OBJECTIVE: The general purpose of all analysis is to enhance one’s understanding of the
subject under consideration. A good analysis provides a valuable point of view, a way of seeing, a way of interpreting some element of the primary source (the novel) that otherwise may appear random or unexplainable. Your job is to make the implicit explicit.
A summary is a restatement, in your own words, of the content of a text. It focuses on the
central idea of the text. It indicates the main points in the text that support or explain the central idea and will reflect the order in which these points are presented. A good summary has three central qualities: brevity, completeness, and objectivity.
A synthesis is a written discussion that draws on two or more sources in which you make
explicit the relationships that you inferred among separate sources, and it depends on your ability to infer relationships between sources. In doing so, you select from each source the ideas and information that best allow you to achieve your purpose.
This essay will include support from a secondary source in the form of ONE scholarly article
that you locate within the library’s databases.
TOPIC: Cormac McCarthy’s No Country for Old Men follows three men who are locked in a
swerving chase that takes them through the empty ranges and motels of the West Texas border country. Their fates are intimately entwined around the intransigence of fate and the noble futility of human efforts to master it. Throughout the novel, McCarthy explores the human
struggle with morality and ethics in a world that seems indifferent to the strivings of its people.
Your essay should be structured thusly:
Last name and page number in top right corner.
MLA Header:
Name
Professor
ENC1102; Sec.
Day Month Year (20 Jan. 2021)
Two part title: ____broad__:____specific ____author and title____
1. Introduction- begin with broad summative sentence that includes author and title. The
rest of the intro should provide specific context to lead the reader to your thesis. End with
a two-part X as a means to Y thesis that includes the author’s last name: McCarthy
focuses on X as a means to Y ½ page
2. Summary of the article with specific awareness to your topic. Include author/s and “title”
at beginning of the paragraph. *include parenthetical citations ½ page
3-5. Critical analysis of novel with specific awareness to your topic with direct content
in each paragraph (1 quote from the novel and 1 quote from your article). You
should strive for a sustained analysis of a singular topic in each paragraph (lightbulb
idea). Drill down for meaning. In doing so, you will synthesize both sources.
***Utilize the Big Mac quote sandwich paragraph structure. 1.5 page each
6. Conclusion 1/2 page
Works Cited
WRITING TASKS: As you outline and draft your essay, keep the following in mind:
The thesis should be a complete sentence that establishes your topic in clear,
unambiguous language that includes “as a means to” between the X and Y parts.
As you’ll discover, summarizing is hard work- you are condensing many pages of text to
a few paragraphs.
A key part of the assignment is supporting your analysis; you must not articulate a
personal position, opinion, judgment, belief/value, etc. Rather, you will present your
analysis of the novel by supporting your discussion with specific evidence pulled from
the text, and a detailed analysis of relevant portions of the text.
Utilize literary present tense.
Your conclusion should expand on your evaluation and explain the significance of your
topic.
The essay should use proper Modern Language Association (MLA) formatting – this
means one-inch margins on all sides and twelve-point Times New Roman font. If you are
unsure of format, consult the many online MLA sources available.
While mistakes are inevitable, drafts are to be thoroughly proofread.
ASSESSMENT: Grades will be on the following rubric. Each of the domains is described in
terms of specific indicator of achievement level. Additionally, proper quoting, paraphrasing,
summary, proper MLA format, heading, in-text citations and works cited page are required and will also be considered as part of the grade.
