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HCC – Composition 1302

Essay 4: Drama Argument Analysis

For this essay you will be analyzing a play based on a specific aspect that you want to work from (ex: characters, conflict, staging, conventions) and how that contributes to the whole work. Keep in mind your introduction will need an attention-getter, the text you are working from, and your thesis statement (this is what you are arguing). This paper will have a persuasive tone because you are trying to convince someone that your view is valid. Keep in mind that there is no right or wrong, but valid and invalid. You want to present an argument that is believable and well supported with evidence.

Also, remember to use the text as evidence.
Incorporate three to five articles from the library databases or books. You may use other credible sources (books, internet) to help support your point. Remember to quote the passages exactly as the author states them. Do not misrepresent what the author might be trying to say.

Topics:

For this essay you may analyze the following plays:

· A Doll’s House

· Trifles

· Oedipus The King

· Othello

· The Glass Menagerie

· Fences

· Antigone

The essay will focus on analyzing a play for specific devices, (characters, conflicts, staging, POV, individual rights, themes, symbolism, motifs, etc.).

Paper Requirements:

Proper Heading (Student’s Name, Professor’s Name, Class, Date) and Header (Last name pg #)

4 to 5 FULL pages or longer (Note: The 4th page is not the Works Cited page)

Double spaced

12 point font

Times New Roman

1 inch margins

3rd person Point of View – personal opinion area is paragraph before conclusion; you may use 1st POV here

No Contractions

Works Cited Page in MLA for any sources (minimum 3/ no maximum)

Quotes with internal citations – use a minimum of four quotes

Guidelines:

Final draft 15%

Works Cited 5%

Total 20 %

Helpful Websites:

•Review McGraw-Hill website for research essay strategies and other resources:

http://www.mhconnectenglish.com/

•Review Purdue Owl website for research essay strategies and other resources:

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/

•Two valuable and free websites to register with for double checking your citations are:

http://www.easybib.com

https://www.calvin.edu/library/knightcite/

Using Evidence:

Evidence in your paper is the way you show support for your main idea-thesis. This support can be shown in a variety of ways:

 Reasons

 Examples

 Facts

 Details

 Statistics

 Personal Observations or Experience

 Anecdotes

 Expert Opinions

 Quotations

This includes the final draft and works cited page.

Angeli 1

Elizabeth L. Angeli

Professor Patricia Sullivan

English 624

12 February 2012

Toward a Recovery of Nineteenth Century Farming Handbooks

While researching texts written about nineteenth century farming, I found a few

authors who published books about the literature of nineteenth century farming,

particularly agricultural journals, newspapers, pamphlets, and brochures. These authors

often placed the farming literature they were studying into an historical context by

discussing the important events in agriculture of the year in which the literature was

published (see Demaree, for example). However, while these authors discuss journals,

newspapers, pamphlets, and brochures, I could not find much discussion about another

important source of farming knowledge: farming handbooks. My goal in this paper is to

bring this source into the agricultural literature discussion by connecting three

agricultural handbooks from the nineteenth century with nineteenth century agricultural

history.

To achieve this goal, I have organized my paper into four main sections, two of

which have sub-sections. In the first section, I provide an account of three important

events in nineteenth century agricultural history: population and technological changes,

the distribution of scientific new knowledge, and farming’s influence on education. In the

second section, I discuss three nineteenth century farming handbooks in connection with

the important events described in the first section. I end my paper with a third section that

offers research questions that could be answered in future versions of this paper and

Page numbers
begin on and
with page 1.
Type your
name next to
the page
number so
that it
appears on
every page.

Your name,
the course
number,
the
professor’s
name, and
the date of
the paper
are double-
spaced in
12-point,
Times New
Roman
font. Dates
in MLA are
written in
this order:
day, month,
and year.

Titles are
centered
and written
in 12-point,
Times New
Roman
font. The
title is not
bolded,
underlined,
or
italicized.

Blue boxes contain
directions for writing
and citing in MLA
style.

Green text boxes
contain explanations
of MLA style
guidelines.

The
introduc-
tory
paragraph,
or introduc-
tion, should
set the
context for
the rest of
the paper.
Tell your
readers
why you
are writing
and why
your topic
is
important.

The thesis
is a clear
position
that you
will support
and
develop
throughout
your paper.
This
sentence
guides or
controls
your paper.

If your
paper is
long, you
may want
to write
about how
your paper
is
organized.
This will
help your
readers
follow your
ideas.

The thesis
statement
usually is
the last
sentence of
the
introduc-
tion.

MLA requires
double-spacing
throughout a
document; do
not single-space
any part of the
document.

