Essay Instructions: Analytical Paper
You are to write a critical essay or analytical paper on one of the works listed below. You may consider a critical perspective that reveals some aspect of the author's themes, techniques (i.e., point of view, irony, language), characterization, plot, setting, symbolism, imagery or other significant element of the work(s). Or, you may choose one of the works on which you write a thematic paper that takes as its subject such themes as Realism, American Democracy, Regionalism, Expansionism, Humor, the Self, Women, the Black Experience, among many other ideas covered in class and exemplify and illustrate the concept. The paper should analyze the texts closely with plenty of detailed support for any claims or generalizations.
Format:
Your paper must adhere to the MLA documentation guidelines. It must be approximately five (5) pages in length, double-spaced, using standard margins, and 12-point font size in either Ariel or Times New Roman.
Your essay must also include a topic outline and a works cited page.
Research:
You will need to use at least three sources (excluding your text) to write your paper. Your sources must be from reputable periodicals and must be documented using the MLA documentation style. (See the ?MLA Documentation? icons located on the home page for guidance on documenting .)
You must use quotes in your essay but not in excess. You must submit your research articles with your paper. Failure to submit your articles with your paper will result in a failing grade on the assignment.
Possible essay topics:
Choose a major character in one of the works and discuss the actions, thoughts, and behavior of the character in light of the geographical, historical, and/or physical setting.
Discuss the influence or presence of any of the literary or social theories we have discussed (Realism, Regionalism, Local Color, Naturalism, Determinism, Darwinism, Modernism, Existentialism, etc.) in any one of the works.
Contrast any two works on a specific theme.
Analyze the structure of any one of the works.
Discuss the biographical influence of any one of the works.
Topics continued
Examine significance of race or gender in any one of the works.
Discuss the issue of racism or sexism in any one of the works.
Discuss the significance of sexuality in any one of the works.
Contrast any two characters from two separate works or with one particular work.
Novels
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
The Awakening by Kate Chopin
Daisy Miller by Henry James
The Souls of Black Folk by W.E.B. Dubois
Up From Slavery by Booker T. Washington
The House Behind the Cedars by Charles Chesnutt
McTeague by Frank Norris
The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton
The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane
Sister Carrie by Theodore Dreiser
Martin Eden by Jack London
The Damnation of Theron Ware by Harold Fredric
Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neal Hurston
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof by Tennessee Williams
The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner
Native Son by Richard Wright
Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
Go Tell It On the Mountain by James Baldwin
Sula by Toni Morrison
The Color Purple by Alice Walker
Fences by August Wilson
Seize the Day by Saul Bellows
________________________________________________________________________
To view samples of analytical paragraphs, click on the following address: http://www.goshen.edu/english/litanalysis.html
------------------------------------------------------------