Essay 1:  African-American Literature

Assignment:   Choose ONE of the prompts below and write a literary analysis in repsonse.

Our detailed class discussions will give you some ideas before you start.  You should always take detailed notes about the texts we discuss and write down any ideas you have about them during those discussions.

Do some type of invention work before you begin the process of writing (brainstorming, mapping, spider-webbing, freewriting) and use this raw material to develop raw material to use for your essay.  You may want to create a rough outline of your ideas before you begin.

The literary texts you may discuss in this assignment are "A Wife of His Youth," "A Plate of Bones," "Sweat," "Ars Poetica, Nov. 7, 2008," & "To a Dark Girl."

NOTE:  THE IDEAS FOUND IN THIS PAPER MUST BE YOUR OWN.  YOU MAY NOT USE OUTSIDE SOURCES!

Your Choices:

Prompt #1: Choose ONE of the short stories or poems that we have read thus far this term and identify what you see as the most important symbol in that work.  What is its underlying meaning and what is its importance to the meaning of the text as a whole?

Prompt #2: Identify what you see as an overall theme in one of the short stories that we have read this term and explain how two to three objects in that piece are connected to that idea.  How are these objects connected to this idea, and what do they specifcially communicate about it?

Prompt #3:  Drawing upon what you see as one of the major ideas of Hughes' "The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain," use that work to explain how this idea might help a reader better understand one of the poems or short stories from this term.

Prompt #4:  Compare and contrast the depiction of gender roles in "Sweat" and the film The Color Purple.  What do you see as the primary similarlity or difference of these roles in these texts?

Keep in mind that what you are writing is literary criticism, and you must adhere to the conventions of that type of writing.

Purpose 

In this type of paper a writer is forming an academic argument.  As the writer you are arguing that your interpretation of the text is a valid - not the only interpretation - in an attempt to aid the reader in “seeing” the text in a new light or from a different perspective that perhaps may be different from their own. 

Audience

Your audience is made up of academics, scholars, literary critics, professors, and students (who are academics, scholars, and literary critics).  You should assume that they have read the text and are familiar with its contents.  Because of this you would never merely retell the story because your audience is already familiar with it.  This would also conflict with the purpose of this type of paper.  You are to discuss underlying meaning, not retell the events of the story, poem, or film.

What is Literary Criticism and How Do I Write a Paper of This Nature?

At its very basic definition, literary criticism is a written evaluation of a work of literature that attempts to enlighten a reader about the underlying meaning of the text, whether it is a play, poem, short story, or novel.

Purpose 

In this type of paper a writer is forming an academic argument.  As the writer you are arguing that your interpretation of the text is a valid - not the only interpretation - in an attempt to aid the reader in “seeing” the text in a new light or from a different perspective that perhaps may be different from their own. 

Audience

Your audience is made up of academics, scholars, literary critics, professors, and students (who are academics, scholars, and literary critics).  You should assume that they have read the text and are familiar with its contents.  Because of this you would never merely retell the story because your audience is already familiar with it.  This would also conflict with the purpose of this type of paper.  You are to discuss underlying meaning, not retell the events of the story.

Because your audience is a scholarly one, your paper must be presented in a formal manner.  You should use high diction and avoid first person, personal pronouns, and contractions.

Essay Focus & Organization

The Essay Purpose and Your Overall Claim:

Your essay should directly respond to the question that is either directly stated or implied in the prompt that you choose.

Your answer to this question becomes the overall claim/thesis for your essay (the point you are attempting to prove).

Title:  Did you give your essay a title?  Keep in mind that this title should reflect the entire content of your paper and set up an expectation for your reader about your paper’s topic.  It should mention three things:  1)  The title of the work(s) you are discussing 2)  The author's name (of that work or works)  3) Mention what you see as the important idea or answer to the question that is posed.

Introduction:  Your introduction should be a general preview of the entire content of your essay (and never present specifics/quotes). In your opening line, you also need to mention the author and titles of the text(s) you plan to examine.  You must also state an overall claim/thesis in the intro (usually toward the end of the paragraph).  You also need to include a “so what” statement.  In other words, explain the signficance of your claim in the broader context of the text(s) as a whole.    Remember that what you are writing is academic argumentation.  Convince your reader that your interpretation is valid.  You shouldn’t argue that it is the only interpretation.  You are simply claiming that it is the most important one.  The intro is your chance to explain why you think so.

Body:  The body of your paper is where you must provide the reader with all of the minute details of your argument and interpretation.  Here you will make sub-claims (statements and assertions that support your overall claim/thesis).  These are the equivalent of topic sentences for a paragraph.  Just remember that each of these statements must relate back to your claim/thesis and don’t’ leave it up to your reader to guess what this connection may be.  They are readers of criticism, not mind readers.  Explain to them what you think the connections are.  Do this for each example that you provide.

