Critical Review Assignment
(American Literature 1)
Assignment: Choose a single author from the following list: Hawthorne, Poe, Melville, Whitman, Dickinson. Write a 2-5 page formal essay on one or more of that author's works (which we have read this semester) for an audience who has read your text(s) only once (about a year ago) and who is well versed in various literary techniques. In your thesis, take a specific position on your author's attitude towards the primary thematic focus you have been studying this semester. (Feel free to integrate any of the other foci into your thesis as well.)
Support: In the body of your essay, please use quotations which illustrate two or more of the following literary techniques to prove your thesis position: characterization, motifs, setting, symbols, allusions, metaphors, similes, dramatic irony, verbal irony, concrete imagery, paradox, hyperbole, understatement, metonymy, synecdoche, personification, apostrophe, sound devices (e.g., caesuras, run-on lines, rhyme). (Make sure you understand the nature of your chosen techniques well before attempting to use them in this essay. I would be happy to discuss the possibility of using other techniques with you as well.) As a bare minimum if you hope to convince your reader, you will want to include at least two body paragraphs with at least three support quotations in each body paragraph.
Organization: I would prefer that you classify your examples into body paragraphs using literary techniques as your basis of division. In other words, focus on one literary technique in each body paragraph, attempting to prove as much of your thesis as possible with each technique (in each body paragraph). Ideally, you will use a different literary technique in each paragraph (or at the very least if you use the same technique in each paragraph--for example, characterization--be sure to focus on a different example of that technique in different paragraphs--for example, one character in one paragraph and a different character in a second paragraph). If you cannot find three different examples of the same literary device in a short poem, you could draw your example from a larger category, such as figurative language or sound devices.
Format:
1. Spacing: Double-space throughout. This includes between title and text as well as before and within any block quotations.
2. Margins: Top, bottom, left, and right margins should all be one inch.
3. Title Page Information: Please do not include a title page. Instead in the upper-left-hand corner of the first page of your text include the following information at the left margin, double-spacing between each item:
[Your name]
Professor Edwards
Introduction to Literature
[Due Date of Essay]
Then double-space again, center your (wonderfully creative) title, double-space again and begin the first paragraph of your text.
4. Page Numbers: In the upper-right-hand corner of every page, please include both your last name and the page number. (See page numbering for this document as an example.) If you cannot figure out how to make your word-processor do this and have to write these numbers in black ink, that will be fine.
5. Word-Processed: Essay must be word-processed (or at least typed).
Documentation: Please use MLA format for both parenthetical and works cited forms of documentation. (If unfamiliar with this format consult the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers which you will find in the library on reserve [RESERVE LB 2369 G5]).
ESSAY STRUCTURE
(I have found that basing their essays on the following structural principles often helps students to optimally fulfill the above assignment. Additionally, many students prefer to set this structure aside when first drafting their essay and then to use it as a sort of check list in the process of revision.)
Introductory Paragraph:
A. Opener: Opening sentence of essay.
1. Function: the function of this sentence is to arrest the readers' attention and make them want to continue reading your essay.
2. Coherence: this sentence should be at least generally related to at least one of your main thesis ideas.
3. Possible Strategies: quotation, question, definition, refutation, or a joke.
B. Background: Since we are writing a New Critical essay (which focuses only on the text) and since your audience has only read your text once (and that a year ago), it would probably be good to include in the middle of your introductory paragraph a brief "plot" summary (about 3-5 sentences).
1. Exclusive: only summarize events from the plot which are directly related to your main thesis ideas.
2. Explicit: as you summarize try to use key words from your thesis to make the relationship between plot actions and your thesis explicit for your reader.
C. Thesis: I will assume that the final sentence in your introductory paragraph is your thesis which I will view as an inclusive and exclusive contract, outlining what you intend to prove and tacitly implying that you will not intend to prove anything else in this essay. Please include the following in your thesis.
1. Topic: in this case, your primary thematic focus.
2. Attitude: communicate as specifically as possible what you think the author's attitude is towards your chosen topic.
3. Universal Assessment Format: Attempt to express the topic and attitude portion of your thesis so that it sounds like philosophical statement, not simply as though s/he is making a limited statement which only applies to his/her fictional characters.
4. Literary Techniques: Also briefly prepare your reader for which literary techniques you intend to use to prove your topic and attitude.
5. Author: often good to include the name of your author in your thesis.
6. Title: mention the title(s) of the story in your thesis.
7. One Sentence: In the final draft of your essay, this information should be communicated in a single sentence.
---------------Examples-------------(Thesis = Author + Title + Techniques (Hows) + Topic + Attitude)--------
Character Thesis: (avoid this type) Zora Hurston implies that although Delia works hard to preserve her marriage in spite of Syke, she feels guilty when she allows him to die.
Universal Thesis: Through characterization and setting, Zora Neale Hurston implies in "Sweat" that although many (black) women may work hard to preserve their marriages in spite of sexual betrayal and physical abuse, they should not feel guilty if they find themselves freed from their tormentors through violent death.
