The following dares are subject to change by the teacher, but there
must be good
JUSTIFICATION for doing so.
Mid January Topic (theme) chosen; literature selected and approved
Febr.-March Literature read; thesis proposed
by 2nd week in March Research completed
first week of April Rough draft turned in (test grade) April 3
last week of April Final papers due; rough draft included
two weeks after your rough draft
conference
Final paper will be worth approximately four test grades.
You are to select three major works: drama, novels, poetry (on approval
of the teacher).
The three works may be on the same theme or three works by the same
author.
One of the works you select may be one we have studied, or will study, in class.
IF YOU WANT TO USE THE WORK(S) OF A MODERN AUTHOR (20TH CENTURY),
YOU MUST FIRST RECEIVE MY APPROVAL (and I will not give approval for
very many contemporary authors).
Minimum length: 10 pages, typed or word processed, double spaced; standard
fonts
only; 12 point.
Quotations and citations will be superscripted and cited in end notes after the body of your paper. End Notes and Works Cited pages are not included in the minimuim page count.
Keep a bibliography of all sources you use.
Bing all notes and necessary materials on library/reading days (usually
Friday, but
other days will be provided).
The rough draft must include all that will be presented in the final paper: title page, final outline, end notes, works cited. When I read the rough draft, I do not mark all errors. I expect you to go through and proofread for other errors and necessary changes.
The final paper must be in a binder or protective cover.
Keep resources available or accessible, as I will randomly call for
sources to chek notations or for plagerism.
Writing the Term Paper
1. Do ALL of the reading.
2. Determine a strong commonality in all three works.
3. Research this topic in the literature as found in critical
analyses of your works.
Through the UN-L IRIS system, you will search for:
SUBJECT: Shakespeare
Then look forcritical analyses listed.
Pull up any listing that may deal with your topic.
Read through the "card" information to see if this
book
fits you topic and needs.
Record the complete book number PK
and title.
3847.056
1989
Request Mrs. Maire send for the book through interlibrary loan;
go to UN-L's
libraries to find the book yourself; see if Doane has the book.
You may be able to use the ERIC system or other research computer listings.
4. Develop a firm thesis. (Thesis=the main idea you will prove or discuss in your paper.)
5. Develop an outline. (Rough or detailed)
6. Begin to write.
Margins Left=11/2 " Right=1"
Bottom=1"
Page 1=11/2"
from the top; remaining pages=1" top margin
Page numbers begin with page 2. Wherever your program puts
the numbers
is fine with me.
Use a standard font, 12 point.
Double space
Quotations of 4 or more typed lines should be inset and single
spaced.
(2 tabs from the left margin and right margin stays as is)
DO NOT RIGHT JUSTIFIY.
Use superscript or (#) to note a citation in the body of your
writing1. Some programs may not allow you to superscript,
so you can create your own
citation number by using paranthese and the correct number (2).
Citations are number sequentially. I will give you handouts
later that show
more precisely how to do End Notes citations.
DO NOT USE "YOU" IN YOUR WRITING unless it is in a quotation.
Write out all contractions.
Use a formal style of writing (appropriate for a senior or college
student).
Do not write in a conversational style.
The introduction may be the last thing you write???
Your thesis must be included in the introduction.
Write good transitions to carry your discussion from one topic
or paragraph
to another.
The following is a type of outline and format you may want to use:
Introduction (1/2 to 11/2 pages)--include thesis
I. Topic #1
A. Discuss how it is presented or dealt with in
one work.
B. Discuss how it is presented or dealt with in
another work.
C. Discuss how it is presented or dealt with in
the third work.
Transition (may be using a key word or phrase from the last sentence
in
the paragraph in the first sentence of the new paragraph; may be a
whole paragraph as a transition)
II. Topic #2 (Continue in the same manner.
Do not discuss the works
in the same order each time; that is boring and predictable.)
‘
'
V. Conclusion (1 page or so) Summarize
your points and restate your
thesis in different words.
