Allegory of the Cave

Essay 1
ENGL 1101
Purpose
Students should be able to use various modes of writing in order to explore literature
and articles about issues in the humanities and in society.
Rhetorical Strategy Options
 Narration
 Process
 Cause, effect, or cause & effect
 Compare, contrast, or compare & contrast
 Classification/division.
Writing Topics
There are many topic suggestions for each rhetorical strategy. You may use potential
prompts located in BBL or in your textbook, or you may look for suggestions online.
Since you must write a college-level essay, not all of the topics online will work for this
assignment, so if you have reservations about one of the topics, please ask your
instructor. If you do use the internet to look for a topic, see your instructor for approval.
Requirements
Your essay must adhere to the following requirements for ENGL 1101:
 Your essay must have at least five well-developed paragraphs
 Your essay must have 950-1000 words
 The introduction must have an attention-getting hook and effectively introduce
your thesis statement
 The thesis must be the last sentence of the introduction
 Each body paragraph must have an easily identifiable topic sentence, major and
minor details, and transition words and phrases that correspond to the rhetorical
strategy that you are following
 You must format your essay according to the current 8th edition of MLA
o One-inch margins, 12 point font size, Times New Roman font style,
inserted page number
o Please see the documents on BBL, MLA websites, the writing tutor, or
your instructor for assistance with MLA formatting if you don’t know how to
do something
 If you are required to cite a source, make sure to use quotation marks around the
cited material and include an in-text citation after the cited material
o The in-text citation should correspond to a full source citation on the works
cited page.
Plagiarism
If you submit someone else’s words or change only a few words or copy someone
else’s ideas without providing a parenthetical citation and quotation marks where
applicable and a corresponding work(s) cited page, you will receive – at the least – a
zero for your plagiarism.
Tips and Tricks
Here are some helpful tips to help you produce a quality essay. You need to make sure
to schedule several days to complete an essay assignment, as you should make sure to
go through the writing process carefully.
 Choose a topic that you find interesting.
 Compile ideas and thoughts about the topic. This is your prewriting.
 Based on your prewriting, notes, ideas, and topic of your essay, draft a working
thesis. Refer to the thesis statement lecture notes on Blackboard if you need
help. Many examples you may find online are average, meaning they are C level
thesis statements.
 Gather all your notes, any written assignments where you discussed this work,
and any secondary research.
 Write an outline of the main points you want to make. Compare them to your
thesis statement (modify your thesis or outline to make sure they match). Refer
to the essay prompt to make sure you are still on track.
 Fill in the outline with supporting details and from any research (remember the
citations).
 Finalize your outline and submit your outline as instructed.
 You should be able to start your rough draft of your essay. For greater potential
for success, submit your essay to UpSwing for extra guidance. Feedback can
take up to 48 hours. Use feedback from your instructor as well as from UpSwing
to revise your draft.
 Make sure you look over for grammar and MLA errors before finishing your final
draft.
 Finalize your essay and submit your essay as instructed.