ENGL 209: Introduction to Literary Analysis
Professor E. Derek Taylor
Topic for Essay 1: Short Fiction
Initial Draft due Monday, 9-19; Final Draft due Monday, 9-26 (hard copies for both submissions)
Instructions: In a three-page essay (1200 words, MLA format), analyze the relationship between two elements of a particular work we’ve read thus far and that work’s theme. It will be up to you do determine which text to grapple with, which elements of the work most directly contribute to its theme, and how best to articulate just what you take the theme to be. Feel free to consult a dictionary as needed, but otherwise focus directly on the literary text in question.
Here are a few guidelines for writing a successful essay:
1. Your first paragraph will need to address directly the assigned topic, probably by identifying the text that your essay will be examining and by clarifying your approach. However you choose to begin, this opening paragraph should conclude with a clear thesis.
2. This is a short essay, so do not attempt to cover too much ground. Instead, organize your very best ideas into cohesive units of meaning that can then be developed into several full, pointed paragraphs. Paragraphs that lack clear topic sentences invariably falter.
3. Quote directly words, phrases, and passages that best support your ideas; without such direct textual support, your claims about the text will remain unconvincing.
4. Have some fun! Do not hesitate to shape, bend, or mold the assignment in such a way that it becomes interesting to you; do be careful, however, not to abandon the assigned topic.
5. Proofread carefully for grammatical and mechanical mistakes.
Professor E. Derek Taylor
Topic for Essay 1: Short Fiction
Initial Draft due Monday, 9-19; Final Draft due Monday, 9-26 (hard copies for both submissions)
Instructions: In a three-page essay (1200 words, MLA format), analyze the relationship between two elements of a particular work we’ve read thus far and that work’s theme. It will be up to you do determine which text to grapple with, which elements of the work most directly contribute to its theme, and how best to articulate just what you take the theme to be. Feel free to consult a dictionary as needed, but otherwise focus directly on the literary text in question.
Here are a few guidelines for writing a successful essay:
1. Your first paragraph will need to address directly the assigned topic, probably by identifying the text that your essay will be examining and by clarifying your approach. However you choose to begin, this opening paragraph should conclude with a clear thesis.
2. This is a short essay, so do not attempt to cover too much ground. Instead, organize your very best ideas into cohesive units of meaning that can then be developed into several full, pointed paragraphs. Paragraphs that lack clear topic sentences invariably falter.
3. Quote directly words, phrases, and passages that best support your ideas; without such direct textual support, your claims about the text will remain unconvincing.
4. Have some fun! Do not hesitate to shape, bend, or mold the assignment in such a way that it becomes interesting to you; do be careful, however, not to abandon the assigned topic.
5. Proofread carefully for grammatical and mechanical mistakes.