IDEAS FOR THEMES
Oedipus theme in literature
The "upper class" portrayed in three works
War and death
Honor
Death Murder Suicide
Societal role of the female in three works
Autobiographical elements in Dickens novels
Loneliness
The black experience in America
The code of heroes (anciet Greek, Renaissance, modern)
Heroines in literature
Hemingway's conception of the nature of love
Good and evil
Elements of humor in Shakespeare's tragedies
Views of mental illness
Tragic hero (ancient Greek, Renaissance, modern)
Faulkner's attitudes and feeling about the South
Portraits of hell
Use of fantasy
Shakespear's use of more than one plot in a single drama
Family relationships Father and son relationships
The treatment of female characters or female protagonists by male authors
SUGGESTED TOPICS AND TITLES
Conflict and Crisis
Guilt
Canterbury Tales
Macbeth
Death of a Salesman
Search for Identity
When Legends Die
A Light in the Forest
Prince and the Pauper
A Doll's House
Working Conditions
The Jungle
Grapes of Wrath
Oliver Twist
New Frontiers
The Virginians
2001, A Space Odyssey
___________
Society
Watership Down
Gulliver's Travels
Animal Farm
1984
A Handmaid's Tale
Social Satire
Canterbury Tales
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
Catch 22
Gulliver's Travels
Many of Mark Twain's Books
Non-Conformists
Taming of the Shrew
Catcher in the Rye
A Doll's House
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf
Love and Suicide
Romeo and Juliet
The Awakening
Anna Karinina
Depression and Mental Illness***
The Bell Jar
Hamlet
Death of a Salesman
Catcher in the Rye
One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest
Horror
Dr. Jeckyl and Mr. Hyde
Frankenstein
Poe's short stories
Stephen King
The Supernatural
The Rime of the Ancient Mariner
The Return
Time Machine
Stephen King
Sea Voyages
Odyssey
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
Aeneid
Whitejacket
Two Years Before the Mast
Voyage of Sinbad
Pioneer Women
Perceptions of the After Life***
Sex in Literature
Death
The Dark Half
Our Town
Death of a Salesman
Hamlet
Battle of the Sexes
Lysistrata
Taming of the Shrew
_________
Women as Protagonists
Antigone
Lysistrata
Anna Karinina
My Antonia
Fathers and Sons
Hamlet
Death of a Salesman
Odyssey
Cultural Identity
The Chosen
American Indian literature
Black literature
Asian literature
Racism/Discrimination
The Chosen
A Raisin in the Sun
Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman
Murder
Macbeth
The Stranger
In Cold Blood (?)
Murder at the Rue Morgue
Utopian/Dystopian Society
1984
A Handmaid's Tale
Gulliver's Travels
A Brave New World
Children as Protagonists
Oliver Twist
Tom Sawyer
Huck Finn
Abuse of Children
Maya Angelou
Toni Morrison
Dickens
Mark Twain
Fantasy
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
A Midsummer Night's Dream
The Hobbit
Peter Pan
Legends and Fabels
Epic of Gilgomesh
Iliad
Odyssey
Gulliver's Travels
Knights of the Round Table
Family Relationships
Hamlet
Glass Menagerie
Death of a Salesman
Dickens
Toni Morrison
Freedom and Human Dignity
A Raisin in the Sun
Uncle Tom's Cabin
The Color Purple
War
Iliad
All Quiet on the Western Front
A Farewell to Arms
Bloods***
A Tale of Two Cities
Les Miserables
The Killing Zone***
Women's Role in Society
Gone With the Wind
Moll Flanders
A Doll's House
The Awakening
My Antonia
Antigone
Lantern in Her Hand
Women during Conflict
Gone With the Wind
Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman
Macbeth
Laughing Boy(?)
Madame Bovary
Women doing what is necessary to survive
Moll Flanders
Vanity Fair
Gone With the Wind
Assassination of political figures
Julius Caesar
Hamlet
The Day of the Jackal (?)
