Assignment Requirements:
You will complete one of the following options below in an essay of between 1250-1750 words:
Option One: Design a Survey of U.S. Literature since 1865. Option one asks that you critically reflect on our course, consider the works and authors we’ve covered and those we have not, and create, explain, and discuss your own list of texts and authors drawn from 1865-present that you would present to students as a survey of U.S. literature since 1865. If you select this project, your reading list must include at least two authors from 1865-1914, two from 1914-1945, and two from 1945-present, but may include as many as you’d like. In addition, select at least 2 authors from any of the anthologies whose work we did not read for class. Drawing upon our class discussion boards, your reading notes, and your short responses throughout the term, you will write a rationale for your selections that references key historical moments, issues, or concern and how the writers you’ve selected represent and take up those issues and concerns. So, responses to this option will include the following two components:
A reading list of at least 8 authors comprised of works by at least two authors from each of the anthologies and at least two authors whose work was not assigned for class.
A 1250-1750 word rationale that explains why you chose the writers you chose, what main idea or issue of concern you want to express to your hypothetical students, and specifically how the works you’ve placed on your reading list would help your hypothetical students come to an understanding of the main idea, issue, or concern you have identified. Your rationale should be guided by a thesis statement that explains the theme you intend for your survey to explore, and should be supported by at least one supplemental text from the course reading schedule that you use to help frame or develop your thesis.
Option Two: Compare Representations of Critical Issues from 1865-Present. Option two asks that you compose an essay discussing the ways at least five authors interpret, imagine, or contest an enduring cultural, historical, and/or political issue spanning the period of our survey. At least two authors should be selected from 1865-1914, at least one from 1910-1945, and at least two from 1945-present. Authors may include, but are not limited to, those we have covered in class. Essays should clearly identify the issue (for example, citizenship, territory, identity, gender, etc), discuss the ways each writer represents that issue and the effects of their representation, and interpret the differences and similarities among each writer’s work. For this option, you may also choose to revise and expand your essay for Short Response 4. A clear and identifiable thesis should organize your essay, and in addition to the five writers whose work you choose, you must incorporate at least one supplemental text from the reading schedule into your draft to help frame or develop your thesis.
Whichever option you choose, your essay/rationale should draw extensively on the texts you select for support, offering ample evidence in the form of quotations and paraphrases to support your claims about the texts’ meanings, significance, and relationship to the main idea/theme you’ve chosen to explore. You are encouraged to build on ideas in your discussion posts, your notes, and your short responses to help you develop your thesis and your essay/rationale.
In brief, your final essay/rationale must meet the following requirements:
Length: 1250-1750 words (approx. 5-7 pages)
Sources: Vary by option (see options above). Regardless of the option you choose, no outside sources should be incorporated into your essay (i.e. nothing from the internet, databases, etc.)
Argument: Your essay must assert and develop an arguable thesis that posits an interpretative claim about meaning.
Citations: In-text references to sources must be cited using MLA-style in-text citations. All information cited in the text must have a corresponding entry on an MLA-formatted list of works cited at the end of the essay. For more on MLA style, visit this link or see me.
Paper Format: Standard MLA (1” margins, 12 pt. Times New Roman, double-spaced, last name and page number in the upper-right header).
File Format: Microsoft Word (.doc or .docx only). No other file types will be accepted.
Outcomes:
Your final, revised essay should demonstrate the ability to:
Construct and advance an arguable, defensible, interpretive claim about literary texts;
Support an interpretive claim about a literary text with clear, purposefully chosen, primary textual evidence;
Clearly and logically connect direct evidence from a literary text to abstract claims about meaning and significance;
Explain and develop the significance of interpretative claims about a literary text (i.e. answer the “so what?” question);
Construct a coherently organized, logically connected essay that conforms to the conventions of Standard English.
Audience:
Assume that your audience has read the texts you have selected and is familiar with the plot, basic conflicts, themes, and ideas presented within them. As a result, plot summary is not necessary. You should also strive to offer and sustain interpretive arguments that make claims about meaning and significance of textual detail, rather than merely discussing textual detail. Because your audience will be familiar with what happens, in other words, your task is to help them understand what happens in a new way or through a new perspective, and to help your readers see connections between texts that they may have otherwise not seen.
Evaluation and Criteria
Please see the “Writing and Grading Guide for Undergraduate Papers in Literary Studies” in the Resources for Writing about Literature folder for an outline of my expectations for high-quality undergraduate essays about literary texts. See also the chapter entitled “Entering Conversations about Literature” from They Say/I Say, posted on Canvas, for more on organizing an essay about a literary text. It may also be helpful to visit the links included in the Resources for Writing and Revising Essays about Literature page on our canvas site.
Your essay will be evaluated based on three principle criteria–argument, organization, and writing conventions–as outlined below. Note that the descriptions below are targets for performance, and that successful essays should meet or exceed the targets. Keywords in the descriptions are linked to resources that may be helpful as you write and revise your essay.
Additional Helpful Resources for Writing about Literature:
Hacker_WritingAboutLiterature_L3.pdf
Hacker_SampleCloseReading.pdf
Researching and Writing About Literature.pdf
Category A: Argument, Evidence, Explanation/Explication
Criteria and Targets:
a) Argument/Thesis: The essay presents and develops an arguable thesis (as opposed to a pseudo thesis), and leaves readers with a clear sense of the significance of the argument with respect to the text and to the conversation about the text.
b)Evidence: All claims are supported through direct analysis of ample, relevant, direct textual evidence. All evidence is appropriately framed and incorporated, and is treated and considered in context.
c) Explication: The essay demonstrates a clear and logical relationship between evidence and claims through analysis and discussion of textual detail. Use and discussion of evidence throughout the essay demonstrates knowledge and understanding of the text.
Category B: Organization, Clarity, and Conventions
Criteria and Targets
a) Organization:The essay organizes a coherent progression of ideas. Major points and paragraphs are clear and related to the main idea. Paragraphs develop from clear, argumentative topic sentences and coordinate (rather than list) arguments and evidence. The essay is organized around the writer’s main claims and ideas (i.e. does not merely follow the order of events in the text), and develops those claims through a logical progression.
b) Clarity and Coherence:The writer’s ideas and arguments are conveyed in well-constructed sentences that would be understood by peer and advanced readers without need for excessive re-reading. Transitions between sections and paragraphs smoothly coordinate ideas, and make clear to the reader why one paragraph follows another through signposting. Paragraphs demonstrate internal coherence and development (i.e. avoid listing, “another example…”).
c) Genre Conventions:The essay follows conventions of academic essays in literary studies: opening with an introduction that culminates in a thesis, establishing context for claims and arguments, and discussing significance and relevance of claims in relation to existing scholarship. All evidence is appropriately introduced, smoothly incorporated into the writer’s prose, and discussed and analyzed as appropriate.
Category C: Writing Conventions (Grammar, Mechanics, and MLA Style)
Criteria and Targets
a) Grammar and Mechanics:The essay conforms to the conventions of standard written English. Sentences are clear and communicative. Readers would have no trouble reading and comprehending the essay. The essay contains few-to-no mechanical or punctuation errors and demonstrates careful and consistent editing/proofreading.
b) Citations and Academic Standards:All material referenced in the essay is appropriately and correctly documented in MLA style. A correctly formatted Works Cited page that includes entries for all material cited in the essay is included at the end.
W 6/22 @ 11:59pm – Proposals for Final Projects Due
F 6/24 @ 11:59pm – Rough Drafts of Final Project Due
M 6/27 @ 11:59pm – Final Project Due
Books required for this Final are linked below in this pdf !