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conclude with a fourth section that discusses the importance of expanding this particular

project. I also include an appendix after the Works Cited that contains images of the three

handbooks I examined. Before I can begin the examination of the three handbooks,

however, I need to provide an historical context in which the books were written, and it is

to this that I now turn.

HISTORICAL CONTEXT

The nineteenth century saw many changes to daily American life with an increase in

population, improved methods of transportation, developments in technology, and the

rise in the importance of science. These events impacted all aspects of nineteenth century

American life, most significantly those involved in slavery and the Civil War, but a large

part of American life was affected, a part that is quite often taken for granted: the life of

the American farmer.

Population and Technological Changes. One of the biggest changes, as seen in

nineteenth century America’s census reports, is the dramatic increase in population. The

1820 census reported that over 10 million people were living in America; of those 10

million, over 2 million were engaged in agriculture. Ten years prior to that, the 1810

census reported over 7 million people were living in the states; there was no category for

people engaged in agriculture. In this ten-year time span, then, agriculture experienced

significant improvements and changes that enhanced its importance in American life.

One of these improvements was the developments of canals and steamboats,

which allowed farmers to “sell what has previously been unsalable [sic]” and resulted in a

“substantial increase in [a farmer’s] ability to earn income” (Danhof 5). This

If there is a
gramma-
tical,
mechanical,
or spelling
error in the
text you
are citing,
type the
quote as it
appears.
Follow the
quote with
“[sic].”

The
paragraph
after the B-
level
headers
start flush
left after
the
headings.

Use another
style, e.g.,
italics, to
differen-
tiate the C-
level
headers
from the B-
level
headers.
The
paragraph
continues
directly
after the
header.

Headers,
though not
required by
MLA style,
help the
overall
structure
and
organiza-
tion of a
paper. Use
them at
your
instructor’s
discretion
to help
your reader
follow your
ideas.

Use
personal
pronouns (I,
we, us,
etc.) at
your
instructor’s
discretion.

When using headings in
MLA, title the main
sections (B-level
headers) in a different
style font than the
paper’s title, e.g., in
small caps.

The headings used here follow an A-, B-, C-
level system to break the text into smaller
sections. The different levels help organize
the paper and maintain consistency in the
paper’s organization. You may come up with
your own headings as long as they are
consistent.

Angeli 3

improvement allowed the relations between the rural and urban populations to strengthen,

resulting in an increase in trade. The urban population (defined as having over 2,500

inhabitants) in the northern states increased rapidly after 1820.1 This increase

accompanied the decrease in rural populations, as farmers who “preferred trade,

transportation, or ‘tinkering’” to the tasks of tending to crops and animals found great

opportunities in the city (Danhof 7). Trade and transportation thus began to influence

farming life significantly. Before 1820, the rural community accounted for eighty percent

of consumption of farmers’ goods (Hurt 127). With the improvements in transportation,

twenty-five percent of farmers’ products were sold for commercial gain, and by 1825,

farming “became a business rather than a way of life” (128). This business required

farmers to specialize their production and caused most farmers to give “less attention to

the production of surplus commodities like wheat, tobacco, pork, or beef” (128). The

increase in specialization encouraged some farmers to turn to technology to increase their

production and capitalize on commercial markets (172).

The technology farmers used around 1820 was developed from three main

sources: Europe, coastal Indian tribes in America, and domestic modifications made from

the first two sources’ technologies. Through time, technology improved, and while some

farmers clung to their time-tested technologies, others were eager to find alternatives to

these technologies. These farmers often turned to current developments in Great Britain

and received word of their technological improvements through firsthand knowledge by

talking with immigrants and travelers. Farmers also began planning and conducting

experiments, and although they lacked a truly scientific approach, these farmers engaged

in experiments to obtain results and learn from the results.2 Agricultural organizations

In-text
citations
occur after
the quote
but before
the period.
The
author’s/
authors’
name/s go
before the
page
number
with no
comma in
between.

Insert the
footnote
directly
after the
phrase or
clause to
which it
refers.

Footnotes
should be
double-
spaced and
in size 12
Times New
Roman
font.

Use
footnotes
to explain a
point in
your paper
that does
not quite
fit in with
the rest of
the
paragraph.

Angeli 4

were then formed to “encourage . . . experimentation, hear reports, observe results, and

exchange critical comments” (Danhof 53). Thus, new knowledge was transmitted orally

from farmer to farmer, immigrant to farmer, and traveler to farmer, which could result in

the miscommunication of this new scientific knowledge. Therefore, developments were

made for knowledge to be transmitted and recorded in a more permanent, credible way:

by print.

