Choose either Option #1 or Option #2 for your final paper. Option #1: Two pieces First, write a creative, informal, personal essay in the style of Montaigne and the other likeminded essayists we’ve read this semester. This is the first piece. It should be 250-750 words long. I will give you prompts to help you or you may choose another topic. Next, after completing your informal essay, write a critical essay examining your process and product in light of the critical pieces we’ve read this semester. This is the second piece. This critical piece should be 750-1,000 words. It should include quotes and paraphrases from your choice of the readings in the critical readings “Essayists on the Essay” folder on Blackboard (this includes the Klaus piece, if you’d like to use it again.) As it will be your critical reflection on your informal essay, it should be written in the first-person “I.” How will you be graded if you choose this option? This has not been a class where you learned to write a personal essay. Therefore, I am not going to grade you on whether your personal, informal essay (the first piece) is “good” by any measure. I simply expect you to create something, using the essayists we’ve read as your inspiration. The bulk of your grade will come from your critical examination (the second piece). This second piece should be written in MLA style, feature an introduction and conclusion as discussed in class, have a clear thesis statement, and include supporting evidence cited accurately in its body paragraphs. You might think of this second piece as being similar to your midterm paper, except this time you are examining your own informal essay instead of “Loggerheads” or The Address Book or “Life Story.” And this time you don’t have to use the Klaus, or only the Klaus; you can choose from any of the critical readings in the critical readings folder. As in the midterm, the way you choose to bring your first piece into conversation with ideas from a reading or readings in the “Essayists on the Essay” folder is up to you. This statement of connection will be your thesis statement. Option #2: Select two of the works from the lists below (one work from List A and one work from List B) and compare them through the lens of their essayistic features as we discussed, and you thought about, this semester. The essayistic features of these two essays are yours to determine but should be rooted in our work this semester. Use any of the readings in the critical readings “Essayists on the Essay” folder to help you define and develop features as they apply to your argument. • Put forward an opinionated thesis statement that is the result of your comparison. • Your comparison should not be a simple statement of similarity or difference, but a statement that analyzes the similarity and/or difference in terms of an idea, or ideas, relevant to our discussion of the essay. This is the “lens”; you are responsible for creating it and applying it to your paper. You should revisit the comprehensive Klaus piece, or another one of the critical essays from the critical readings folder, or your notes from class, for help making your argument. • You are required to compare two of the works from the lists below, one from List A and one from List B. • You should use the readings from the critical readings folder in Blackboard to help you make your argument. Ideas taken from readings must be cited. • Your essay should be written in MLA style. It should have an introductory paragraph that sets up your thesis and ends with your thesis statement. It should have body paragraphs that clearly support the thesis and introduce quotes and paraphrases from your texts as evidence. It should have a concluding paragraph that only briefly rephrases your argument. • Your paper should be 1,200-1,500 words long. • Include in your paper an answer to the questions posed in They Say I Say, “So What? Who Cares” in the “Saying Why It Matters” chapter. List A for Option #2: Please select one from this list. The End of the Diary by Sara Manguso Fun Home (excerpt) by Alison Bechdel “Country Cooking from Central France” by Harry Mathews “My Grandma the Poisoner” by John Reed “How I Got Into College” (Aired on This American Life; Please cite transcript) List B for Option #2: Please select one from this list. “Loggerheads” by David Sedaris Several Short Sentences About Writing by Verlyn Klinkenborg (excerpts) “Why I Write” by Joan Didion “The Theory and Practice of Postmodernism: A Manifesto” by David Antin “Life Story” by David Shields The Address Book by Sophie Calle The End of the Diary by Sara Manguso “My Grandma the Poisoner” by John Reed. Fun Home (excerpt) by Alison Bechdel “Country Cooking from Central France” by Harry Mathews “How I Got Into College” (Aired on This American Life; Please cite transcript)