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Overview: We typically go about our
very busy lives never seriously reflecting about
who our heroes are and how they inspire us;
oftentimes, this inability to reflect on these
heroes stems primarily from the fact that our
own lives seem to revolve around seemingly more
important concerns: our rent, gas money, and
food bills. Yet it's probably important that
we think about who our heroes are and what makes
them heroic, because such a thought begins to
help us discover who we are and what we believe.
The purpose of this assignment is to write from
the voice of your hero or heroes from your life,
real heroes who have made an
impact directly in your life or who have changed
your thinking about life.
You may want to consider if your hero has a secret
identity, and what the validity of that identity is,
what the importance is. What makes that person seemingly
unassuming, like Clark Kent in real life? Or perhaps,
if they are hiding their true selves behind a fraudulent
mask, why do they behave as Bruce Wayne does? Your ultimate
job is to assess the latent heroism of your selected
individual, potentially using description, dialogue,
and narration to do so.
Examples:
One student wrote AS his father who was confined
to a wheelchair and established how being handicapped
has nothing to do with inherent heroism.
One student wrote a poignant valediction from
his mother's perspective, explaining how and
why she is an unsung hero in his daily life.
One student wrote about how his grandfather's legacy
was never heroic, but that the grandfather (and the
author) were perfectly okay with that fact.
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The Life of the Game (Hero)
GAME-RELEVANT Essay
Overview: Many of you enjoy the thrill
or the fictive escape of video games. In this option,
you can focus on one or several aspects of gaming, especially
in three broad categories:
--the morality of choice in video games (e.g. Star Wars:
Knights of the Old Republic; Fable I, II, III and the
ability to become a hero/villain, Jedi v. Sith)
--the construction of an avatar and the design implications
thereof (e.g. Second Life, WoW, any game that allows
game design choice)
--the creation of the everyman archetype during
gameplay (how the video game protagonist is
meant to place you in their shoes) --other issues relating to games and gaming
(WoW dungeon combat in terms of archetypal roles
like tank, dps, or healer.
But how do I want you to achieve this comprehension?
I want you to WRITE as that character.
If you write from Starkiller's perspective,
I want to see his world. If you write from a level 85
Restoration Shaman going into a PvP battle, I want to
see the Island of Gilneas or the entire world. If you
are going to write about an entire world, I want to
see the VOICE that describes that world.
What I don't want in this essay:
I don't want 2 pages worth of a bland overview
of what the game is about. You can, if you want,
include screenshots of the game while you play,
but I am far more interested in your CRITICAL
and potentially research-based analyses of HOW
the game RELATES to hero-class terms and theories
OR HOW the game allows you to become someone
in the fictive world that you cannot be in real
life.
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Especially during the past spate of summer movie
"hero" fests, pop cultural heroes like Thor,
Iron Man, Captain America, the Avengers, Green Lantern,
HellBoy, Batman, have dominated the silver screen. The
big question is why heroes are beginning to really seize
Hollywood's imagination and the general cultural imagination
of people around the world, but the question for this
particular option is different. Your task in this option
is to define heroism, especially in terms of ONE popular
icon, that can come from real life, comic books, manga,
films, anything. Try to see if you can construct a thesis
statement that BEST captures your perception of why
that individual is heroic or not. You may want to include
some measure of discussion what most people believe
to be "heroism" or "heroic," possibly
starting with how people define heroism.
It might be good to organize your material from the
objective to the subjective: what everyone knows about
the hero, what I can describe or feel about the hero,
and my individual perceptions about that hero (general
to specific construction).
Some of you might choose the obvious heroes like Batman,
Superman, or some of the X-Men, but I imagine that there
are several of you immersed in obscure or even unheard
of heroes in your daily lives and those heroes are more
than acceptable for this essay.
You can adopt the same voice option in the
other two options (please read them in that case), or,
you can create a direct analytical piece. |
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Task for Heroic Narrative
You may decide to look at some information regarding
narrative essays and narrative conventions. Since
this essay is largely similar to English 100's version
of the narrative essay, the student-learning outcomes
are very similar:
--Recognize the merit of a past experience
with a hero, to thereby produce a powerful moral that
can explain the value of that experience or the value
of that hero.
--Produce vivid sensory descriptions—active,
objective, subjective, figurative—so as to best
illustrate the experience/character depicted.
--Reproduce or imitate dialogue during
the narrative so as to reflect the unique voices of
the characters at work in the piece.
It's probably a good idea to look at pictures of that
person or to interview other individuals who
are familiar with that particular hero.
You would want to adhere to the following:
2-3 pages written in a narrative voice
of your person.
1-2 pages analyzing the narrative voice
of that person, employing literary terms we
picked up in class.
2 literary terms used
Student Learning Outcomes
--Select a REAL PERSON, whom
you consider to be heroic, and write from that
character's perspective, selecting a CLEAR and
DIRECT narrative style (we will cover these
in class)
--Employ dialogue, description,
and action verbs to enhance audience appeal;
--Consider the exciting possibility
of a 'twist' to that character's perspective.(one
student thought that the hero wasn't such an
awesome hero to the general perspective of others)
--In the analytical section analyze
and interpret the narrative section
that you wrote.
--Apply what you know about
basic research principles so as to find expository
information about your selected narrative perspective.
--Create a clear thesis statement
that explains what narrative perspective you
used and the EFFECT that that style has upon
the audience.
