I.P.E.S.

Almafuerte
Lengua y Cultura IV
Blas Bigatti
2010

First Assignment:
Asterix in Britain from a postmodern perspective
perspective

Task:

You must pick out a sequence, idea, phrase (whatever) from the first two
pages of Asterix in Britain (Goscini & Uderzo, 1970). You must contrast this text
with the historical excerpts read in class and analyse it in the light of the
poetics of postmodernism. Finally, you will have to put your ideas down in a
short (one-page) essay.

Steps to follow:

1) Think of anan idea of YOUR INTEREST.

INTEREST The comic excerpt deals with many
aspects that can be related or contrasted to the historical texts we discussed in
class. Think of one idea that you find interesting to relate and analyse. Ideas can
be present in a variety of elements from the comic: the plot, a situation, a
dialogue, a statement, a particular character, etc. And they can be related with
any of the elements present in the historical texts: with a definition, a sentence,
a whole concept, an example, etc.

Let me give you an example:

-The authors of ‘Asterix in Britain’ take Caesar’s dexterity as a strategist and

mock at it by proposing Caesar’s victory over the Britons as the product of
culture rather than military superiority. In doing this, the authors resort to many
of the elements that, according to Hutcheon (1988), are characteristic of a
poetics of postmodernism, such as…

2) Organise your ideas:

ideas Once you know what you’re going to write about, you
must organise your ideas and the information you have. There are many possible
and valid layouts for an essay. In case you’re not sure about this, I’m giving you
one possibility:

Introduction: In the first paragraph or paragraphs you should make a general

presentation of the topic, making it clear for the reader what comic fragment
you’re going to talk about and briefly explaining its plot (always have in mind
that the reader is not supposed to know the same things that you know:
you mustn’t take things for granted).

Body: The body of your article should contain your main point. This is the
moment when you take something from the comic book and explain it through
your bibliography. Consider the order in which you will express your ideas (what
will you write first, what second, and so). Try to make your ideas follow a logical
chain.

Closing/conclusion: To finish with, you can summarise your points or express a

final idea.

3) Write your ideas down: Once you have an idea of how to organise your
essay, you must start writing it. When writing, have these things in mind:
 -You’re not writing for the teacher, but for an imaginary reader.
-Be clear -the reader doesn’t know what you know; so you must make
things clear for him/her.
-Be logical (that is, coherent) –don’t say one thing and then something different
in the next paragraph.

Also, when writing, I will ask you to follow some style guidelines (don’t worry yet, if
you don’t get this, let me know and I’ll explain it in person!!!):

-Page size: A4
-Font: Verdana 10, single space between lines.
-Indentation: left indentation (0 cm), right indentation (15 cm)
-Paragraph: Paragraph justified, single space between lines, first line indentation
(0,5 cm), automatic hyphenation.
-Initial header: institute, course, teacher’s name, student’s name, year.

4) Drafts: The first thing I’ll ask you to send

will be a short explanation of your topic and
ideas (it can contain a preliminary
hypothesis too). After my feedback to this,
you will be asked to send a first version of
your essay, which will considered the first
draft. I’ll check it and send it back with
comments. You’ll have to make changes
taking into account my feedback and then
send a final draft.

5) Doubts: Any doubts you have, you can

always consult me by e-mail. I check it
almost daily. So, if there’s any doubt
concerning the assignment, or about how to handle the PC stuff, just let me know.

6) These are the elements I will assess in your final version:

Assessment chart:
Argumentation: organisation,
coherence, clarity. (40%)
Language: correction of form and
register. (20%)
Bibliography: correct conceptualisation
of given bibliography. (15%)

Style: Conformity to style guidelines.

(10%)

Process: improvement out of

corrections and class discussion. (15%)
Final assessment

7) DEADLINES:
April 30-May 7: Ideas
May 7-14: First draft
May 14-21: Final draft