In a formal essay, compare or contrast any 2 of the following stories:
The Cask of Amontillado by Edgar Allan Poe
What Redburn Saw in Launcelotts-Hey by Herman Melville
Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins
A Rose for Emily by William Faulkner
This essay asks you to develop and write a critical response to two or more published texts and tailor the response to an academic audience. Each story has an incredible amount to say about psychology, sociology, and the human condition, but their approaches are very different. You could consider comparing or contrasting how an author displays a common theme, use of symbols, etc. Maybe you wish to compare the narrators in two or more of the stories or two unique characters. The options are pretty wide open and up to you.
Before you begin to write, first consider your audience and purpose. This essay requires formal diction (word choice) and syntax (how you phrase things), so please write in the third person, which means avoiding I, me, you, your, and similar pronouns. Since you are composing for an academic audience, MLA citation style and a bibliography are required.
When brainstorming your topic, you also could consult the literary criticism pages weve read in week 4. My biggest suggestion is for you to please challenge yourself. You can find a million subpar essay topics online about these stories, but Im looking for evidence that you didnt just write about something obvious. If your topic seems straightforward, change it.
But What Does It Mean to Analyze? What is a Literary Analysis, Exactly?
A literary analysis is simply a type of argument. In other words, your job in a literary analysis is to make a claim and support it. Your claim will of course pertain specifically to the story youve read. Once youve stated your claimideally, at the very beginning of your essayyoull devote the rest of the essay to justifying it, to convincing readers to agree with you.
Keep in mind that a good claim has certain characteristics.
Its typically a single sentence. (Sometimes its several closely connected sentences.)
It expresses an opinionsomething that needs to be supported.
Its rooted in an observation that isnt obvious; it should point out something that casual readers wouldnt have noticed on their own.
Its debatable. Its something with which a reasonable person might disagree.
It captures the essence of your entire essay; that is, it tells readers what your essay is going to focus uponwhat youre going to convince readers of.
Sample Claims
Hills Like White Elephants, though it may appear to be a tiresome, static story, is in fact a brilliant and incisive analysis of a relationship gone bad.
Miss Emily, the protagonist of A Rose for Emily, is no more morally corrupt than the storys townspeople.
The story A Rose for Emily isnt about Emily at all. Its about the decline and ruin of the South in the years following the Civil War.
Sammy, the narrator of A&P, is a noble and good-hearted young man, who makes the right decision for the right reasons.
Updikes A&P isnt really about lust. Its about social and economic standing, and Sammys fears about his future.
The narrator of The Yellow Wallpaper isnt crazy. In fact, she is saner and more rational than her husbandand considerably more likable.
The Yellow Wallpaper isnt about a womans descent into madness. Its about a womans fight for freedom from the cultural and social constraints in which she is imprisoned.
Popular Mechanics isnt simply about one couples tragic argument; its about parental bickering in general, and its effects on all children.
You can see that each claim offers an opinionsomething to be proved. Not all readers will agree with your claim, but by essays end, you will hopefully have persuaded us.
Once Ive Established a ClaimThen What?
Persuade us. Make your case. To do that, youll employ the same tools that youve used in class discussions and in your response papers. Youll engage in close readingan attention to detail. Youll use textual evidence, quoting specific words, phrases, and passages. Youll make note of literary techniques and concepts where theyre applicable, pointing out, for example, themes or symbols. Youll note specific decisions that the author has made (regarding, e.g., point of view). In short, youll draw our attention to things that casual readers might have overlooked. Youll teach us.
What Not to Do
Dont summarize. While its acceptable to recap basic points for the sake of clarity and orientation, summary in general should be kept to a minimum. You can assume that your readers are already familiar with the story youre addressing. Analyze. Dont simply recap.
Dont try to cover every aspect of a story, or offer a general interpretation. Choose a specific focus, and stick with it.
Dont bring in lots of researchor at least, dont feel obliged to do so. Outside sources are certainly not prohibited; an apt quotation or reference, employed properly, might serve you well. But remember that this isnt a research paper. This essay will be based upon your ideas and analysis. If you do choose to make use of outside sources, dont forget to cite those sources in proper MLA format. (See Citing Sources in MLA Format, below.)
Dont write casually. In other words, dont confuse this assignment with a response paper. Response papers are informal; theyre a relatively low-risk way to play with ideas. This assignment, on the other hand, calls for a formal essay. It should be polished, articulate, well organized, and free of grammatical and mechanical mistakes.
Citing Sources in MLA Format
Any and all sources used in your essay, including the story that you choose to analyze, must be cited in correct MLA format. If youre unsure of when to cite, or how to craft a citation properly, dont forget that you have numerous resources available to you, including the course textbook.
Criteria
Your essay will be assessed mainly for its persuasiveness. Textual evidence will obviously play a large role in that. Teach your readers. Be forceful in your opinions. Remember that an interpretation is not meant to be neutral; however, it does require support. The stronger your backing, the more persuasive you will be.
Specifically, your essay will be evaluated for the following:
Clarity. Is the writing readable and understandable?
Depth and rigor. Does the essay wrestle with complex ideas?
Employing concepts. Does the essay make proper use of the analytical tools of literary analysis?
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