Analysis draft paper

· The meaning of symbols and imagery in the story

Mary Ladd Gavell, “The Rotifer”

· Plot elements of the story

· The function of symbols and allusions in the story

· A close analysis of one specific literary element in the story

Edith Wharton, “The Eyes”

· Gender roles

· A psychological interpretation of the protagonist and his antagonist(s)

· A close analysis of one a specific literary element in the story

To prepare for this assignment, give the selected story a close second and third reading. Also, review the files about character, setting, or critical approaches such as psychological criticism—depending on your topic choice---in the class textbook by Charters and on Canvas. In your paper, aim at thoroughly discussing the selected element or context in the light of one central idea. Work closely with the story’s text to give evidence and support for your claims.

Since the paper must present a well-supported argument about the selected topic, it is not sufficient to simply list details. Rather, your paper needs to address the question why the details you found are important to an interpretation of the topic you have chosen to analyze.

General Requirements:  What to Do and What to Avoid

This assignment does not require the use of any secondary sources (i.e., sources about the author or about the story, including commentaries on web sites), especially if you focus on one literary element. Rely on your own reading and interpretation of the story. If you do use any outside sources to read up the story or contexts, you must cite the source material within the paper and document all sources in a works-cited list in order to avoid plagiarism.

· Your thesis statement will reflect how the selected literary or context element or

contributes to the interpretation of the story. In other words, it will clearly spell out what function the selected element has in the story. Remember that a thesis statement cannot be an announcement about the topic but must be a claim about the function of the selected element in the story.

· It is important to back up your interpretation by selected examples from the story by well-selected quotations from the story to illustrate and support your ideas.

· Avoid dropped quotations. Be sure to put quotations into context and provide good transitions to quotations.

· Do not simply write a plot summary. Your focus should be on interpretative analysis, not on retelling the story. Assume that the reader of your paper knows the story but may not necessarily remember details of certain scenes or individual characters. To guide the reader, put scenes into context and introduce characters and their role in the work.

· Apply the terms of literary analysis (such as protagonist, antagonist, metaphor,

simile, and so on). 

· Use the 2016 MLA style for this paper and the list of works cited. For an overview of MLA-style requirements, see the links given in Canvas.

· Put titles of short stories in quotation marks; e.g.,“ The Eyes.” Titles of books are italicized, e.g., The Story and Its Writer.

· Use in-text, parenthetical citations for documenting sources and page numbers. Example: The narrator describes herself as “a sort of Paganini, or Escoffier, of recognizing” (Gavell 30).

· Provide a works-cited listing for all sources used (even if you used only the short story itself), and properly document wherever you used the sources within the paper.

· Think of a good title for the paper . Center the title of your paper. Do not underline the title of your paper, and only put the title of the story in quotation marks. Example: The Road to Nowhere: The Function of Setting in “A Good Man Is Hard to Find.”

· Use the present tense when discussing a work of literature or other texts.

· Example 1: The villagers torture the old man. NOT: The villagers tortured the old

· Example 2: The story reflects the author’s view of society. NOT: The story reflected the author’s view of society.

· Example 3: Faulkner portrays Benjy as a thirty-three-year-old man with the mental capabilities of a child. NOT: Faulkner portrayed …

· Avoid the use of the first person in your paper. Use general statements instead of personal remarks. For example, instead of writing, “I think [or, in my opinion,] character X is a strong advocate of vanishing values,” firmly and clearly state your idea without the use of the first person:  “Character X is a strong advocate of vanishing values.” Then give evidence, i.e., specific examples from the story, including quotations, to support your claim.

· Avoid contractions in formal papers. Example, “It is a compelling idea”—NOT “It’s a compelling idea.”