Draft 1

English 101: Introduction to College Writing – Spring 2013

Draft 1: developing your critical interpretive essay

1.     Using what you have learned from your previous writing about David Sedaris’ “Standing By,” write a formal essay that pulls all the pieces together into a clear and coherent explanation of your reading. Remember that your purpose should be different from Sedaris’ purpose—your purpose should reflect what mattered to you as you were reading, describing something (some things) that Sedaris’ did that led you to a particular interpretation.

2.     Also consider the following:

a.     How do Sedaris’ writerly choices work together in order to accomplish his overall purpose, given his context and audience—all as you understand it from your reading?

b.     As you write, use evidence from “Standing By”—quotations, summaries, paraphrases, and images or descriptions of images—and from class discussion to support your critical interpretation. Use this as a chance to demonstrate how your particular understanding of this text has been arrived at critically, so choose your supporting evidence from across the text.

3.      In the writing you turn in, remember that you’re writing to communicate. This means you should attend to how others might interpret Sedaris’ text differently from you (and why), so write to others in ways that address what might matter to them.

4.     Bring TWO copies of your essay and your course texts to our next class meeting.

NOTE: do not publish your essays on your blog. Bring them as hard copies (printed) to class instead.