After reading the “Letters” section of Frankenstein, why do you think that Mary Shelley started off Frankenstein the way that she did? Why did she frame her novel with the epistolary? What effect does that have on the rest of the novel? Also, why did she begin her “Letters” section in the specific setting that she did? Why is the setting of this “Letters” section of the novel important?
Write a critical response based on this question. Your paper should be 2-3 pages long (meaning at least 2 full pages), double-spaced, with 1” margins using Times New Roman 12 point font, and it should conform to the Critical Response Papers Rubric handed out in class and also available on Blackboard. You must also use at least 4 direct quotations from the novel to support the claims that you make in your paper, cited with parenthetical references in correct MLA format “like this” (Shelley 17).
Critical Response Papers Rubric
Critical response papers will be graded on a scale of 0 to 10. My comments on those papers will often be minimal. The main reason for this is the fact that these shorter papers are mainly for the purpose of helping you, as a reader of each reading assignment, to materialize your thoughts and opinions concerning the readings for the purpose of discussion. These shorter papers are graded mainly on your ability to effectively articulate your opinions, ideas, and arguments concerning each reading. In that respect, they are practice papers for the larger papers where your ability to formulate an effective written argument is of extremely high importance. Therefore, my comments on those papers will almost always pertain to technical aspects, such as the effective incorporation of quotations and evidence into your discussion, as well as formatting and documentation issues. The actual content of the papers will be discussed in small-group and full-class discussions, almost always during the class when the paper is due. So basically, the comments on the content of these critical response papers will be almost exclusively verbal, and in the form of class discussion. In terms of the grading of these papers, basic formatting expectations (i.e. stapled document, correct font/margins, etc.; basically worth 1 point each) still apply, but here are some specific aspects of critical response papers that will negatively affect your grade, and their general corresponding point values, broken down into 5 basic categories of criteria:
1. Not answering the prompt or questions assigned in class and/or listed on-line sufficiently enough could negatively affect your grade by as much as 10 points, so this is obviously the most important aspect. Just be sure to answer any and all assigned questions/prompts for each critical response paper.
2. Also, be sure to answer those questions/prompts effectively. A critical response paper that displays a shallow reading of the material or a mediocre discussion of the questions at hand could lose as many as 5 points or just one point in terms of its grade, depending on the quality of the answer.
3. Not reaching the minimum page length could also greatly affect the grade of a critical response paper in a negative way. Generally, a paper that is short of the minimum requirement will lose points in relation to the total points possible and its ratio to the minimum number of pages required. Basically, for a 3-4 page critical response paper, the number of points per page would be around 3-4 each, or 5 points each for a 2-3 page paper, depending also upon the quality of the writing and the extent to which the paper is successful or unsuccessful in relation to the other criteria discussed on this rubric that you are currently reading.
4. Making sure that you are using the minimum number of quotations required for each paper is also an important part of the critical response grade, and it is also important to cite the quotations in correct MLA format (meaning that there needs to be quotation marks around each quotation, and there needs to be a corresponding parenthetical reference for each quotation in correct MLA format). The rest of the paper also needs to be in correct MLA format (1” margins, double-spaced, and no extra spaces between paragraphs). Generally, a point will be deducted for the lack of each quotation under the minimum, and a point will be deducted for each parenthetical reference that either does not appear or is not in the correct format (and that means that all necessary information must appear in the reference and it all must be presented with correct punctuation). A point or more will be deducted due to not being in correct MLA format, overall.
5. Also, each quotation that is not introduced and connected to your own language within the sentence that the quotation appears will lose a point (meaning, no “floating quotations”). Basically, don’t just have your quotations exist as their own independent sentences within your document. Connect them to your own language within the same sentence.