--Apply proper P.I.E. paragraph
structures to the essay so as to outline and
organize the major points consistent with the
essay's thesis statement (e.g. how the perspective
was used effectively or not)
--Apply proper M.L.A. or A.P.A.-based
quoting conventions to the essay with regards
to proper quote introduction, parenthetical
citation, and other quote dynamics;
--Examine quotes or images
from the formal and informal text or visual-based
resources so as to significantly comment on
the relevance and impact of those selected images/words.
You can quote from your own work if you want.
--Employ at least 2 quotes
from various source materials that you find,
of a textual or visual nature. Please ensure
that the source material is BETTER than the
Wikipedia page for the topic.
--Employ 2 literary terms that
we have discovered from class, so that you can
demonstrate comprehension and mastery of those
terms.
--Create a final, polished
draft of at least 4-6 pages, with a List of
Works Cited.
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Task for Gaming Narrative
You may decide to look at some information regarding
narrative essays and narrative conventions. Since
this essay is largely similar to English 100's version
of the narrative essay, the student-learning outcomes
are very similar:
--Recognize the merit of a past experience
with a hero, to thereby produce a powerful moral that
can explain the value of that experience or the value
of that hero.
--Produce vivid sensory descriptions—active,
objective, subjective, figurative—so as to best illustrate
the experience/character depicted.
--Reproduce or imitate dialogue during
the narrative so as to reflect the unique voices of
the characters at work in the piece.
It's probably a good idea to look at pictures of that
game, or to play that game for a bit...mind you...not
to play the game for 18 hours straight!
You would want to adhere to the following:
2-3 pages written in a narrative voice of your
gaming character.
1-2 pages analyzing the narrative voice of
that character, employing literary terms we picked up
in class.
2 literary terms used
Student Learning Outcomes
--Select a gaming character, whom you
consider to be heroic, and write from that character's
perspective, selecting a CLEAR and DIRECT narrative
style (we will cover these in class)
--Employ dialogue, description, and
action verbs to enhance audience appeal;
--Consider the exciting possibility
of a 'twist' to that character's perspective.(one student
thought that the gaming hero wasn't such an awesome
hero to the general perspective of others--he turned
out to be an antihero)
--In the analytical section analyze and interpret
the narrative section that you wrote.
--Apply what you know about basic research
principles so as to find expository information about
your selected narrative perspective.
--Create a clear thesis statement that
explains what narrative perspective you used and the
EFFECT that that style has upon the audience.
--Apply proper P.I.E. paragraph structures
to the essay so as to outline and organize the major
points consistent with the essay's thesis statement
(e.g. how the perspective was used effectively or not)
--Apply proper M.L.A. or A.P.A.-based
quoting conventions to the essay with regards to proper
quote introduction, parenthetical citation, and other
quote dynamics;
--Examine quotes or images from the
formal and informal text or visual-based resources so
as to significantly comment on the relevance and impact
of those selected images/words. You can quote from your
own work if you want.
--Employ at least 2 quotes from various
source materials that you find, of a textual or visual
nature. Please ensure that the source material is BETTER
than the Wikipedia page for the topic.
--Employ 2 literary terms that we have
discovered from class, so that you can demonstrate comprehension
and mastery of those terms.
--Create a final, polished draft of
at least 4-6 pages, with a List of Works Cited.
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Task for Pop Cultural Analysis
You may decide to start with traditional definitions
of 'hero' and 'heroism' and then begin to identify why
your selected hero truly stands up to that praise.
You should probably correctly cite evidence from the
text, being particularly careful with block
quotes, especially the overuse of block quotes to
be used as filler. Ultimately, your thesis should probably
underscore and focus upon if and how your selected hero
indeed be considered a heroic life.
Student-Learning Outcomes:
--Research and read through source
texts about your hero, attempting to take good notes
or to use Post-Its to mark sections in which you can
identify or critique your particular hero.
--Research, if appropriate, other
resource materials about your hero, digging deeper beyond
simply looking at Wikipedia articles about that individual,
if applicable. Remember that Wikipedia articles often
consist of a bias or are poentially written by NON-AUTHORITIES
on their subjects.
--Apply proper P.I.E. paragraph structures
to the essay so as to outline and organize the major
points consistent with the essay's thesis statement
(e.g. why your selected individual is or is not a hero)
--Apply proper M.L.A. or A.P.A.-based
quoting conventions to the essay with regards to proper
quote introduction, parenthetical citation, and other
quote dynamics;
--Examine quotes or images from the
formal and informal text or visual-based resources so
as to significantly comment on the relevance and impact
of those selected images/words.
--Employ at least 3quotes from various
source materials that you find, of a textual or visual
nature.
--Create a final, polished draft of
at least 4-6 pages, with a List of Works Cited.
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Outlines:
Pages 1-2: Narrative Excerpts
Pages 3, 4, 5 Analytical Section
Intro:
Hook
Bridge
Thesis
Body: Background to your Character
Descriptive Qualities
Subjective Qualities
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Outlines:
Pages 1-2: Narrative Excerpts
Pages 3, 4, 5 Analytical Section
Intro:
Hook
Bridge
Thesis
Body: Background to your Character
Descriptive Qualities
Subjective Qualities
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Possible Outline for II:
I. Intro.
Thesis bridge
Thesis
II. Body
Definitions of heroism...general and personal
Individual selected as a hero
Rationale that the person qualifies as a hero
Similar qualities/Dissimilar qualities (potential comparison)
Description of the hero
Subjective reactions towards the hero:
Narrative section
III. Conclusion
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