This shorter paper (4-5 full pages) will be worth up to 100 points; papers shorter than three full pages will not be accepted; if you are trying for a grade higher than a "C" (and you all are) it must be at least four full pages. This paper does not require research, and, in fact, I am mainly wanting to see your original thinking here, but if you do draw on secondary sources,

And if you do have a Works Cited page, that does not count towards the paper's page count.

Papers must be in MLA format and incorporate supporting/illustrative quotations and parenthetical citations from the work you are analyzing. Be sure you have read and understand the Writing About Literature article and the general information on the Writing Assignments page. Also read the stuff in the sidebar (the pinkish box to the right).

Remember to review
the information on how to write about literature

You must have examples/evidence in the form of direct quotations followed by correct parenthetical citations--this is not optional

Papers should be on topic, focused, edited, proofread

Any paper not in standard MLA-8 format will not be graded; please review the files and videos that explain how to set up your papers and Works Cited pages.

Late papers will be accepted up to a week after the due date, but they will be penalized 10%

If you have any questions, please contact me via e-mail

Since you absolutely must read closely, quote relevant (often very brief) sections of the story, and document those quotations parenthetically, you will need to know how to cite correctly. Instructions on citing fiction can be found here: How to Cite Fiction.

The fiction for the Analysis Paper is located in both the "Week 3 Readings" and "Week 4 Readings" folders in the FILES section on CANVAS. There are actually TWO folders with readings in them, one marked Literary Analysis Readings, and the other marked Mystery Analysis Readings. Those readings correspond to the different topic choices below. There are also some helpful files and a Sample Student Essay for you to look at.

options?

I love choices. Sure, they can make life hard (pizza or sushi?), but in a world where you really feel like having sushi, think how sad you'd feel if there was only pizza. So we are going to have two different kinds of topics this time, but both are analytical papers.

topic type #1: the literary analysis

This is definitely the more conventional option. It corresponds to the portion of Lecture 3 that looks at elements of fiction. You may have directly analyzed a story in an English class before, and you have already seen a couple of stories analyzed in the lectures in our class. Your discussion of "All About Suicide" OR "In a Grove" asked you to look closely at (analyze) one of the stories. That's what you'll be doing here if you choose this option.

choose one of these four topics if you are opting for the Literary Analysis:

  1. Even though there is a lot of foreshadowing in William Faulkner's "Rose for Emily," how does he manage to keep the reader in suspense, maybe even surprised at the ending?

      CLUES:

    • consider whose point of view the story is being told from (it is an unusual point of view); is it a reliable narrator? why or why not?
    • thinking about that narrator again, how does it affect the plot (order of events) in the story, and is it done logically/reasonably?

  2. Gaberiel Garcia-Marquez's "A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings" is clearly not written for children, and yet he sub-titles the story "A Tale for Children"; Why? Of course there are some plot elements that you might find more often in a children's story than a story written for adults, but the language, the situation, the density of the style--these are all clearly written at an adult level.

      HINTS:

    • consider that this story is, on one level, a religious satire (that is, it mocks some people's inability to really think about, challenge, and discern their religious beliefs; they may just follow what they find convenient or what is told them rather than exploring some of the deeper foundations of their religions); after all, we do have references to an angel and a priest here
    • also you may wish to look up "Magical Realism" (the style the story is written in); consider the nature of Magical Realism and how elements of this literary movement pepper this story


  3. Kate Chopin's "The Storm" may have shocked readers (if it had been published) in the late 19th century, but it expresses a theme carried over in several of Chopin's works. Your task is to explain (you will at some point in your paper, possibly the conclusion, state the theme as a complete sentence). Had the story been set in Las Vegas in the 21st century it likely would not have raised an eyebrow. So setting (where a story takes place and when the story takes place) can be significant in understanding the story. Setting (time and place) and situation (the storm) are used in several ways in this short story: yes, setting time/place; allowing certain actions to occur; CAUSING certain actions to occur; paralleling the actions in the story. The storm is also clearly a symbols in the story. Explain how the storm functions in all these ways in the story and also helps to support the message or theme of the story.

      IMPORTANT CONSIDERATIONS:

    • do not try to make the story say or mean what YOU want it to mean; it means what the author has written; this is Chopin's view of the world (or at least one part of life); the ending IS the ending whether you like it or not
    • think about whether or not storms PLAN their actions
    • consider that the "somber" and "insidious" references at the beginning may have more to do with the beginning descriptions of the story and not the second half of the story
    • (yes, that's plenty to consider :)

  4. "How to Talk to your Mother (Notes)" certainly has a lot of odd references that may seem irrelevant (who cares, for example, that she worked for Jimmy Carter's presidential campaign?), and these peculiar bits actually form repeated patterns throughout her "journal." They actually may reveal a lot about her character and her situation and why she is so far apart from her mother near the end of the story (they were very close when she was little). Below is a list of a few of the "peculiar pattern" which may reveal a lot about Ginny and her inability "to Talk to [her] Mother."

    Look at two or three of these categories (such as the four presidential candidates she discussed) below and explain how they fit literally/logically into this "journal"; then explore what they suggest about Ginny and how they might help us to understand her character, how she feels about herself and the things that have happened in her life, and the meaning (theme) of this story.

    • the author makes several references to artificial hearts (why this odd choice when she does not go into the medical profession?)
    • there are four presidents mentioned (some are missing, why?)
    • there are different kinds of music running through the story (what do they suggest?)
    • there are several birth/death references (lots of baby references, but would she make a great mother?)
    • there are close parent/child moments and very divided parent/child moments (again, do the ages and situations and dates matter?)

      SOME HINTS: (things to consider):

    • Ginny's dad might have been saved if the artificial heart were produced earlier, but she has a horrible relationship with her dad, so that is odd. What does a heart symbolize?
    • Ginny leaves off two presidents in the time period where she mentions presidents: LBJ and Ford. Arguably Ford is not historically very significant, but LBJ certainly is. Notice the even spread of democrats and republicans.
    • Ginny is educated and living when the Pill is widely available, and she does not particularly like kids (how do we know this), so why does she keep getting pregnant?
    • The ages/moments where Ginny and her mom are close/distant are not particularly unusual (generation gap has been written about thousands of years), though the degree of their breakdown is huge.
    • Consider the years Ginny is growing up in; you may need to look up some things or historical context. What, for example, was going on, particularly for young women in the 1960s-1980s that was definitely not what was going on in the U.S. when Ginny's mother was growing up?

topic type #2: mystery analysis

OK, I have already given you quite a lot to think about, but some of you may opt for this less-conventional look at fiction; it is essentially an evaluation of a story in the context of it's genre, in this case, the mystery/detective genre.

Along with the four classic mystery stories in the Mystery Analysis Readings folder, there are two short articles, one called "How to Read a Mystery," and the other called "10 Essential Elements of a Mystery." Read the two articles (you will be quoting from them as well as the mystery story you choose, and don't forget the required parenthetical citations). Then analyze one of the four stories looking for the following:

You do not have to write about all of the elements, but do write about several, and so, yes, this paper will likely have several paragraphs, one for each point because, remember, you need to explain AND cite examples.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Regardless of which topic you choose, be firm with your claims/statements. There should be no "I THINK" or "I FEEL" or "I BELIEVE" or "IN MY OPINION" statements in your writing. State something, and then back it up with examples.

REMEMBER, late papers are penalized 10%, and any paper more than a week late will earn a zero; since this class moves very quickly, I recommend getting things done early whenever possible .