MLA style essay assginment
English 102 / Essay 2: The Short Story Researched Essay /
Please keep in mind this is a researched essay, not a research paper, and as such, you should only incorporate one secondary source to support one of your arguments. Make sure your secondary source agrees or disagrees with one of your points in your essay map thesis. Remember, in English, there is no such thing as a "right" or "wrong" answer, only answers you can or cannot support by referring to the text. Please note the criteria for this assignment has been bolded. The essay is due on Friday, May 21st.
1. Compare and contrast the idea of community in Gabriel Garcia Marquez’ “The Very Old Man with Enormous Wings,” with the idea of the community in Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery.”
2. Is Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” a horror story? Why or why not?
3. In Leslie Marmon Silko’s short story entitled “Yellow Woman,” the Yellow Woman in the traditional captivity narratives can be interpreted in several ways: As a girl who runs off with a man outside the tribe; as a raped and kidnapped married woman; as a spirit; or as a fertility archetype. Which way do you interpret the Yellow Woman in this narrative and why?
4. Compare and contrast the mothers in “Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid and “Two Kinds” by Amy Tan. What kinds of lessons are they trying to teach?
6. What is the meaning of beauty in Sandra Cisneros’ “Barbie-Q”?
7. What is the lesson in “The Lesson” by Toni Cade Bambara?
Types of Sources for Research
There are basically three types of sources you can use for research.
Primary
· Primary sources make use of direct experiences
· Interviews
· Autobiography
· Photographs
· Historical Documents (these may include letters)
Secondary (this is what I want you to use for your research)
· Secondary sources make use of someone’s scholarly work who has researched the field you are researching and is considered an “expert” in the field
· Books on a subject
· Scholarly or academic articles
· Collections of photographs (do not use for this assignment)
· Collections of documents (do not use for this assignment)
· Recorded or transcribed interviews
· Newspaper and magazine reporting
Tertiary
Tertiary sources are encyclopedia articles, opinion pieces in newspapers or on the Internet. Often the writer is someone with an interest in the subject, but lacks experience or neutrality to give an objective point of view. These are sources that may be good to initiate your research, but they usually are not considered valid in a formal research paper or essay. Remember, you can change most of the articles on Wikipedia on your own, throwing off thousands of researchers.