ILS2010, Final Examination
This final assignment builds upon the type of reading and writing that we have done throughout the semester. By this point in the term you should feel confident in your abilities to read, analyze, and interpret a text.
The final exam will consist of ONE ESSAY QUESTION.
(this is your claim/thesis). Begin your answer with a general statement that answers the question presented
Support this statement with examples from the text(s) under discussion and analysis of each example (Support your assertions with evidence from each text and explain each example’s relevance to your claim/thesis). Be sure to cite quoted lines and complete a works cited page. Write in complete sentences shaping your response in essay form.
NOTE: you must support your assertions with quotes from the texts and explain how those quotes illustrate the point you are attempting to make as well as how they connect to your overall claim (thesis).
Please give your essay a title. All answers should be typed and double-spaced, a min. of 4 FULL pages up to 6 pages (this does page requirement does not include the works cited page).
Your answers should be presented in formal essay form with an introduction, body, and conclusion. What you are presenting is formal literary criticism, so all the rules that typical apply to that type of writing apply here as well (no first person, no contraction, no personal pronouns, no plot summary, etc.). See the specifics below about purpose and audience.
PROMPT: New Historical literary critics declare that history is one of many discourses or ways of seeing or thinking about the world. If literary texts are reflections of these varying discourses within their historical time periods, consider the conversation between the many texts that we have examined this term. What is the central message of this conversation between these texts concerning the issue of individual identity (gender, race, ethnicity, sexual) in the 20th century? How might one characterize this historical time period as a result of this conversation? In your answer, you must use a minimum of two sources from list A and two sources from list B (although you may use more).
List A List B
"The Epistemology of the Closet" Trifles
"Imitation and Gender Insubordination" A Streetcar Named Desire
"Sexism: An American Disease in Blackface" TopDog/Underdog
"The Uses of the Erotic: The Erotic as Power" Fences
A Room of One's Own Angels in America
The Second Sex
NOTE: THE IDEAS FOUND IN THIS PAPER MUST BE YOUR OWN. YOU MAY NOT USE OUTSIDE SOURCES!
What is Literary Criticism and How Do I Write a Paper of This Nature?
At its very basic definition, literary criticism is a written evaluation of a work of literature that attempts to enlighten a reader about the underlying meaning of the text, whether it is a play, poem, short story, or novel.
Purpose
In this type of paper a writer is forming an academic argument. As the writer you are arguing that your interpretation of the text is a valid - not the only interpretation - in an attempt to aid the reader in “seeing” the text in a new light or from a different perspective that perhaps may be different from their own.
Audience
Your audience is made up of academics, scholars, literary critics, professors, and students (who are academics, scholars, and literary critics). You should assume that they have read the text and are familiar with its contents. Because of this you would never merely retell the story because your audience is already familiar with it. This would also conflict with the purpose of this type of paper. You are to discuss underlying meaning, not retell the events of the story.
Because your audience is a scholarly one, your paper must be presented in a formal manner. You should use high diction and avoid first person, personal pronouns, and contractions.
Development
In developing your ideas, you should concern yourself with three important steps. First you must make a writerly assertion about the content of your text. For instance, when considering Alice Walker’s short story, “Everyday Use," one might assert that Dee’s plans to display her mother’s quilts on her wall illustrate a disconnectedness from her heritage, which is ironic when one considers that Dee views this as an act of embracing her culture. As your second step, to “prove” this assertion as a valid one, a writer would then need to provide evidence from the text to support that assertion. A writer could then quote Mama’s lines from the story explaining that she had attempted to give Dee these same quilts when she left for college, but Dee found them to be “old fashioned” and “out of style.” Keep in mind, however, that you cannot stop here. Providing a quote and then moving on to another idea is not acceptable. As your last step, you must explain how the quote from the text illustrates the assertion that you are attempting to make. For instance, one could explain that because Dee has recently embraced the Black Power Movement’s idea of returning to one’s African roots and she is merely interested in these quilts because it is the fashionable and stylish thing to do among her peers.
NOTE: When relating events in the story use words such as, "Williams develops the major characters in the story..." Notice the use of the active verb "develops." Try to stick with using active verbs as you analyze the story. This is also known as “the literary present tense.” You should also note that sometimes a narrator can be directly involved in a story. Sometimes the narrator is not named and is not directly involved in the story's development.
Format
•Your essay should have a title. It should also be typed, double-spaced, with one inch margins all around, Times New Roman Font, & 12 pt. Your essay should be a minimum of 4 FULL pages and no more than 6 FULL pages . Again, the ideas in your paper must be your own. You may not use outside sources for this paper.
Your grade for this assignment will be determined as follows:
Total Possible Points: 100/
Final Draft, evaluated on the following criteria:
Focus (27 points): Does essay have a clear purpose? Overall claim stated in intro and restated in conclusion? Focus on a single idea or aspect of the literature? Is it clear how examples in body are related to the overall claim? Does the writer explain the broader implications of this claim to the text as a whole? Are the subclaims clearly related to the claim? When read together, do the intro and conclusion form one idea?
Development (27 points): Does writer support interpretation with evidence from text? Avoid giving a plot summary? Does writer explain for the reader how the evidence supports interpretation (and as a result the claim)? Does writer quote accurately from the source, including citing specific page numbers?
Organization (27 points): Do first few sentences arouse the reader’s interest and focus their attention on the subject? Are readers expectations set and clearly met? Do paragraphs have clear focus, unity and coherence? Effective transitions? Does the writer guide the reader from beginning to end?
Style (10 points): Is language clear direct and readable? Are sentences clear, concise, and easily read by intended audience? Is word choice appropriate for audience? Do sentences reveal and sustain appropriate voice and tone? Does writer use the literary present tense to describe events in the story?
Mechanics (9 points): Are there obvious errors in spelling, punctuation, and grammar? Are there patterns of error?
NO REFLECTION (-10 POINTS)
Grading scale:
A 90-100
B 80-89
C 70-79
D 60-69
F 0-59
