1) Compose a specific and arguable thesis containing two to three reasons supporting your claim. Remember, if you can’t think of any group who would disagree with your claim than you don’t have a strong thesis.
Ex. Abortion is wrong for reasons x,y,z.
Ex. Because of x,y,z, cars should be banned from Manhattan.
2) a. Write out in MLA format the bibliographic information of FOUR essays from peer reviewed journals you will be using in your essay. You must use the CSI library for these citations. The library will formulate the citations for you. Do not use Google. https://www.library.csi.cuny.edu/home
b. Write out the main argument of the source, and give a brief synopsis.
Sample T & B paper
Susan Smith
ENG 151
22 September 2021
Thesis: Creative writing is one of the hardest fields in which to earn a living due to the dwindling readership for fiction, the small royalties publishers pay, and the mercenary practices of the university system.
Annotated Bibliography
Radin, Joanna. “The Speculative Present: How Michael Crichton Colonized the Future of Science and Technology.” Osiris, vol. 34, no. 1, Jan. 2019, pp. 297–315. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1086/704047. Accessed 17 March 2021.
Radin argues for the importance of considering author, director, and producer Michael Crichton as a critic and Cold War expert. She claims that Crichton’s novels relied on a blend of history, sociology, and anthropology to reveal the specialized worlds in which scientists worked, and to devoted attention to the practices, instruments, and values that animated their knowledge. In doing so, his fiction both popularized Science and Technology Studies and shaped concerns and fears about the future of science and technology.
Edkins, Jenny. “Novel Writing in International Relations: Openings for a Creative Practice.” Security Dialogue, vol. 44, no. 4, Aug. 2013, pp. 281–297. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1177/0967010613491304. Accessed 17 March 2021.
Edkins argues that although distinctions between narrative writing and academic writing cannot hold, there are nevertheless ways of judging the practical political effects that writing can produce. the article explores the political potential of novel ways of writing in international relations. She begins by examining attempts to distinguish between narrative writing and academic writing, fiction and non-fiction, and to give an account of what narrative might be and how it might work.
Lamott, Anne. Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life. New York: Anchor Books,1995.
Lamott’s main argument is that we should ignore our bad first drafts as it’s part of the process of writing. Her book offers honest advice on the nature of a writing life, complete with its insecurities and failures. Taking a humorous approach to the realities of being a writer, the chapters in Lamott’s book are wry and anecdotal and offer advice on everything from plot development to jealousy, from perfectionism to struggling with one’s own internal critic. In the process, Lamott includes writing exercises designed to be both productive and fun.
