writing a paper 34

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Long Paper Guidelines

In addition to introducing students to various literary texts and common themes that reflect the human experience, this course is designed to allow students to express in writing what they have learned about literature, its connection society, and apply these concepts in writing. Thus far, you have been introduced to a variety of texts. While I do not expect you to be an expert in literature, poetry, or sociology, I do expect you to be able apply concepts from one of these texts to our current society.

Your Assignment:

Using outside sources and primary text(s), analyze how humans define, give, use, usurp, and/or corrupt power in society using the literature we have read in this class and one literary theory (Marxism, Feminism, Ecofeminism, or Psychoanalytical Theory). It will be beneficial to you to consider this paper in this way: connect literature to reality and how power works in both realms.

Using both outside research and your own evaluation, you are to write a 7-9-page (not counting Works Cited page, or any unnecessary spacing) analytical research paper evaluating one or more of the texts we have read this semester

This may be your only opportunity to deeply read a text and analyze it to its core. A significant amount of the latter half of the semester should be spent on developing your essay. I always welcome any form of pre-writing to look at. Bring me anything from a bare-bones outline to an almost-finished final draft, and I will give you some feedback.

Here are some guidelines:

  • Try to focus on one to two texts. Do not attempt to synthesize everything on the reading list. In fact, do not attempt to synthesize anything—only analyze and apply.
  • Do not simply find what something else has written about the text and follow their lead. This is plagiarism. Your goal is to find a unique way to look at literature using tried methods.
  • Using “you” in a scholarly essay is decidedly prohibited. You may use “I”, but only when appropriate.
  • Your sources are to come from the library or a library database and cited accordingly. Sources such as Wikipedia, answers.com, and Sparknotes should be avoided. For an essay of this length, you should be incorporating six to seven outside texts that do not include the primary text or texts.
  • Avoid summarizing the events of the story/novel/poems. Assume your reader has read the text and does not need a recap. Use only quotations and paraphrasing to support your analysis. A significant amount of points will be deducted from your essay for simply summarizing the texts.
  • Finally, avoid writing a book report. Go beyond arbitrarily discussing plot, main characters, themes, and setting. These are all things we discussed in class. I want to know what you can do with a theory and the raw words.

THE BOTTOM LINE:

Topic: Literature, Society, and Power

Length: 7-9 pages

Sources: 6-7 academic sources, not counting primary texts