Select a work from our text (either one that we have read or one we have not). Read it thoroughly. Then, either online through Google or Google Scholar, in the physical library, or on EGCC’s library databases, do research to find an article that analyzes the work you chose. Do not choose a Sparksnotes/Shmoop/et

Select a work from our text (either one that we have read or one we have not). Read it thoroughly. Then, either online through Google or Google Scholar, in the physical library, or on EGCC’s library databases, do research to find an article that analyzes the work you chose. Do not choose a Sparksnotes/Shmoop/etc. type of website or article. Yes, those are geared towards students, but I want you to find an author’s individual analysis, not an explanation of what you’re expected to know for an English class. This may take some digging! You may end up finding a book chapter, a journal article, or a thoughtful blog post to discuss. If you are at a complete loss, please tell me (well before the due date). I may be able to help point you in the right direction.

After selecting your article, read and annotate it. You should understand the author’s main points about the text.

Now you’re ready to begin publishing. The paper should contain the following components:

• An introduction, summary, and explanation of the work you chose from our text
• Your analysis of the work you chose from our course – does the author use literary devices, like foreshadowing or metaphor? How and where? You might discuss the setting or the characters, or whether or not the text is mimetic or didactic. Is there any historical significance of the text? Was there an event going on that impacted the text or the author in some way? Etc.
• An introduction, summary, and an explanation of the article you found
• Connect the article to the text and give your opinion on its validity. Is the author completely off the mark or accurate in their analysis? Why or why not? Those of you that chose to discuss the Kosenko article on “The Lottery” have already had a taste of this sort of exercise.

The document at the following link gives a basic literary research paper outline: https://valenciacollege.edu/wp/cssc/documents/LiteraryResearchPaperStructure.pdf

This essay is lengthy. If you take a look at our syllabus, the college requires a 6-8 page research paper. If you include all of these components, you should either meet or get very close to it! As you can see from the rubric, I will be assessing the content of the essay, so it’s ok if you don’t quite meet 6 pages. However, neglecting to include one of the requirements will not only shorten the paper but will also impact the grade.

Citations: English 101 is a prerequisite for this course, so I expect you all to know MLA formatting. If you need to brush up on it, the Purdue OWL MLA site is a good resource: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/

Whenever you quote, paraphrase, or summarize, you will use in-text citations to indicate the source. Additionally, I expect you to include a Works Cited page at the end of the essay, where you will cite the work from our textbook as well as the article you locate, whether you found it online or elsewhere. You can find citation examples of online articles, journal articles, etc. on the Purdue site.