literary analysis essay

Assignment:

Academic Literary Analysis Essay – 3-4 pages plus Works Cited

Argument: This assignment will allow you to analyze a theme in Jacqueline Woodson’s award-winning novel Another Brooklyn. You will identify a theme and analyze that theme, supporting it with ample textual evidence (close reading of details, passages, and scenes from the book).

Theme: A theme is what a book says about an issue or idea in the book. If “economics” is an idea in the work, then the thesis assertion: “Another Brooklyn argues that extreme poverty defines life in Brooklyn” is the theme. Reasonable people can disagree with this theme - in other words, you have to make your case.

You will need to pay special attention to narrowing your theme. “Money is important” is much too broad and vague a theme. “Lifting one’s family out of destitution is more important in the book than individual desire” is a narrower and more specific theme. Another way to emphasis this thesis: “The family is more important than the individual in term of economic survival in Jacqueline Woodson’s award-winning work Another Brooklyn.”

Requirements: The essay needs to be approximately three to four pages double-spaced, Times New Roman 12 inch Font. It will need to correctly cite and/or paraphrase passages from the text in correct MLA form.

Possible Issues: The class will come up with a list of possible topics. You will want to choose a topic about which you are excited; one that intrigues you and that will hold your interest for the weeks that you work on this essay. Remember that the best essays attempt to answer questions (what is the work saying about income inequality?); they don’t start with answers. In short, your thesis should be able to be debated.

Process: After choosing an issue that interests you, return to the text. Skim the text with this issue in mind, marking down relevant passages. Think of what the novel is saying about this issue (i.e. your theme), marshal evidence from the text, and sketch out an essay draft for conference. As you revise the essay, think about organization and argument support, be sure you cite specific details, lines, passages or scenes to support your claims, and be sure you explain how they support your claims. Remember that revision is not correction, it is a re-seeing of your argument and involves content and organization. Finally, edit the essay at the sentence level for style and grammar. The final version of the essay is due with the first draft(s) attached.

A passing essay must: Content

· have a clear, focused, and arguable thesis statement

· develop this argument thoroughly

· support this argument adequately with passages from the text

· integrate supporting quotes and paraphrases smoothly and correctly into the argument (make sure quotes are accurate)

· adequately addresses opposing evidence

· conclude somewhere near the bottom of page three (or on a subsequent page)

· demonstrate revision (there should be substantial differences between the first and final draft)

· include all drafts

·

Organization

· have an introduction that adequately introduces the argument

· have a conclusion that adequately concludes the essay

· as a whole, be logically organized into well-developed, well-organized paragraphs

· use transitions between paragraphs to make paper organization clear for readers

· use transitions between sentences to make paragraph organization clear to readers

· use strong verbs

· avoid unnecessary repetition

Style

· be clean stylistically, using concise and clear sentences, strong verbs and active voice, and sentence variety

· be grammatically correct, avoiding “this” or “that” as a pronoun, using commas with an introductory phrases, using a comma and a conjunction to connect two independent phrases (phrases that can stand alone as sentences), using only a conjunction with compound verbs

· employ a voice and tone appropriate for academic discourse

· demonstrate conscientious word choice and diction

· be formatted correctly? (1inch margins and Times Roman 12inch font)

· include a works cited page, in correct MLA format, that lists the texts to which your paper refers. Please note that there is only 1 required reference for this paper –Jacqueline Woodson’s Another Brooklyn—however, you can use an additional source (no more than one), if you wish. You should be able to write a substantial paper using only the text.