English

ENC 1102

Length: 4 pages + works cited page

Workshop: Apr 9

Due Date: Apr 12

Formating: MLA style: 12 pt. Times New Roman, double spaced, works cited

Overview: You will write an original literary essay supported by research.

TEXTS: literature Robert Diyani sixth edition (Work Done by Robert Frost- Mending Walls , Acquainted with the night and the critical approach is based on historical-Biographical 

You can write your analysis on any of the works we are studying in this class. With the poems, you may choose to focus on a single poem or on multiple poems by the same poet. You cannot write the paper on the same poem you picked for the Poetry Essay. Feel welcome to come talk to me about project ideas. You should work on something you are interested in.

SOURCES:

Besides the text, you will need to find three secondary sources at minimum. More would be better. I will provide some sources on our Blackboard, but you will need to look and find some sources on your own as well. These should be library sources such as articles and books. With some special exceptions, internet sources will not be accepted for this paper.

CRITICAL APPROACH:

You will need to select a critical approach to use in your paper. This is your methodology. This shapes how you are going to be reading the text. See the “Critical Approaches to Literature” handout. While there are many methods that professional critics use, the following tends to produce the best student papers: Historical-Biographical, Moral-Philosophical, Mythological / Archetypal. Out of these, the Historical-Biographical is the most basic and straightforward, and it works with any piece of literature. So if you aren’t sure, go Historical-Biographical.

INTRODUCTION, CONCLUSION, AND BODY PARAGRAPHS

Introduction: 

Situation: State the work you are writing about and the general situation or theme you are examining.

Problem: What is the problem or question you are going to address in the paper? What critical approach are you applying to it?

Solution: Last sentence of paragraph should state your thesis (the argument of the paper).

A Thesis should not: 1) state the obvious; 2) be a list; 3) be non-argumentative; 4) ask a question.

Body Paragraphs: 

Topic Sentence: First sentence should state the argument of the paragraph. This argument should directly support your thesis.

Textual Evidence: Quotes from the text that support topic sentence.

Scholarly Evidence: Reference to a secondary source that supports your claim. This can be a direct quote, paraphrase or summary.

Evaluation: Your interpretation of the evidence and explanation of how it proves the claim.

Conclusion: Sum up how this paragraph helps prove the thesis.

Conclusion: Do not summarize your essay here. Instead meld together your main claims and show your reader how it all fits together. Answer the question “So what?” and show the reader why your stance is significant. Show the bigger picture and how your analysis helps us to better understand the text as a whole, the author, the time period it was written in, the literary theme, the genre of literature, or storytelling in general. Think big. Much better to be bold than boring.