Description
The work you choose is your primary source. You may, of course, choose more than one work to discuss.
The minimum page length is four typed, double spaced pages. The maximum is ten pages.
Your paper must be in MLA format and properly cited. If you don’t know how to do that.
You need a thesis. You need to make some kind a claim and then prove it. Your secondary sources serve to support your claim. However, you may find a secondary source that you disagree with. In that case, show me why you’re right and the source it totally asinine and foolish. This can be a surprisingly fun thing to do.
Your thesis can’t be too vague or broad. For example, “Beowulf is super awesome.” If your thesis elicits a response of “So what?” or “No duh!” then it is not a proper thesis. A better thesis might look like “The depiction of the wilderness in Beowulf is a reflection of the Anglo-Saxon’s fear of the unknown after death.” Just be sure you can prove your thesis.
You have a lot of freedom with this assignment. If you need some suggestions, here are a few:
Follow the progression of a theme or idea that is present in a few different works (like vengeance, melancholy, seduction)
Compare and contrast a similar theme or idea in two different works; a work and its film adaptation; female characters in two different works; male characters in two different works; a hero in a work of literature with a contemporary hero, for example, a comic book, movie, or book character; a villain in a work of literature with a contemporary villain; an antihero in a work of literature with a contemporary antihero
