literary analysis

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Instructions for Text Analysis Assignment

The mystery texts!

They will NOT be selected from the readings on the syllabus, but they will be similar to one or more of the readings.

How will we receive the texts?

I will post 3 different texts on ANGEL for you to choose from. You should choose one text.

What is the purpose of this assignment?

This assignment is similar to your close reading assignment, just a more advanced form of it. That's because you are more advanced students than when you started taking this course.

Our aim is to gauge by means of a fun critical-thinking activity your comprehension and your ability to apply what you have learned about the four components of World Literature we have touched upon this course: geography, form, theme, and process of dissemination. I do not require absolute accuracy from your responses! Indeed, there is no correct answer. I am looking for how well you are able to reflect on the text you've been given and to use the tools you have learned through this course to analyze it. The strength of the way you defend your ideas will determine your points.

What am I required to do ?

Remember the four components of World Literature? Geography, Form, Theme, and Process of Dissemination.

* Choose one of the mystery texts provided for you.

* Read your mystery text carefully. Look up any word you don't know or that you think is used in an uncommon way in the text. Looking up proper nouns (whether of places, characters, or objects) can help you form a clearer idea of the text.

* Introduction: Provide a short description of the text/summary of main events. What geography (sphere?) can it be from? Why do you think so? Are there other texts that resemble it? (Even if you don't get the sphere right, it is totally fine. Your explanation of why this text can be from that specific region of the world is more important.)

You need to have a thesis statement in the introducion. For example: "I argue that this text presents the gender conflicts in modern India by showing the conflict between female characters and the social mores of their time." Remember that the thesis is NOT a description of the text (you have done this in the previous point), but the interpretation of the text you offer after reading and thinking closely about the text. With the close reading you are a detective gathering evidence on the crime scene, but when you write the thesis statement you are a lawyer ARGUING a case. On more information on how to create a thesis statement, see: http://writingcenter.unc.edu/handouts/thesis-statements/

* Form/Genre: Explicitly determine which form it belongs to (Novel, short story, epic poem, lyric poem, play? etc.)

* Theme: Pick one approach/theme to analyze the text with. Approaches that you can choose from are the ones we emphasized this semester. Analyze the text using one approach. See the file below for themes and literary works.

In order to determine an approach, you may ask questions to yourself such as: does this text give a feminist or anti-feminist message? How?/ Is this text an orientalist text? Why?/ What are the messages related to colonialism in this text? are among the questions you may ask yourself while analyzing the text. Even if you catch more than one thematic approch in one text, Do NOT pick more than one, as you might lose track and this may cause you to lose points.

* Dissemination: In line with your theoretical approach, pick ONE text from our syllabus and compare it with your mystery text using the same theoretical approach. For instance, do both texts seem to come from the same region? OR do they give a similar message accross continents? Do both texts deal with creation? Do both texts define a hero? Do both texts present confrontation with colonialism? Make sure to provide examples from the texts. See the themes-works table below.

* Close reading: Close read one paragraph from your mystery text. If you know the language that your texts is written in, you may use the original to discuss. IMPORTANT: Your close reading should be related to your overall argument. Do not just close read any paragraph, choose wisely. Ideally you have close read the whole text before writing the final draft of the thesis statement, although you are required to focus on one passage as an example of close reading in the paper. Likewise, the comparison with the other text can be used to formulate your thesis.

Close reading component in the Text Analysis assignment is similar to the ones you did before.The more important thing for Text analysis is that your close reading should seek to support your argument and should be coherent with the rest of your paper. In other words, do not only focus on close reading and do NOT dedicate 500 words on close reading. Pay equal attention to all components of the assignment (such as comparison with other texts etc.).

* Conclusion: Provide a concluding paragraph that pulls the above items into a coherent assessment of the text.

* Coherence: Important: Be Coherent overall, check grammar, spelling and proofread.

How much writing are you expecting?

You should have approximately 1200 words/2.5 double spaced pages of reflection. In other words, each of the points requested above should receive about one paragraph. There is no penalty for going longer.

What resources may I use?

This exercise is designed to be carried out using only the resources of your Syllabus, Lessons and the charts I provided. You are NOT recommended to use outside resources. If you have a burning desire to use a resource, please provide author name, page number and include a works cited at the end of your paper in MLA style. For MLA style, see this web page: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/

Your notes, online lesson content, and videos on the syllabus should be enough for a successful analysis. You may work with other students in terms of brainstorming ideas or conducting joint research, but you must write your paper on your own. Any responses with significant similarities or identicalities will receive zero points.

When is this assignment due?

It is due on Monday, December 14 at 11:55 p.m. I'll accept late papers. BUT late papers will be penalized 2 points per day.

How is this assignment graded (how are points distributed)?

(These are the components I'll be looking for in your papers. Use this as a checklist and make sure to include all elements in your paper)

* Introductory paragraph: Description of the text/summary of main events, which sphere it might belong to, which works is it similar to (1 point)

* Genre determination: which form is it written it-- prose, poetry? (0.5 points)

* Thesis statement (1 point): this means you should have a thesis statement in the first paragraph of your essay).

* Clear determination of and focus on one theme (2 points)

* Analysis using a theoretical approach (2 points)

* Successful comparison with a text from the syllabus (3 points)

* Close reading of one paragraph from your mystery text (3 points)

* Concluding paragraph. (1 point)