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Body Paragraphs: You must have at least two body paragraphs. In the body, you should avoid making any claims which you do not immediately prove with a quotation from your story. (Or as Ms. Garde might say, "Show me [with quotations]; don't just tell me [through plot summary].) Each body paragraph you write could have the following structure.
A. Topic Sentence:
1. Inclusive: The first sentence of each body paragraph should include clear and accurate preparation for the following:
a. Literary Technique: prepare reader for which literary technique you plan to use in this body paragraph.
b. Topic/Attitude: prepare reader for which part of your thesis' topic/attitude (or "message") you intend to prove with that literary technique in this paragraph. (Generally, attempt to prove entire topic and attitude in each body paragraph. However, you may find that a given literary technique will only allow you to prove a part of your topic/attitude. If this is the case, make sure you prove the remaining portion of your topic/attitude in your other body paragraphs.)
2. Exclusive: Be sure that your topic sentences excludes any promises to prove any major positions NOT promised in your thesis.
3. Universal Assessment: Attempt to keep the topic/attitude portion of your topic sentences in the universal assessment format as well.
B. Support Evidence: The middle portion of each body paragraph should contain at least three quotations from your story. These passages should BOTH be examples of the literary technique you are focusing on in that paragraph AND contain direct support for portions of the topic/attitude part of your thesis. It is helpful to do the following three things for each support example you give:
1. Introduction: very briefly (in one sentence or less) introduce each quotation by mentioning the speaker, location, or topic of the passage you are about to quote. Avoid the temptation to include lengthy plot summary in these introductions.
2. Quotation: makes sure that the heart and soul of every support example is an accurate quotation from the story.
3. Application: After each quotation, it is extremely important to briefly explain to your reader precisely how you see that quotation supporting your thesis. Never assume that your reader (having only read the text once a year ago) will necessarily see the same connection you have seen (have studied this work in depth very recently). This application should be accomplished in one sentence (or at most two). In order to make this support connection as clear as possible, you should always try to use BOTH key words or phrases from the quotation and key thesis terms in your application sentence.
C. Concluding-Summary Sentence: Be careful not to leave your reader hanging at the end of each body paragraph by ending with your last support example. It is a good practice to restate your topic sentence--attempting to include a brief summary of how you have proven that topic sentence--as you conclude. Again, a single sentence is generally sufficient.
Concluding Paragraph: You have at least two valid options (Simple Summary or Biblical Application)
Simple Summary: Concluding Paragraph Option
A. Restate Thesis: since you may have had to divide your thesis up into pieces in order to prove parts of it in separate paragraphs, begin your conclusion by restating your entire thesis. Include the same content, but use different words and phrasing.
B. Summarize Support Evidence: Give a brief summary of how you have used literary techniques to prove your thesis in the body of your essay. Follow these principles:
1. Inclusive: be sure to include at least a one-word reference to every support example used in the body.
2. Exclusive: be sure not to claim that you have proven something you did not prove with a quotation in your body.
3. Organized: it is generally best to summarize your support examples in the same order in which you gave them in your body.
4. Brief: Usually, it should only take you one sentence to summarize each body paragraph.
C. Clincher: It is often good to conclude with a creative restatement of your main thesis ideas. One possible strategy is to return to the quotation with which you may have opened your essay and creatively revise that quotation, substituting some of your key thesis terms into the original quotation.
Or
Biblical Application: Concluding Paragraph Option
A. Restate Thesis: (see "A" above)
B. General Statement of Application: This is essentially a topic sentence for your concluding paragraph. It takes a new position on your thesis, telling your reader how well you think the philosophy of the chosen writer (as it is presented in the topic/attitude portion of your thesis) agrees or disagrees with biblical principles. Try to keep the focus on objectively analyzing the author's message rather than on subjectively sermonizing on the author's character.
C. Support Evidence: Since you are taking a new position, you must support it with quotations from the Bible. (You may find it helpful to use a Bible concordance from the reference section of the library.) Please quote at least three biblical passages which support your General Statement of Application, using the following strategy:
1. Introduction: very briefly (in one sentence or less) introduce each quotation by mentioning the speaker, location, or topic.
2. Quotation: makes sure that the heart and soul of every support example is a quotation from the Bible. In choosing these quotations, you must make sure that you not simply find a biblical passage which contains the same topic as your thesis, but it must also express the same (or a contradictory) attitude towards that topic.
3. Application: After each quotation, it is extremely important to briefly (1 at most 2 sentences) explain to your reader precisely how you see that quotation supporting your General Statement of Application. In order to make this support connection as clear as possible, you should always try to use BOTH key words or phrases from the biblical quotation and key terms from your General Statement of Application in your application sentence. Since you will be comparing the author's message to the biblical message, try to make those comparisons as parallel as possible.
D. Clincher: It is often good to conclude with a creative restatement of your General Statement of Application. One possible strategy is to return to the quotation with which you may have opened your essay (or even one you have just used in your concluding paragraph) and creatively revise that quotation, substituting some of your key thesis terms into the original quotation.