I am done with the first part of the essay I done I just need the rest to be completed
https://www.mediafire.com/file/7ihjpowcdk7z2yi/Screenshot+2025-02-19+at+3.44.43 PM.png/file
https://www.mediafire.com/file/nu4iuc1nt2gbqae/Baldwin.pdf/file
https://www.mediafire.com/file/c5xr0a71ho7d5mr/Untitled_document-2.pdf/file
Length: 3 – 4 pp. (about 800 – 1,000 words), not incl. the “Works Cited” page.
First draft due: Wed., 5 Mar. (start of class). The first draft must be emailed to me, from your CUNY email account, with a descriptive subject line (like “your name + draft of …”); if you email me a file, it must have a descriptive title, like YourNameEssay1Draft – not “untitled document”;
Final draft due: Mon., 17 Mar. (midnight EST to the Essay 1 SafeAssign link under “Assignments”)
Marking: First draft, marked Pass/ Fail: 10%; Final draft (letter grade): 80%; peer review (letter grade): 5%; quizzes/ in-class writing: 5%.
This essay will build on the work in the above, with a complete synthesis of one of the primary texts read (one of the poems assigned for 18 – 24 Feb.) and Baldwin’s “If Black English…”, which will be the secondary text for the purposes of this assignment.
Synthesis, in academic writing, refers to combing various texts, ideas, and arguments, sometimes ones which seem to have no immediately obvious connection or common ground, to achieve a new understanding. However, synthesis isn’t an end in itself but must add something to the writer’s (and readers’) knowledge which didn’t exist before; therefore, in this paper, you’ll not only share the understanding you’ve developed, but also argue for its significance (that is, why it’s interesting, worth knowing … This is your “so what?”).
This essay will, in essence, answer the question:
How does reading the secondary text add to, enhance, or otherwise change your understanding of and ability to appreciate the poem?
A good structure for this essay would be something like:
An introduction summarising both the secondary and the primary reading in a way that makes their connection or relationship, as you understand it, clear;
A thesis answering the above question in 1 – 2 sentences;
A body divided into three – four sections, each developing one point of the connection or synthesis you’ve identified (you may use any content we develop in class as of these);
A conclusion tying the above together and leaving the reader with a unified understanding of what you’ve argued.
Finally, this essay must quote both texts and use MLA documentation.
AI Reflection
This assignment, like all the other papers completed in this class, will require you to use a generative-AI tool and reflect on same; for ex., you may choose Gemini or ChatGPT to help you develop your content or request stylistic recommendations such as varying your vocabulary, being concise … You’ll need to write two+ paragraphs on this portion of the assignment, one in which you explain which tool you used and for what purpose, and one or more on your assessment of this tool: how helpful was it? Why (not)? Would you use it again? These will need to be illustrated with screenshots, a minimum of one illustrating your input (what did you ask the tool to do?) and one for the output (what result/s did it generate?).
However, I don’t recommend copying and pasting your entire file into any AI tool as these use any content entered into them, or available anywhere, for training; you don’t want your report to be used by someone else to plagiarise, for example! Rather, you may want to copy and paste in an outline for your essay and ask for suggestions of additional points you could make or enter a single paragraph, even sentence, and ask for some stylistic tips (for example).
You’ll add this as the final page+ in your file; it will be worth 10% of the total mark for the assignment.
The entire file (essay + AI Reflection) will need to be uploaded to SafeAssign before I can mark the same.
As with every other paper submitted in this class:
Save and submit your first and final drafts in a file type I can open (anything but *.pages or *.gdoc);
The deadlines for both drafts are listed on the syllabus. Any changes to these will be discussed in class and disseminated via BlackBoardAnnouncement. If you can’t submit this paper by deadline for any reason/s, you need to request an extension, specifying when you’ll submit it, OR submit documentation such as a doctor’s note to excuse the late submission. Otherwise, the paper will receive no credit;
On the date the final draft (revision) is due, hold off on submitting until after class in case you have (or think of) any final questions you need to ask; if you need to make any final changes, you’ll have the chance to do so before submitting.