Symbolism of Red
Scarlet Letter
Red Badge of Courage
Red Storm Rising (??)
Suicide
Dead Poet's Society (??)
The Bell Jar
Hedda Gabler
The Awakening
Miss Julie
Failed Dreams
Jealousy
Hatred
Loyalty/Disloyalty
Honor
Technology used in literature
Sense of Family
Villains
Fallen Women
Fallen Men
Virtue vs. Vengence
Adventure
Critical Essay
A critical seeay is one which evaluates its subject. The
writier is concerned with explaining and evaluationg the piece(s) of work(s),
in order to give the reader a wider and deeper understanding of the work(s).
The writer is concerned with four questions:
1. What does the work set out to do?
2. How does it go aobut doing this?
3. How effective is the achievement?
4. How sifnificant is the total work in tis prupse and
achievement?
The following discussion will divide the process fo critisim into three phases: interpretation, technical analysis, and judgement. Interpretation is concerned with showing what the work means, and answers the firs of the four questions. Technical analysis deals with th etechniques byt whch th eauthor selects, shapes, and presents the material; it provides answers to the sencond question. Judgement shows the critic's appraisal of the effectiveness and general purpose of the work, in answer to questions 3 and 4. These three stages are separated her to make th explanation clera. Actually, they overlap often or proceed simultaneously.
Interpretation
A critic who interprets a work is hsowing how he or she reads
it, what it menas to him or her. Interpretation is never a mere summary.
Telling the story of a play or novel, or paraphrasing, is not an act of
criticism. Criticism requires that th ecritic give meaning to the
work, and this a summary does not do.
Technical Analysis
Technical analysis comnments ont helanguage and structure of
the work, on the techniques used by the author to convey his or her meaning.
Judgement
in interpretation the critic discusses what the work has done;
in technical analysis he or she discusses how it is done; in judgement
he or she discusses the dffectiveness and the sifnigficance of what is
done. At this stage, more clearly than atthe others, the critic evalusates
the work by expressing an opinion of it as a whole. In order to support
that opinion he or she dites evidence from the text, and research.
That evidence usually includes some technical analysis.
What is a Critical Review? What Must the Reader Know?
A critical review is a paper involving a opinion of, as well as some information about, a piece of writing. It is not a summary of plot, a paraphrase, or an outline. It includes a statement of what the author has tried to do; it evaluates how well (in the opinion of the reviewer) this person has succeeded, and it presents evidence to support this evaluation. Sufficient information should be given to allow the reader of the review to form his or her own opinion of the work in question.
What must the reviewer know in order to write a criticla review?
He or she must know two things: the work he or she is reviewing and the
requirements of the genre to which the owrk belongs. Know ing the
work itself means no superficial, quick reading of the work, butr careful
reading, many times it means the piece is read twice. The reviewermust
attempt to understand what hte author has ahd as a purpose and must try
to perceive how eace part of the work was menat to contribute. For
example, in reviewing a drama, the reviewer will consider how action, character,
setting, and language work together and what part each plays in the whole.
A knowledge of the genre (that is, the type to which the work
belongs such as historical novel, lyric poem, classical tragedy, comic
opera) is essential for a fair appraislal. For instance, to criticize
a lyric poem because it lacks plot would be absurd. The greater the
reviewer's knowledge of the type is, the more likely it is that the reviewer
will be able to recognize vaariations within the type and to have abasisi
for judgement of the success of the particular work.
Narrowness of background may produse prejudices. As far
as possible, it tis th duty of the reviewer to be unbiased and completely
fair to the author. This does not rule out, however, the right of
the reviewer to express his opinion of the worthwhileness of the autho's
intentions. But the main business of the reviewer is to appraise
the success fo failure of that work judged by the seeming purpose of its
creator. Skill as a reviewer will be shown largely be the choice
of supporting evidence, but a reader will not respect he opinion of a reviewer
who appears unfair to the author.
Reading the Work
It would seem too obvious to require stating thqat the reviewer
must begin by reading the work(s).