Summer 2021 - American Lit II after 1865

ENGL 2260 Summer 2021 Short essay 1 The first essay is a close reading of a single literary text (selected from the Loy [“Feminist Manifesto”], Gilman [Herland], and Bradbury [The Martian Chronicles] readings. You should compose a brief essay that clearly and consistently utilizes close reading to investigate the text’s thematic preoccupations and concerns. The goal is to use the technique of close reading to formulate an organizing argument (claim) and to support that argument with textual evidence. Length: 600-800 words. MLA format (12-point Times New Roman font, one-inch margins, double-spaced).

General Content Expectations

• Each short analysis essay builds on the analytical/writing skills of previous essay(s). • In these essays, you should draw your own conclusions about our primary readings.

While you should feel free to use our class discussions as a starting point in these essays, you must include your own original insights to successfully complete each assignment. Because these essays are so short, you need not consult outside sources to complete them. Again, you should make and develop your own claims in these essays.

• Each essay should build a clear and compelling argument built around an organizing claim or conclusion and an overall analysis relevant to the essay goals below.

• Your essays should incorporate specific support from relevant primary texts to show how details from the texts lead to your interpretations about patterns of implicit meaning. In other words, all descriptions of characters, scenes, settings, narrative structure, etc. should clearly relate to your claims. Do not merely summarize plot; use summaries only when necessary to make your examples clear to an audience that has read the texts.

• Moreover, you should explain why your evidence matters. (I.e., so what?)

General Formatting Expectations

• Each essay’s font should be 12 pt. Times New Roman font, with 1-inch margins and double-spaced lines.

• Your essays should meet the length requirements detailed below. More complex and thorough analysis essays are usually longer.

• Your essays should have a clear, precise, and active prose style. • When you quote or summarize from a text, you should cite that text using appropriate

MLA citation style. • Please include a header, page numbers, and title that reflects the spirit and scope of

the essay. • You will upload each assignment as a Word or PDF document by the due dates

indicated on the syllabus.

Short Analysis Essay 1: Single Word Analysis

Essay 1 is a single word analysis. You should discuss how a particular word or phrase changes or develops in your reading of one primary text. The most straightforward approach is to select a word or phrase that appears in the text, although you may organize your argument around a word from outside the text (we discussed “misogyny” in relation to Herland), as long as it is thematically relevant.