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essay_i_academic_analysis_of_literature1.docxAcademic Analysis of Literature
First Essay Assignment –Thematic Analysis 15%
First Draft Due: February 2nd (Peer Review in Class)
Corrected Rough Draft due to me by EMAIL: Noon February 4th
Final Due: February 9th (hard copy in class)
Summary of Assignment: This essay will allow you to explore a theme in Julie Otsuka's novel When the Emperor Was Divine. The essay should focus on chapters 1-3. You will identify a theme that occurs in at least two of the three chapters, and preferably in all the chapters and trace that theme in the text, supporting it with ample textual evidence (close reading of details, passages, and scenes form the book).
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. If you have questions on how to cite, you can utilize the Marymount Library, Purdue Owl MLA Citations, or your Handbook.
Possible Themes to Choose From:
Theme: A main or underlying idea that helps to convey the author’s message. The theme may be seen through dialogue, symbolism, metaphor, actions, and descriptive detail.
Memory (Lack of), Absence, Aging/Growing up, Anger, Death, Leaving, Abandonment, Uncertainty, Dreaming v. Reality, Alien v. Citizen, American v. Japanese, Free v. Captive, Innocent v. Jaded etc. Feel free to come up with a theme of your choosing.
Remember that the best essays attempt to answer questions (what is the novel saying about freedom or citizenship?); they don’t start with answers.
Process: After choosing a theme that interests you, return to the text. Skim the text with this theme in mind, marking down relevant passages. Think of what the novel is saying about this theme (i.e. absence), gather evidence from the text, make a list of places in the text where the theme is established and supported. I recommend for a paper this length to have at least 3-4 textual examples.
Example Essay
Thesis statement: In the novel, When the Emperor was Divine, by Julie Otsuka she utilizes images, dialogue, and moments of absence to reveal a theme of loss and death.
Textual Evidence: would then include images of absence, loss and death, dialogue and examine how the characters talk about these things. And situations of absence, loss and death…the bird flying off, the white dog dying, the turtle being buried and not found etc.
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.
Bring a draft to class on Tuesday for a Peer Review
Grading Criteria: 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)
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
· 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 in MLA Format
· include a works cited page, in correct MLA format, that lists the texts to which your paper refers
