Assignment 1
Assignment description
 |
| source: TM, Russia 1955 |
For this assignment, you will choose two characters from Zamyatin’s We and write a comparative analysis where you outline the differences (or similarities) between the two characters and briefly connect them to the mathematical themes of the work. Because this is a short paper, your goal will be to provide as much description and analysis of the characters as possible; for this reason, you will not write a traditional essay with an introduction. Instead, you will focus exclusively on the analysis, making sure that it is rich with specific details.
In completing this assignment, it might be helpful to think of your analysis in terms of meaning. Rather than including a mere list of character traits or narrating the events that influence the characters in the book, your paper should include these traits and events, but connect them to their larger meaning in the context of the book. The analysis should answer the questions: Why are these characters important to the author? and How do their particular behaviors and traits affect the way I understand the work as a whole?
Audience
This is an informal paper that will serve as your introduction to writing in this course. Your audience for the paper will be your classmates and myself; that is, readers of the text who are very familiar with its details. For that reason, you will have to make sure your paper goes into enough detail and contains enough depth so as to be interesting for this well-informed, highly-invested audience.
Length and format
Each submission of Assignment 1 should be two double-spaced pages in length and formatted according to MLA style. Consult the instructions on using MLA style in Gardner, pp. 113–133, to ensure that the headings, margins, citations, and other features of your paper are formatted in accordance with MLA guidelines.
Due dates
The first submission of Assignment 1 is due on 2/5; the second submission is due on 2/19.
