I love English, but man, writing essays is so hard, at least for me. One of the things our writing in English 101 is supposed to reveal is that we understand the difference between summarizing (re-telling) and explaining or interpreting what we understand about the story with our own ideas. This is a problem I've always had, even in high school. I struggle with it and end up summarizing, but how can you not summarize while writing even near perfect essays? I have a hard enough time deciding how to start my essays and what to write. For our second writing project, we're using the "emerging understanding" process, and I chose to do "Araby" by James Joyce, one of the two short stories we read for this particular project, and I just finished my rough draft on it since it's due tomorrow, and I'm just not sure if the area I mentioned above (understanding the difference) is okay. However, I feel like the other areas meet the assessment criteria for the most part and I'll get at least a satisfactory on them. @Misty, I know you're studying this field; maybe you can provide some insight.
This is not me giving an ******* answer, but you should ask your professor before bringing this to the spam zone (assuming you haven't already). That is one of the best ways to learn at that level. I did not talk to any of my high school teachers a single damn time unless I needed something from them, but in college I talk to professors very frequently. Even if just to ask how to do one thing better, getting that direct communication to address specific areas will prove invaluable in the future. What they're trying to get you to avoid is writing without any analysis, not analyzing without talking about what happened. Mentioning pieces of the story between your own ideas is not the same thing as a full on summary. Brief summary is okay later on, but the purpose of this project is, presumably, to practice one skill. You're not trying to write a "perfect essay" here.
We've got peer review today, so I'll ask my classmates since they should also have an idea -- at least a better one than me. I also have an appointment at the writing center on Thursday to see how I did on the revision of our first writing project (A Letter to a Character) since I got a D on that, and I can ask about our second writing project as well, which is due on Monday.
below is right in that your professors are far better equipped to help you than us -- or, if not your professors, there are always writing centers etc. on college campuses that can help you. be wary of what other students you ask for help. but the distinction between summarizing and interpreting is an important one and one that many, many college students struggle with. you're allowed to briefly paraphrase plot events, but that should not be the major focus of your paper; summaries should only exist to give context to your interpretations. more often than not, you are allowed to assume that the reader of the paper (your professor) is familiar with the source material. they already know what happens, and if they didn't, they could go on wikipedia and learn it pretty quickly. they're not looking to see how well you can recite the plot, they're looking to see what you took from the story. what does it mean? how do the characters function within it? what's the major conflict? what is the purpose of the work?
