the class (Perry/ENGL 110C), and the date.
(Thanks to Princess Perry, former Graduate Teaching Assistant in the ODU English Department, for sharing this Autobiography assignment with us.)
You've got the essay assignment in your hands. You've read through it a couple of times. What do you do now?
Recognize goals.
In this particular assignment, the goal is stated in the first sentence: to describe a significant event, person, or phase in your life.
Simply put, the goal of the assignment is the assignment's overall purpose. And to return to the driving metaphor--goals are where you're supposed to end up at the finish of the journey. Sometimes an assignment will have one goal (For example, "Analyze the use of imagery in three of Joy Harjo's poems."). Sometimes it will have several (For example, "Describe the effects of radiation therapy on cancer patients. Analyze the effectiveness of this type of treatment, making sure to include both advantages and problems for patients who seek radiation therapy. Finally, offer alternative methods of treatment, basing your suggestions on class discussion and readings.").
Recognize methods.
In the sample assignment, several methods are listed. You are told that you may use first person (I) or third person (he/she), dialogue, imagery, metaphor, or any other device that makes your point. Here, methods are offered as suggestions or starting-points, rather than absolute requirements. You're also given the option to use any other device that makes your point--the instructor's way of giving you a little creative freedom.
If goals are, in effect, the "destination" of your paper, methods are the road (or roads!) you'll take to reach that destination. Methods tell "how"--specifically, how the assignment will be met in terms of particular writing skills and/or techniques. You may be asked to use details; you may be asked to write in the third person. You may be asked to back up your claims with personal examples or evidence from secondary sources. Sometimes a paper assignment will be so open-ended that methods may not be specified at all. In a situation like this, you get to choose how to reach the goal of the assignment.
Recognize key verbs.
Pay close attention to the verbs in the assignment sheet. Verbs are "action" words; they tell you exactly what writing "actions" you must take to write a paper which fulfills the assignment. For example, in the sample assignment, you're asked to describe. To describe something, you might employ the five senses, metaphor, or imagery; in any case, you'll have to use details.
If you're having a difficult time figuring out an assignment, try underlining the verbs. When you're finished, you should have a set of directives for the paper. Common assignment-verbs include describe, discuss, analyze, compare, contrast, prove, list, explain, and argue, among others.
Recognize key nouns.
The sample assignment sheet gives you several options in the way of paper topics: you're asked to write about a person, place, thing, or event in your life. While the selection allows you a choice, it also gives you guidelines. In this assignment, you are not asked to detail your life story from birth to the present; you are also not asked to provide in-depth character studies on every member of your family. You might, however, talk about an important day in your life, like your high school graduation; you might talk about your relationship with a favorite pet.
Think of nouns as the "signposts" of the assignment. Just as street names and highway numbers direct you when you're driving, key nouns will direct you to assignment-appropriate topics for your paper.
Recognize key adjectives.
In this assignment, key adjectives are significant and autobiographical. As you can see, in the first sentence, you're asked to "write an autobiographical essay." From the very beginning, then, you know that whatever this paper may be about, it must be about something that has happened in your own life. And what you write about must be significant, as well. This means that you're probably not going to write about putting new shelf paper down in your kitchen cabinets.
Adjectives narrow things down; if you will, they provide more specific directions for you to follow. They're the difference between "109 Oak Street" and "109 Oak Street--it's the third brick house on the right, the one next door to the pink house with chartreuse shutters." Adjectives are given to you so that you will have a clearer sense of where you're supposed to go.
Recognize audience.
For this essay, the audience is clearly specified: your fellow students and your instructor. You'll want to choose your topic and write your essay accordingly, keeping in mind that your purpose is to "describe a significant event, person, or phase in your life." In order for your audience to understand the significance of your topic, then, you'll need to give them enough information to do just that. For example, you already know exactly what that ugly corsage you wore on your ill-fated prom night looked like, but your audience doesn't. Just calling the corsage "ugly" doesn't convey to them why the corsage itself is important within the context of the paper. However, if you describe the corsage as "a tuft of pink mums about the size of a Christmas fruit basket, bedecked with six-inch pink gingham ribbons and sprinkled liberally with glitter," you produce a concrete visual image which also conveys a sense of absurdity. And if the point of your paper is that your prom night was the most ridiculous night in your personal history, then the second description more fully conveys that to your audience.
Your audience may or may not be specified; sometimes instructors leave this option up to you. Whoever your readers are, make sure that you give them the information they need to clearly understand the significance of what you're saying.
Recognize requirements.
This is the technical stuff: length, spacing, margins, font, sources, documentation style. In this essay, for example, the instructor has made her requests clearly known: Your final draft should be typed, double-spaced, w/approximately one-inch margins. Include a cover sheet w/the title of the essay, assignment number, your name, my name and the class (Perry/ENGL 110C), and the date. Before you turn in your paper, then, you'll need to make sure that you've followed these directions to the letter.
A Few Final Tips for the Road . . .
- After you've given the assignment an initial look-over, read through it a second time to clarify points you questioned in your first reading.
- Rephrase, in your own words, what is being asked and consider how you might respond.
- Highlight/underline/circle key verbs, nouns, adjectives, etc.
- Refer to your assignment sheet continually as you draft your paper, making sure that what you're writing matches what's been requested.
- Finally--and most importantly--ask your instructor for clarification if you do not understand the assignment.
