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Please refer to this handout for Theory Background and Questions: Literary Theory and Criticism HO S22.docx Download Literary Theory and Criticism HO S22.docx
Think about all of the poems and short stories that we have examined to this point in the semester. Also, consider the literary theories/criticism that we have explored. Choose at least 3 texts that we have examined and 1 form of literary theory/criticism. Write an essay that examines these three texts through the lens of the chosen form of criticism. It will also be required to use at least two books or academic journal articles in this essay. The academic journal articles may be on the authors, the texts, or the form of literary theory.
Texts that that can be used: “The Kugelmass Episode” by Woody Allen, “Happy Endings” by Margaret Atwood, “The Navigators” by Mike MeGinnis, “I Am A Cat” by Natsume Soseki, “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson, “Looking for a Rain God” by Bessie Head, “The Birthmark” by Nathaniel Hawthorne, “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, William Blake: “Introduction to Songs of Innocence,” “The Ecchoing Green,” “The School Boy,” and “The Tyger,” “Those Winter Sundays” by Robert Hayden, “The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant, Taylor Mali “What Teachers Make,” Taylor Mali “Like Lily, Like Wilson, ” “In at Least a Thousand Worlds” by Michael Mlekoday, “If I had a Daughter” by Sara Kay, “What’s Genocide?” by Carlos Andres Gomez, “Stank Breath” by Helena D. Lewis, “Where are you going, Where have you been?” by Joyce Carol Oates, “They Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, William Wordsworth: “Strange Fits of Passion I Have Known,” “I Wandered Lonely As a Cloud,” “Three Years She Grew,” “A Slumber did my Spirit Seal,” “She Dwelt Among the Untrodden Ways,” and “I Travelled Among the Unknown Men,” Emily Dickinson: “Because I Could Not Stop For Death,” “I Felt a Funeral in my Brain,” “I Heard a Fly Buzz – When I Died,” “Hope is the Thing With Feathers,” “I’m Nobody, Who are You?”, Robert Browning: “Porphyria’s Lover,” Langston Hughes: “Night Funeral in Harlem,” “Let America be America Again,” Alice Dunbar Nelson: “I Sit and Sew,” Claude McKay “The Harlem Dancer,” Sylvia Plath: “Lady Lazarus,” “Daddy,” “Morning Song,” Czeslaw Milosz: “A Song for the End of the World,” Martin Espada “Imagine the Angels of Bread,” “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas” by Ursula Le Guin, “As Good as New” by Charlie Jane Anders, “Zombie” by Chuck Palahniuk
Some requirements:
1. The paper should be written in MLA format with a Works Cited (We will discuss in class, Purdue Owl, Bedford 1547-1552)
2. It will be required to use at least two books or academic journal articles in this essay.
3. The paper should have a clear introduction, body, and conclusion.
4. The paper should use the paragraph format discussed in class: Topic sentence (1-2 sentences), Evidence (1-3 sentences), Analysis (2-3 sentences), Then connect to thesis (1 sentence).
5. A clear position should be taken by the writer with strong ethos (authorial credibility). In the thesis sentence, state a position that could be defended/opposed. You should not write: “I believe that Kate Chopin uses marriage as…” Using the first person weakens your argument. Instead, you should, write, “Kate Chopin uses marriage as…” In other words, take an authoritative stance on the issue. Avoid using first person (referring to yourself or the reader – I, me, you, we, us, etc.), as it weakens the authorial ethos.
6. This essay should be 1200 words written in 12 point Times New Roman font with standard Microsoft Word margins. If it is shorter than 1200 words, 10% will be deducted for every 50 words short of requirements. Standard Microsoft Word margins (1 inch on bottom and top and 1 inch on sides). It should have standard double-spacing (check this under the layout /spacing tab. Should say 0 before and 0 after).
7. The paper must be turned in electronically. The essays are automatically put through plagiarism software. I will then grade the papers and return them. Often, I will return the papers in the order that I receive them, so it pays off to turn in the papers early.
MLA Guidelines for Paper Format
- Set margins of your document to 1 inch on top and bottom, 1on the left and right. Set paragraph spacing to 0 Before, 0 After.
- Create a header in the upper right-hand corner that includes your last name, followed by a space with a page number; number all pages consecutively with Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3, 4, etc.), one-half inch from the top and flush with the right margin.
- Double-space the text of your paper, and use 12 pt. Times New Roman font.
- Do not make a separate title page for your paper.
- In the upper left-hand corner of the first page, list your name, your instructor’s name, the course / assignment, and the date. Again, be sure to use double-spaced text with no extra spaces.
- Double space again and center the title. Do not underline, italicize, or place your title in quotation marks; write the title in Title Case (standard capitalization), not in all capital letters.
- Indent the first line of paragraphs one half-inch from the left margin.