The Distribution of New Knowledge. Before 1820 and prior to the new knowledge

farmers were creating, farmers who wanted print information about agriculture had their

choice of agricultural almanacs and even local newspapers to receive information

(Danhof 54). After 1820, however, agricultural writing took more forms than almanacs

and newspapers. From 1820 to 1870, agricultural periodicals were responsible for

spreading new knowledge among farmers. In his published dissertation The American

Agricultural Press 1819-1860, Albert Lowther Demaree presents a “description of the

general content of [agricultural journals]” (xi). These journals began in 1819 and were

written for farmers, with topics devoted to “farming, stock raising, [and] horticulture”

(12). The suggested “birthdate” of American agricultural journalism is April 2, 1819

when John S. Skinner published his periodical American Farmer in Baltimore. Demaree

writes that Skinner’s periodical was the “first continuous, successful agricultural

periodical in the United States” and “served as a model for hundreds of journals that

succeeded it” (19). In the midst of the development of the journal, farmers began writing

handbooks. Not much has been written on the handbooks’ history, aside from the fact that

C.M. Saxton & Co. in New York was the major handbook publisher. Despite the lack of

information about handbooks, and as can be seen in my discussion below, these

Titles of
published
works
(books,
journals,
films, etc.)
are now
italicized
instead of
underlined.

If you
delete
words from
the original
quote,
insert an
ellipsis,
three
periods
with a
space
between
and after
each one.

Transitions
connect
paragraphs
and unify
writing.

Body
paragraphs
have these
four
elements: a
transition, a
topic
sentence,
evidence,
and a brief
wrap-up
sentence.

Notice how
this
paragraph
begins with
a transition.
The topic
sentence
follows the
transition,
and it tells
readers
what the
paragraph
is about.
Direct
quotes are
used to
support
this topic
sentence.

Notice how
this
paragraph
ends with a
brief
mention of
print
sources and
the next
paragraph
begins with
a
discussion
of print
informa-
tion.

Angeli 5

handbooks played a significant role in distributing knowledge among farmers and in

educating young farmers, as I now discuss.

Farming’s Influence on Education. One result of the newly circulating print information

was the “need for acquiring scientific information upon which could be based a rational

technology” that could “be substituted for the current diverse, empirical practices”

(Danhof 69). In his 1825 book Nature and Reason Harmonized in the Practice of

Husbandry, John Lorain begins his first chapter by stating that “[v]ery erroneous theories

have been propagated” resulting in faulty farming methods (1). His words here create a

framework for the rest of his book, as he offers his readers narratives of his own trials and

errors and even dismisses foreign, time-tested techniques farmers had held on to: “The

knowledge we have of that very ancient and numerous nation the Chinese, as well as the

very located habits and costumes of this very singular people, is in itself insufficient to

teach us . . .” (75). His book captures the call and need for scientific experiments to

develop new knowledge meant to be used in/on/with American soil, which reflects some

farmers’ thinking of the day.

By the 1860s, the need for this knowledge was strong enough to affect education.

John Nicholson anticipated this effect in 1820 in the “Experiments” section of his book

The Farmer’s Assistant; Being a Digest of All That Relates to Agriculture and the

Conducting of Rural Affairs; Alphabetically Arranged and Adapted for the United States:

Perhaps it would be well, if some institution were devised, and supported

at the expense of the State, which would be so organized as would tend

most effectually to produce a due degree of emulation among Farmers, by

rewards and honorary distinctions conferred by those who, by their

Use block
quotes
when
quotations
are longer
than four-
typed lines.

The
paragraph
ends with a
wrap-up
sentence,
“Despite
the
lack . . .”,
while
transi-
tioning to
the next
paragraph.

Angeli 6

successful experimental efforts and improvements, should render

themselves duly entitled to them.3 (92)

Part of Nicholson’s hope was realized in 1837 when Michigan established their state

university, specifying that “agriculture was to be an integral part of the curriculum”

(Danhof 71). Not much was accomplished, however, much to the dissatisfaction of

farmers, and in 1855, the state authorized a new college to be “devoted to agriculture and

to be independent of the university” (Danhof 71). The government became more involved

in the creation of agricultural universities in 1862 when President Lincoln passed the

Morrill Land Grant College Act, which begins with this phrase: “AN ACT Donating

Public Lands to the several States and Territories which may provide Colleges for the

Benefit of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts [sic].” The first agricultural colleges formed

under the act suffered from a lack of trained teachers and “an insufficient base of

knowledge,” and critics claimed that the new colleges did not meet the needs of farmers

(Hurt 193).