Remember, you want to repeat these steps throughout the body of your paper:

1)Make an assertion (subclaim) about the text(s) you are discussing.  This becomes a topic sentence/subclaim that you will place at the beginning of your paragraph.

2)Provide evidence from the text that illustrates or supports this assertion (a quote or quotes from the text or texts).

3)Explain how this evidence illustrates the assertion/point you are attempting to make.  Explain this example’s connection to  your thesis/overall claim.

Steps 2 & 3 are the supporting points of the paragraph for the suclaim you created in step one.

Essay Conclusion:  The conclusion should be a general summary of  the entire content of the body of your paper and restate the claim/thesis.  It should also re-emphasize the “so what” explanation.

You cannot have new information in a conclusion.

NOTE:  WHEN READ TOGETHER THE INTRO AND CONCLUSION SHOULD FORM ONE IDEA.

Also be sure that:

-You use present tense verbs when relating the events of the story/poem/play/novel/film.

-Do not merely summarize the plot.  Your readers are familiar with the text and have read it.  Only relate events that are relevant to your INTERPRETATION of the text.

-Keep in mind that your readers are highly educated.  Don’t, for instance, provide definitions for words (i.e., Webster’s Dictionary defines confusion as …)  Your audience would consider this an insult.

- Don't use first person, contractions, or personal pronouns (such as you, we, me, mine, my, our, ours).  These are considered too informal.  Instead, use phrases like "a reader may notice that," "one could interpret this to mean," etc.

-Be sure that you set up your quotes in the body of your paper.   Before you discuss an example from the text, let them know where you are in the plot or sequence of events in that text.

-Discuss the text or the historical context of the text only.  Never include personal examples from your own life, etc. 

-Do not use floating quotes:  Read this explanation.

NOTE:  When relating events in the story use words such as, "O’Connor develops the major characters in the story..."  Notice the use of the active verb "develops." Try to stick with using active verbs as you analyze the story.  This is also known as “the literary present tense.” You should also note that sometimes a narrator can be directly involved in a story. Sometimes the narrator is not named and is not directly involved in the story's development.

Format

•Your essay should have a title.  It should also be typed, double-spaced, with one inch margins all around, Times New Roman Font, & 12 pt.  Your essay should be a minimum of 3 full pages and no more than 4.  You must include a Works Cited Page in proper MLA style, including in-text citations.  Generally, an in-text citation looks like this -- (Baldwin 5). Notice that the end punctuation, that is the period, generally goes after the end parenthesis. The number five indicates on what page the material is taken.

See OWL Purdue for questions about MLA format.

NOTE:  SINCE YOU CANNOT USE OUTSIDE SOURCES IN THIS PAPER, THE ONLY CITATIONS YOU SHOULD HAVE ARE FOR THE TEXT  YOU ARE INTERPRETING/DISCUSSING.

Please see Harmon's Hall of Fame for example student essays.

Your grade for this assignment will be determined as follows:

Total Possible Points:  40/

Final Draft, evaluated on the following criteria:

Focus (11 points):  Does essay have a clear purpose? Is there an overall claim stated? Does this claim focus on a single idea or aspect of the literature? Does the writer explain the broader implications of this claim to the text as a whole? Are the subclaims clearly related to the claim? When read together, do the intro and conclusion form one idea?

Development (11 points):  Does the writer offer a clear, in-depth analysis of the text under discussion? Does the writer support their interpretation with evidence from the text? Avoid giving a plot summary? Do the subclaims clearly support the claim? Does writer explain for the reader how the evidence supports interpretation?  Does writer quote accurately from the source, including citing specific page numbers?

Organization (11 points):   Do first few sentences arouse the reader’s interest and focus their attention on the subject? Are readers expectations set and clearly met? Do paragraphs have clear focus, unity and coherence? Effective transitions? Does the writer guide the reader from beginning to end?

Style (4 points):  Is language clear direct and readable? Are sentences clear, concise, and easily read by intended audience? Is word choice appropriate for audience? Do sentences reveal and sustain appropriate voice and tone? Does writer use the literary present tense to relate the events of the story?

Mechanics (3 points):  Are there obvious errors in spelling, punctuation, and grammar? Are there patterns of error?

NO 1ST DRAFT ON DUE DATE (-3 POINTS)

NO PEER CRITIQUE (-3 POINTS)

NO REFLECTION (-3 POINTS)

NO PROCESS=NO GRADE

Grading scale:

A  36-40

B  32-35

C  28-31

D  24-27

F     0-23