Informes/Composiciones
Tina Modotti, "Julio Antonio Mella's Typewriter" (1928)
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What is it?
Form and Focus
6 Suggestions on What to Avoid
How to Cite the Text
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During the term, you will write 2 "informes" or compositions, each approximately 2-3 pages long (see course schedule for due dates). You are always welcome to stop in during office hours and talk with me about your ideas for your "informe". Each one will have its own specific guidelines, and as we progress through the term, you can check here for information on each.
Here are some general guidelines to help you on your way to writing a creative and insightful "informe":
What
is it?
An "informe" is meant to be an explorative, creative space where you
can reflect on your readings and make connections within the text.
It aims to help you build more interesting readings of the works, develop
your analytical skills, get more out of your readings, and develop your
writing skills and style.
Form
and focus:
Each informe will may have a slightly different
form and focus which I will announce in class and in writing. Although
they will tend to be more argumentative papers so that you learn to build
and support an original interpretation of a literary work, they may range
from more formal, argumentative papers to more explorative (and less proving
a particular thesis) papers. As we approach the due dates, click
below on each paper for more information.
Informe #1
Informe #2
Final Paper
1. "That happened to me as well once....."
Avoid departing from the text at hand and going into other experiences
you have had that may be similar (this would be more
appropriate for a journal). Remember that this is a space to
work creatively with the text.
2. Transcripts of class discussion:
Avoid merely repeating what we have said in class. It is fine
to work with an idea that we explored in class, but that plan on
developing it and taking it farther. The "informe" is not a test
to see if you have been attentive to discussion -instead, here you
are trying to develop your critical thinking and reading skills and
go beyond or in directions different from those we have
explored in class.
3. "Federico García Lorca is one of the most renown
of all Spanish playwrights and has written many works dealing with gender
issues. Lorca's incredible talent enabled him to write the well-known
rural trilogy, including Bodas de sangre, Yerma and La
casa de Bernarda Alba. In Yerma, the issue of gender is
overwhelmingly important... (etc.)"
Cut to the chase. Avoid broad, general introductions on the writers
and their works. The "informe" is a short, condensed, exploration
or argumentative paper. It is something you have thought about and
should jump right into. Each sentence should add to the paper, not
kill your thought. The preceding introduction not only doesn't tell
the reader anything about what you will explore in your paper, but it will
feel like an immense amount of fluff by the time you approach the end of
two pages and you realize that you are just "getting going" and are running
out of space. If you have the tendency to write these kind of introductions,
conclusions or transitions, challenge yourself and cross them out -- think
about a more direct and effective way to sit the reader down to your
discussion table.
4. Plot summary:
Avoid summarizing the plot or describing a character. Analysis
is what you are going for, not telling what happens. You may be analyzing
and making connections between aspects of a character as you explore an
idea you have about her, but stay away from retelling the story or merely
paraphrasing descriptions the text gives you.