Congress addressed these problems with the then newly formed United States

Department of Agriculture (USDA). The USDA and Morrill Act worked together to form

“. . . State experiment stations and extension services . . . [that] added [to]

. . . localized research and education . . .” (Baker et al. 415). The USDA added to the

scientific and educational areas of the agricultural field in other ways by including

research as one of the organization’s “foundation stone” (367) and by including these

seven objectives:

(1) [C]ollecting, arranging, and publishing statistical and other useful

agricultural information; (2) introducing valuable plants and animals; (3)

Periods
occur
before the
end
quotation
mark if the
citation
information
is given
already in
the
sentence.

If a source
has three
or more
authors,
use the
first
author’s
last name
followed by
“et al.”

Block
quotes
begin on a
new line,
are double-
spaced, and
are
indented
half an inch
from the
margin. Do
not use
quotation
marks. The
citation
information
(author
name and
page
number)
follows the
quote’s end
punctua-
tion.

Angeli 7

answering inquiries of farmers regarding agriculture; (4) testing

agricultural implements; (5) conducting chemical analyses of soils, grains,

fruits, plants, vegetables, and manures; (6) establishing a professorship of

botany and entomology; and (7) establishing an agricultural library and

museum. (Baker et al. 14)

These objectives were a response to farmers’ needs at the time, mainly to the need for

experiments, printed distribution of new farming knowledge, and education. Isaac

Newton, the first Commissioner of Agriculture, ensured these objectives would be

realized by stressing research and education with the ultimate goal of helping farmers

improve their operations (Hurt 190).

Before the USDA assisted in the circulation of knowledge, however, farmers

wrote about their own farming methods. This brings me to my next section in which I

examine three handbooks written by farmers and connect my observations of the texts

with the discussion of agricultural history I have presented above.

Note: Sections of this paper have been deleted to shorten the length of the paper

CONCLUSION

From examining Drown’s, Allen’s, and Crozier and Henderson’s handbooks in light of

nineteenth century agricultural history, I can say that science and education seem to have

had a strong influence on how and why these handbooks were written. The authors’ ethos

is created by how they align themselves as farmers with science and education either by

supporting or by criticizing them. Regardless of their stance, the authors needed to create

an ethos to gain an audience, and they did this by including tables of information,

illustrations of animals and buildings, reasons for educational reform, and pieces of

The conclusion
“wraps up” what you
have been discussing
in your paper.

Because
this is a B-
level
header, the
paragraph
is not
indented.

Angeli 8

advice to young farmers in their texts. It would be interesting to see if other farming

handbooks of the same century also convey a similar ethos concerning science and

education in agriculture. Recovering more handbooks in this way could lead to a better,

more complete understanding of farming education, science’s role in farming and

education, and perhaps even an understanding of the rhetoric of farming handbooks in the

nineteenth century.

Angeli 9

Notes

1. Danhof includes “Delaware, Maryland, all states north of the Potomac and

Ohio rivers, Missouri, and states to its north” when referring to the northern states (11).

2. For the purposes of this paper, “science” is defined as it was in nineteenth

century agriculture: conducting experiments and engaging in research.

3. Please note that any direct quotes from the nineteenth century texts are written

in their original form, which may contain grammar mistakes according to twenty-first

century grammar rules.

Endnotes
begin on a
new page
after the
paper but
before the
Works
Cited.
Double-
space all
entries, and
indent each
entry 0.5”
from the
margin.

Center the title “Notes,”
using 12-point Times
New Roman font.

Use endnotes to explain a point in
your paper that does not quite fit
in with the rest of the paragraph.
Avoid lengthy discussions in the
endnote entries.

Angeli 10

Works Cited

Allen, R.L. The American Farm Book; or Compend of American Agriculture; Being a

Practical Treatise on Soils, Manures, Draining, Irrigation, Grasses, Grain,

Roots, Fruits, Cotton, Tobacco, Sugar Cane, Rice, and Every Staple Product of

the United States with the Best Methods of Planting, Cultivating, and Preparation

for Market. Saxton, 1849.

Baker, Gladys L., et al. Century of Service: The First 100 Years of the United States

Department of Agriculture. [Federal Government], 1996.

Danhof, Clarence H. Change in Agriculture: The Northern United States, 1820-1870.

Harvard UP, 1969.

Demaree, Albert Lowther. The American Agricultural Press 1819-1860. Columbia UP,

1941.

Drown, William and Solomon Drown. Compendium of Agriculture or the Farmer’s

Guide, in the Most Essential Parts of Husbandry and Gardening; Compiled from

the Best American and European Publications, and the Unwritten Opinions of

Experienced Cultivators. Field, 1824.

