Individual Assignment: The Academic Essay

Spring 2023
Dr Aishwarya Subramanian

Write an academic essay of 1500-2000 words, excluding works cited. Your essay
topic and thesis statement must be based on either the film Rashomon (directed by
Akira Kurosawa) or the play Accidental Death of an Anarchist (written by Dario
Fo), and must be agreed upon in consultation with the course instructor. The essay
should include citations of at least five relevant sources. Please follow the MLA
citation guidelines. Please note that plagiarism is strictly prohibited, and anyone
found using unfair means will be penalized severely.

Your answer should achieve the following:

 Demonstrates the ability to articulate, structure and substantiate one’s ideas and
arguments with valid sources (academic articles/ book chapters).
 Has a clear thesis statement
 Follows the structure of an essay with proper introduction, body and conclusion.
 Follows the claim – evidence – evaluation structure for paragraphs in the body of the
essay.
 Provides proof of having engaged with secondary sources by giving valid in-text
citations of 5 sources.
 Follows the MLA handbook guidelines for formatting and citation.

(1 x 20 = 20 marks)

II
Attempt all the questions of all the following 3 questionnaires. Deadlines for the three
questionnaires are March 12, March 27 and March 31 respectively.
(2+2+1 = 5 marks)
 Questionnaire 1: Reflections on the Writing Process

(Submit on March 12)

1. Please write the title of your paper below.

Objective Truth; Subjective experiences

2. What is the main claim of your essay?

How the movie challenges the notion of objective truth and highlights the subjectivity of
human experiences.

3. What is/are the reasons for your claim? Please write in bullet points below.

 The conflicting accounts in the film suggest that the truth is subjective and elusive.
Each character presents their own version of events, highlighting their own biases and
perceptions. The film challenges the audience to question the idea of objective truth
and consider the ways in which our own experiences shape our understanding of
events.
 Additionally, the film's use of unreliable narration underscores the idea that memory
is fallible and subject to distortion. Each character's account is filtered through their
own perspective, which is influenced by their own desires, fears, and prejudices. This
highlights the idea that memory is not a simple record of past events, but rather a
reconstruction that is influenced by many factors.

4. While making your argument, are you also refuting any argument? What is the
counter claim in this essay?

Everyone’s perspective, is their truth. And these subjectivity, will never lead to an objective
truth.

5. Please state your thesis statement below.

This paper aims, to highlight the subjectivity which forms everyone’s individual truths, and
how the conflicting accounts in the movie elucidate the perspectives and perceptions of
individuals in their understanding of the truth.

6. What are you trying to say/do you hope to accomplish in this essay? (1-3 sentences)

The movie highlights the importance of conflicting accounts and how their perspectives form
the truths of the witnesses in the movie, leading to subjective and elusive truths being formed.
Moreover, this subjectivity in their individual truth leads one astray from the objective truth.
7. How did you begin writing the essay? Say something about the process (how/why did
you choose the primary text, did you move from text to the sources or the other way
around, etc.). Was it difficult to find sources or was it more difficult to make a claim?

I began writing the essay using the sources, and research on the movie, and understanding the
subjectivity highlighted in the movie. Moreover, looking into theories of truths, and
how these theories lead to an objective truth.

8. Have you found five relevant sources for your essay? Please list the sources in the
relevant citation style below.

9. In what ways have you used research material? Only as quotation, only as paraphrase,
as both quotation and paraphrase, as footnote/endnote.

Have paraphrased some sources and have also used some as footnote.

10. How many sources support your claim and/or support the counter? (Indicate the
numbers)

3 sources support my claim while 2 support the counter argument.

 Questionnaire 2: Peer Assessment

(Submit in class on March 27)

1. Identify the title of the essay. Does it adequately represent the subject matter of the
essay? If there is a subtitle, is it linked appropriately to the subtitle?

2. Identify the thesis statement of the essay you are reading. Write it down verbatim. Is
the thesis a strong claim and is it detailed enough?

3. Do the Introduction and thesis clearly prepare you as a reader for the issues that are
addressed? How can it be made more effective?

4. Can you find anything that should have been in the essay and isn’t, or shouldn’t have
been in the paper and is? Offer reasons for your choices.

5. Do the textual examples support the claims? Are they well-argued, clear, specific and
related to the thesis? Which are the strongest examples and which are the weakest?

6. Does the reader know where he or she is at all times in the paper? Do paragraphs have
topic sentences and do they logically flow into the other? Offer at least one example
that can be improved and comment on it.

7. Does the paper have problems with grammar, spelling, punctuation, logical fallacies,
etc. that distract from the point being expressed? Mark those in the text.
8. Are all the secondary source quotations properly introduced and cited; e.g. if there is a
quote, are quotation marks used?

9. Does the conclusion adequately demonstrate the argument made in the essay?

10. Analyse the quality of the sources in the Reference section of the essay. Are the
sources relevant to the essay and the thesis in front of you? Are they written in the
correct citation format?
 Questionnaire 3: Revision

(Submit with your final essay on March 31)

1. In doing your revisions, how much and what exactly did you rewrite? Why did you
change what you changed?

2. In what ways did the revision improve the paper?

3. Did you find the peer assessment helpful? If so, in what specific ways did it help?

4. Quote the sentence which most clearly says what your thesis is and give its location in
terms of paragraph number.

5. Does the conclusion logically follow your argument in the essay?