Literary Analysis Essay--Draft 1 for Peer Review (Draft due by 11:59pm on Sunday, June 30)

Literary Analysis Essay

Topic: Discuss the ways in which one of these elements—the setting or an unreliable narrator—creates a sense of horror in one of the following stories. Make sure you relate your chosen element in meaningful ways to other significant elements in the story (character, plot, symbols, figurative language, etc.), as appropriate. You must cite from two outside scholarly sources in your essay. You must locate these sources via either the JSTOR or Project Muse databases, which you can access via the WLAC library website using your LACCD login credentials. You may not cite from Wikipedia, Sparknotes, or websites found via general Google searches. Setting

 “A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner

 “A Jury of Her Peers” by Susan Glaspell

 “Afterward” by Edith Wharton

 “The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allan Poe Unreliable Narrator

 “The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allan Poe

 “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman Setting: In gothic fiction, the element of setting assumes a prominence beyond its usual role in most stories that is disturbing. Why? What makes it a "gothic" (horror-inducing) place and/or space? What

themes are implied by the detailed descriptions of Poe's gothic places/spaces? Are the places/spaces symbolic? Of what? What language describing the places/spaces suggests those ideas? To what extent could the gothic places/spaces, perhaps, be considered active participants in the stories? In what ways? Can the descriptions of the settings be read as a projection or reflection or revelation of the character's psychological state, perhaps of his/her sub-conscious? If so, what do we learn about the inner world of the character? How does the language describing the settings contribute to the horror effect in general? Look closely at language as you answer these questions.

Narrator: See definition of unreliable narrator (online). Discuss some of the ways the author undermines the "reliability" of the narrator's presentation of the story. How and why does that undermining create a sense of horror? To what degree is the narrator's narration unreliable? What is his motive? Is he lying? mistaken for some reason? unethical? indifferent or lazy? downright crazy? Or what? Does the narrator think he is unreliable? If we can't believe everything the narrator says (and have good evidence for our skepticism), then how do we know what "really" happened or what is the "correct" way to interpret signs or actions or passages? Keep in mind that the author has to provide us, through the narrator's narration, with enough information to determine the possible shortcomings of the narrator--very tricky technique since the narrator cannot be aware that he is undermining his own narration. Is the revelation of the narrator's shortcomings gradual throughout the story or a surprise (shocking?) revelation near the end of the story? In looking back over the story, where has the author inserted some foreshadowing of the unreliability of the narrator--or with-held information that would make us question the narrator more closely? Why? How does all this contribute to the overall horror-effect of the story?

Structure: Before you begin writing, read this handout on writing a literary analysis. Your essay should include an introduction that introduces the topic and ends with a clearly worded, 1-2 sentence thesis statement. Each supporting paragraph (there should be at least 3) should begin with a strong topic sentence and should incorporate evidence, including direct quotations from secondary scholarly sources. Direct quotations should be incorporated using the quotation sandwich method and proper MLA in-text citations. The essay should also contain a strong conclusion. The final page of the document should consist of a Works Cited page. Specific tips for formatting electronic sources can be found here. Formatting Tips: Your document should be 5-7 pages in length, typed and double-spaced, in Times New Roman font, size 12. Your paper should have 1-inch margins and should include a properly formatted heading and a title. Due Dates:

 Sunday, June 30: Draft 1 must be uploaded as a Word document or a PDF via the assignment link in the Week 3 Module by 11:59pm for online peer review. If you do not submit your draft by the deadline, you will not be able to participate in the peer review process and will therefore earn a failing grade on your draft. It’s therefore critical that you submit a draft.

 Sunday, July 7: Peer reviews must be completed (you will be assigned 3 essays to review). Peer review groups will be automatically assigned at 12:01am on Monday, July 8. Instructions for peer review are located in the Week 4 Module.

 Sunday, July 14: Draft 2 must be uploaded as a Word document or a PDF via the assignment link in the Week 5 Module by 11:59pm. I will grade this draft.

***Note that your grade for the draft will reflect the overall completeness of your first draft (50%) as well as the quality of your peer review feedback (50%). Students who do not devote adequate time and effort to the peer review process will receive a failing grade for the draft. Tips for Success:

1. As you study your selected story, develop a solid thesis about this topic--some conclusion you have arrived at-- and make sure you cite lots of examples and details from the story to support and illustrate your thesis and sub- points. And make sure you discuss and explain your evidence.

2. And please read “Organizing Your Paper” (online). One thing you do NOT want to do is to produce a paper that just answers each of the above questions, one after another. There is no particular reason or purpose in the order of the questions, so you would end up with a very unfocused and disorganized paper. It will also help to read this handout on paragraph development.

3. Check out some samples! There are several student samples located in the Week 4 Module.

4. You must cite scholarly sources in this paper. You must include all sources cited in your essay (both the primary

texts, i.e. the short stories, as well as any outside sources) in your Works Cited page. This page, which will be the final page of your document, must be formatted according to MLA requirements. This page should list all works referenced in your paper (including your short story).

 Use standard in-text citation (author and page), and put the source information on the final page of your document labeled "Works Cited"). Follow MLA directions.

 See this short summary of MLA style: MLA Formatting and Style Guide (online), created by the Purdue University Online Writing Lab. Scroll down the page to find a long list of links for in-text citation and bibliographies, including how to do electronic sources (online).

 Also check MLA Style: MLA Style: Frequently Asked Questions (online).