phyllis young

Discussions

Join Discussion 3 : How would you describe Miss Emily? How would you describe Mrs. Mallard? How many of those details are in the story? How many did you add? Both are described, in a sense, after they have left center stage, after they are gone. How does that shape our understanding of these characters?

Join Discussion 4 : Select the book that you will use as the focus of your research paper in this course. There is a list of previously approved works of fiction and non-fiction in the Course Content (See Suggestions for Research Project). The work must be one that has been found to be worthy of literary criticism. It is best to NOT select something too recent (published within the past 5-10 years), as it will be difficult to find sufficient references to cite in your paper. Choose a book and put the MLA citation for the book in your discussion post.

Post the information on your book and the summary by Thursday; then read the summaries of your classmates and provide feedback on at least two others. What interests you about the book they have described? What questions do you have about their book summaries?

Link to Assignment Assessment Rubric

Choose a short story from the reader, The Norton Introduction to Literature, (other than one of the stories we have already read) and analyze this story in a three-five page paper. You may choose the story you used in the Week 1 Short Story Analysis Questions. Be sure to narrow your focus to only one of the different ways of looking at the piece of literature.

Your assignment should have a strong, specific thesis, such as "Poe's 'The Cask of Amontillado' uses the setting of the story to create a feeling of dread." This type of thesis would give you the key terms to use in your analysis. Be sure to put your thesis sentence in bold so your reader will know what it is.

Then develop your essay, providing details from the story. Do not use any other sources except the story. Use in-text parenthetical citations each time you quote (or paraphrase) from the story. If you use a quotation or if you paraphrase the material (putting it in your own words--no more than four words in a sentence from the original), cite the page number where it can be seen, and explain the point you are making with that evidence. Summarize your key points in a conclusion and restate the main idea of your thesis.

Put your paper in MLA Format. If you need information on MLA format, look in the Content section. Provide a Works Cited (on a separate page) at the end of your paper. Insert a page break after the conclusion so that the Works Cited is always on another piece of paper.

Works Cited

Poe, Edgar Allen. "The Cask of Amontillado." The Norton Introduction to Literature. Alison Booth and Kelly J. Mays, eds. Portable 11th ed. New York: Norton 2013. 107-113. Print.

Post your draft of your essay in the Writer’s Workshop by Sunday night. Then read and respond to at least two other students’ postings, providing feedback designed to help the student revise the paper. Use “I” statements such as “I enjoyed your essay. I really liked the way you brought out….. However, I don’t know what your thesis statement is.” As you help other students, you will be learning to review and revise your own work. Post your revised paper to the dropbox by next Wednesday.

PLEASE NOTE: there are many resources on writing about literature as well as a sample literary analysis paper in "Tools for Writing" in the Content area.

Link to Assignment Assessment Rubric