Midterm Essay

Content

• Midterm Essay Assignment

  Instructions

  1. Midterm Essays are due on Wednesday of Week 2 by 11:59 p.m. ET.
  2. This is a formal essay and should be formatted according to APA guidelines. Review the APA Format link (go to “Start Here” and then “Course Resources”) if you need assistance in creating a title page, headers, citations, or a References page. You do not need to include an abstract.
  3. Write a 750-word (minimum) essay addressing one of the topics described below. You must meet the minimum word count to get full credit.
  4. Your essays must include quotes from each text used to get full credit. Be sure to quote, cite, and reference from the text(s) using appropriate APA format.
  5. You can obtain additional writing help by reviewing the material in the Essay Tutorial link (click on “Start Here” and then “Course Resources”) or the Keiser Online Writing Lab (OWL).
  6. Save your essay as Microsoft Word document, and identify your work by using your last name in the file name (example: LastnameMidterm.docx). Upload it by clicking on the “Midterm Essay” link below as an attachment.

  ***Submissions that are not in accepted file formats or cut and pasted into the comments section of the submission area will be returned to you ungraded. Please check to be sure your file has uploaded correctly. It is your responsibility to verify that you submitted the assignment successfully. Do not wait until you see a zero in the gradebook!

  Midterm Topic Choices

  Choose ONE of the following topics and write a 750-word essay.

  Topic 1: Choose one of the films below and one of the readings from your textbook. The essay should briefly summarize the chosen film and reading to provide context; however, your essay should not be a simple plot summary of the film and the reading. Instead, your essay should analyze the author’s and film’s intent and identify universal themes, conflicts, and climaxes. Of the film and the reading you’ve chosen, which one better accomplishes its purpose? How? Make sure to include evidence from both the film and the reading to support your ideas. Cite all quotes using APA format.

  The table below identifies the three films you may choose from, along with some suggestions for readings you might choose to go with them.

  Film	Suggested Readings
  The New World (2006), available to rent on Amazon	John Smith’s The General Historie of Virginia, New England, and the Summer Isles
  The Last of the Mohicans (1992), available to rent on Amazon; available for streaming on Netflix as of May 2013	A Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson
  Poe’s Tales of Terror (1962) or The Masque of the Red Death (1964); available to rent on Amazon	“The Fall of the House of Usher” or any of the Poe stories in your textbook.