Posted: May 14th, 2015

Original Post

For Original Post 2, we’re going to practice the art of engaging with other theorists, other voices in the conversation. Review The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and be sure that you’ve read through The Picture of Dorian Gray. You’ll need to use these books to support your answer.
Regularly, as part of the art of conversation in writing, a writer finds it useful to incorporate other voices, in support or in dissent, of the writer’s position. One way that we can incorporate other voices into our text is to use the source’s position as an introduction to our own. In this format, our claim (the response and assertion of our opinion) follows a brief summary of the source. The summary allows our audience to understand one part of the “conversation,” while our claim posits another side of that conversation—our opinion. Sometimes we will be in agreement, sometimes in disagreement, and still other times, we may agree in part and disagree in part with the source.
The remainder of the paragraph, then, is meant to extend that conversation—supporting our position, negating the opposition, and/or a combination of the two. Therefore, readers may see evidence from the original literature being discussed (i.e. quotations or paraphrases from The Picture of Dorian Gray) and/or evidence from the secondary source material (i.e. Punter’s article in this case).
Assignment: Please write two paragraphs that follow this very generic equation for writing “Yes, No, Okay, But” Paragraphs (See Chapter 4 in They Say, I Say for more information on this writing strategy.).
We will use David Punter’s article, “Gothic and Decadence: Robert Louis Stevenson, Oscar Wilde, H.G. Wells, Bran Stoker, Arthur Machen,” available just previous to this discussion board. Please read the portion of the article that I’ve uploaded for you.
Your first paragraph should discuss Stevenson’s novel and your second paragraph should discuss Wilde’s novel. Each paragraph should aim to answer this question:
• Is Punter correct in suggesting that Stevenson’s novel (and Wilde’s novel) is “concerned …with the problem of degeneration”? (158). (See Chapter 4 for they say ,I say for templates.)
Begin by introducing Punter’s position relative to the question. Represent his argument fairly: make the best case for your critic. For our purposes on this discussion board, try to sum up his argument in a few sentences (for your essay, you may decide to give skeptics or supporters a full paragraph). Each paragraph should begin with a summary that slants toward the specific novel you’ll discuss in that paragraph.
Then, answer Punter: here’s where your audience wants to see what you believe in relation to what Punter has suggested (see templates in Chapter 4 Graff and Birkenstein). Your answer should include an affirmative answer (I agree), a negative answer (I disagree), or somewhere in between (I agree with a portion; I see validity in her theory, but…, etc.) along with reasoning (…because…, …since…, etc.)
Finally, support your answer with several quotation sandwiches: (see templates and discussion in Chapter 3 of They Say, I Say).
Your paragraph should look like this (generally):
• Summary of Punter’s Article
• Claim: Your answer to the question
• Evidence: Quotation from the source (This should be a quotation sandwich—see Chapter 3 from They Say, I Say.)
• Elaboration: This should be your discussion of the quotation and how it proves your answer
• Evidence: Paraphrase from the source (This should be a “paraphrase” sandwich—see Chapter 3 from They Say, I Say.)
• Elaboration: This should be your discussion of the paraphrase and how it proves your answer
Additionally, you should be sure to include these items: 1) framed quotations and paraphrases (and many of your elaboration statements as well) (Graff and Birkenstein 41-47); 2) parenthetical citations (Chapter 11 of Writing and Revising); 3) transitions; 4) thoughtful language and syntax structures that reflect your understanding of the question and your analysis.