LE300

Assignment: Your midterm essay is an analysis of an issue that troubles, fascinates, enlightens, or illuminates something within your chosen text(s). You should compare or contrast the ways at least two separate academic disciplines analyze this topic.  While I will not give specific prompts (or questions) to you about where to concentrate your writing, I hope to offer many questions and issues during the lectures and class discussions.

My only designations are that you should write about the material that we have read, viewed, and discussed in Units One/1, Two/2 and Three/3. Thus: The Silence of the Lambs, Psycho, and Dexter or our readings from Natural Born Celebrities, and any concepts discussed in the discussion sections or lectures within those areas.

Example questions/topics:

· You may compare and contrast the way literary analysis would analyze Darkly Dreaming Dexter differently than a film analysis would be of the TV series.  How does Dexter’s “heroic” vigilantism bleed into the real world?

· You may compare or contrast the film analysis of Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho with the medical or psychological diagnosis of Norman Bates.  Is it possible to learn from the film’s fiction to allow us to see a “real world” perspective on serial killers?

· How would a criminal justice perspective on Hannibal Lecter differ from a social psychological profile?  How does our academic knowledge change our viewing of the film? 

Specifics: The midterm should be three to four pages in length ( body paragraphs ONLY, NOT including Title or Reference Page or any attachments or graphics), double-spaced, with one-inch margins, and normal pitch fonts (Times New Roman or Arial are always the top choices). Longer writing will not garner you a better grade, so use the format to show your precision, focus, and support clearly within the space allowed. The work should be, otherwise in MLA or APA format, with a Thesis Statement (your point). r.

Resources: Your essay should include academic research from at least two different academic disciplines.  The rule of thumb in most academic essays is roughly an equal number of research sources as there are pages in your essay.  Thus, you should have three or four academic sources. Your paper may follow MLA or APA guidelines. Below are some excellent and comprehensive resources for those two styles:

Rubric:

Interpretation of readings that incorporates personal and critical responses seamlessly with fresh insight and energy.

Incorporates primary and secondary sources using MLA Documentation Style perceptively and creatively in ways that contribute to new knowledge while still retaining personal writing style.

Provides convincing connections between texts and offers clear and creative critiques through close readings to illustrate main point of essay.

Literary and critical terminology used appropriately and with ease throughout the paper.

Includes carefully chosen passages from literary and critical texts as well as personal statements that illustrate point of essay, and helps reader see texts in new ways.

Employs conventions of Standard Written English in a well-organized, fully developed project/paper.