LIT 2090 Final Exam
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.
From the prompts below, choose ONE and write an essay in response.
Locate the specific question that is asked in this prompt and answer it in one complete sentence (this is your claim/thesis).
Next, develop 4-6 sub-claims that support this overall claim.
You must support these sub-claims with examples from the text(s)/film(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 FULL 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 #1:
Many of the works that we have examined this term deal with the minority struggle to maintain a connection to their racial/ethnic culture, history, and/or heritage despite the powerful forces of the broader, dominant white American cultural identity. Using FOUR texts argue what they reveal about this struggle. What does each text reveal about the very real possibility of losing an understanding of the power of one's individual voice in a "free" and "democratic" society? What is the central message for readers/viewers of the shared dialogue between these four texts? In your answer, you must use The Bluest Eye, The Best We Could Do, one film (The Hate You Give or The Black Panther, and one other text from the list below.
PROMPT #2:
Often in visual and literary works, authors/artists/directors choose a phy sical object which takes on a special significance in the work and becomes a symbol of something beyond itself. Identify an object from FOUR of the texts that we have examined together this term that you feel has great symbolic significance and form an argument around what you see as an important similarity or difference between them. One of
the texts you use must be The Best We Could Do, one must be The Bluest Eye, one must be a film (The Hate You Give or The Black Panther), and the final text must be a poem or a short story (your choice).
PROMPT #3:
Many argue that the arts (visual art, literature, and film) can be used as a tool for the social critique of race, class, ethnicity, and sexual identity and a method for calling for social change and transformation due to their ability to put a human face on what otherwise might be considered an abstract set of statistics, names, and historical facts. With the texts in mind that we have examined together this term, think about the validity of this statement. Can literature really be used as tool for social transformation? You must support your argument with evidence from 4 texts. One of these must be a film (The Hate You Give or The Black Panther), one must be The Bluest Eye, one must be The Best We Could Do, and the final text can be any other work from the list below.
Other Texts You May Use
Any poem from our poetry selections in course readings
The Negro Page by Albert Cuyp (Painting)
How Can We Address Centuries of Racism in Art by Titus Kaphar (TED Talk Video)
"Introduction to American Tensions" by William Reichard
"Lullaby" by Leslie Marmon Silko
"Run, Mourner, Run" by Randall Kenan
"A Temporary Matter" by Juhmpha Lahiri
"Eddison, New Jersey" by Junot Diaz
"When I was a Young Soldier for the Revolution: Coming to Voice"by bell hooks
NOTE: THE IDEAS FOUND IN THIS PAPER MUST BE YOUR OWN. YOU MAY NOT USE SOURCES OTHER THAN THOSE WE HAVE READ TOGETHER AS A CLASS
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 or art that attempts to enlighten a reader about the underlying meaning of the text, whether it is a play, poem, short story, novel, painting, or film.
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/film critics, professors, and students (who are academics, scholars, and literary/film critics). You should assume that they have read the text or viewed the film 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.
NOTE: When relating events of the film or discussing the content of a literary text, use words such as, "Williams develops the major characters in the story..." or "Williams argues..." Notice the use of the active verbs "develops" and argues.
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 any sources that is not listed in Lists A or B above. You should end your essay when you feel it is FULLY DEVELOPED.
Your grade for this assignment will be determined as follows:
Total Possible Points: 100/
Final draft of one paper written as a group 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/film? 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(s) 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(s(? 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 or content of the academic article?
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
