Discuss Sade’s gradual growth in Beverly Naidoo’s The Other Side of Truth.
Student Notes:
You are expected to focus on the protagonist’s moral growth. You need to show how Sade was forced to grow up rapidly as she had to fend for herself, for her brother, and for her father.
From the murder of her mother, to the detension of her father and beyond. The intense and depressing happenings show how the challenges, hardships, death, trauma and scary experiences Sade faces mould her character. How does she manage to adjust and to deal with peer pressure? How does Sade’s dealing with adults in the novel affect her growing up?
You may want to compare Sade’s earlier attitude towards the bullies to her later bravery in airing her father’s story.
These are just brainstorming questions and are by no means an outline of your paper. You are expected to show some creativity and some originality of approach to your primary source. You are also expected to refer to critics’ views on the topic.
When it comes to planning your essay, it is highly recommended to set up an outline structure of points you wish to make, and then choose selected scenes, episodes from the novel to write about to flesh out your major points of discussion. In this type of essay, it is essential to make reference to the work you are discussing, as well as to the critical review of the literature on the topic. Use your readers and relevant articles from the e-library.
A thesis statement and a proper logical presentation of ideas are essential.
For this TMA, you will need to follow these steps:
1.
Plan your essay ahead of time by writing a plan highlighting the main points you intend to cover.
2.
Write a thesis statement stating your argument to be included on the first page of your essay.
3.
Select some excerpts or scenes that relate to your argument. State what they say tell us, and add your own comments and interpretation. You need to analyse rather than narrate.
4.
Make sure your essay refers to some quotations from the novel.
5.
Your analytical comments should precede or follow every time you quote from the text under discussion or from the critical material you refer to.
6.
Reference to critical material related to this topic is necessary (you should refer to at least 3 critical works).
7.
All your references should follow the Harvard citation system uploaded on the LMS for your perusal.
8.
At this stage, you are expected to know how to paraphrase and synthesize the material you read, using your own words as much as possible. You still have to quote and use quotation marks in the right annotation methods you have learned.
9.
Make sure you ask your tutors in class and during office hours for further clarifications.
Using the e-library on campus:
Students are requested to visit the e-library on campus and use it to do their TMAs properly. They are also requested to show their tutor that they used the e-library for the TMA by referring to some articles they have read. Students who fail to use and refer to material from the e-library will subsequently lose marks.
The following are guidelines on plagiarism:
If you submit an assignment that contains work other than yours without acknowledging your sources, you are committing plagiarism. This might occur when:
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Using a sentence or phrase that you have come across without referencing your source.
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Copying word-for-word directly from a text
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Paraphrasing the words from the text very closely without acknowledging your source.
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Using text downloaded from the Internet
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Borrowing statistics or assembled facts from another person or source
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Copying or downloading figures, photographs, pictures or diagrams without acknowledging your sources
·
Copying from the notes or essays of a fellow student
You can avoid plagiarism simply by always putting your quotes and paraphrases in a reference. Feel free to use material from elsewhere as long as a proper reference is given. Follow Harvard style referencing for your bibliography and in-text citations.
(Slightly adapted from OU document on quoting versus plagiarism)
It is important to remember that plagiarism is strictly barred and would be subject to punitive action by the Arab Open University.