“Historical Census Browser.” University of Virginia Library, 2007,

http://mapserver.lib.virginia.edu/. Accessed 6 Dec. 2008.

Hurt, R. Douglas. American Agriculture: A Brief History. Iowa State UP, 1994.

Lorain, John. Nature and Reason Harmonized in the Practice of Husbandry. Carey,1825.

“Morrill Land Grant Act of 1862.” Prairie View A&M, 2003. https://www.pvamu.edu/

library/about-the-library/history-of-the-library-at-prairie-view/1890-land-grant-

history/. Accessed 6 Dec. 2008.

The Works
Cited page
begins on a
new page.
Center the
title “Works
Cited”
without
underlining,
bolding, or
italicizing it.
If there is
only one
entry, title
this page
“Work
Cited.”

If a print
source
does not
list a
publisher
and you
can infer
who the
publisher is,
place the
publisher’s
name in
brackets.

MLA now
requires
URLs (when
possible)
when citing
online
sources.
The date of
access is
optional,
but be sure
to include it
whenever
possible,
since online
works can
be changed
or removed
at any time.

MLA now
requires
only the
publisher,
and not the
city of
publication.
The 8th
edition also
does not
require
sources to
have a
publication
marker,
(such as
“Print”).

The Works Cited
page is a list of
all the sources
cited in your
paper.

List the
title of the
source in
quotation
marks, and
the title of
the
container in
italics,
followed by
a comma
and the
date of
publication.
Since this is
an online
source,
include the
URL and
date of
access.

If a source
has three
or more
authors,
only the
first one
shown in
the source
is given. It
is followed
by et al.

Angeli 11

Nicholson, John. The Farmer’s Assistant; Being a Digest of All That Relates to

Agriculture and the Conducting of Rural Affairs; Alphabetically Arranged and

Adapted for the United States. Warner, 1820.

Research Paper

Social Issue

Getting Started

Set up the boundaries of your paper.

How long is the paper supposed to be?

How much background information is necessary for the reader to understand the social issue?

How many points are needed to adequately address the topic?

What is the group that you plan to conclude your paper with?

What areas of your paper are going to require research?

What is a social issue?

Social issues are matters which directly or indirectly affect a person or many members of a

society

and are considered to be problems, controversies related to

moral values

, or both.

Building your argument

Identify the social issue that interests you the most

Include background information in order to clarify issue for readers

Introduction

Attention-getter

Possibly use a shocking fact or statistic

Thesis

Should include your social issue and main points

Building argument

Provide relevant information about this social issue

Who are the supporters?

What is the main cause?

What are their accomplishments?

What is the problem with this social issue?

Supporting your argument

Need to have adequate and informative evidence to offer support for your topic.

Data

Quotes

Examples

Facts

Statistics

Expert Opinion

Conclusion

Must offer a solution/proposal/call to action

Use the group that you have found as a way to compel your audience to act about this topic (support the group, learn about the group, etc)

Identifying Reseach

Primary

Personal Interviews

Need to have questions written out to be answered

Make sure you give credit to the person you interviewed within your paper of whatever information you gathered

Surveys

Secondary

Library research

Databases, articles, etc

Internet research

From credible websites

Working Bibliography

List all sources that you have looked at or taken information from

Prepare this on a computer file so you can add and delete as needed

This can help as you go through the writing process and need to refer back to sources

This makes it easier for you to complete your works cited page

Quotations

Direct quotation

Reproduce word for word within quotation marks

“The plot, with one exciting event after another, was representative of the usual historical novel. But Gone with the Wind placed its emphasis as much on the private individual as on the panorama.”

Quotations

Can use ellipsis to show where material has been omitted

Inside quote

“The plot…was representative of the usual historical novel. But Gone with the Wind placed its emphasis as much on the private individual as on the panorama.”

Quotations

Additions to a quote

May need to add a little piece of info to make concept clearer

“Not only did it [Gone with the Wind] for a short time become America’s speediest-selling novel, but over the long haul, it became the nation’s largest-selling novel.”

Quotes within a quote

Place single quotes around the quotation within your original quote

“Despite its massive scope, Gone with the Wind sustained, according to one reviewer, ‘remarkable continuity in its plot and character development.’”

Summarizing

Condensing someone else’s idea and restating it in your own words

This may be helpful in the background information you are going to present in your paper

Do not summarize any information you are using as defined evidence to support your point

Give credit to source

Paraphrasing

Recasts material by using roughly the same number of words, retaining the same level of detail, and adopting the same style as the original.

Give credit to source