In a well-organized, well-thought essay, argue for a specific work of fiction that should make the list for any beginner’s course in literature; the work you choose should be a MUST read for anyone studying literature.
This means that you will argue that this work should be a part of anyone’s canon of study and experience as a person living in this world. The story you choose can can also be a work that teaches readers about something important about humans, society, relationships, etc.
Choose just ONE work of fiction to explore. You may choose a work that is already listed on our course calendar if you believe one of these is a MUST read, or you may choose a different work entirely. Yet, be sure to select a work of fiction, not a work of poetry or drama. And before you decide, be sure that there is enough research available to support your selection.
Include in this essay, direct quotes from the work itself and quotes from at least ONE outside source (see below). You may NOT use the Internet to find sources for this assignment. You’ll need a printed or Ebook copy of the work of fiction, and your outside source must be retrieved from the College Database Library.
If you’re not sure what work to choose right away, review the fiction section in our Literature textbook for other works that may spark your interest or ones you may have remembered from another literature course you’ve taken.
Remember, you want to select a work that really moves you, influences you, and inspires you.
Your intention/purpose of this essay is to craft an argument that is intended to convince your audience of why this work should be included in a class for further study. So, this means that you will tap into all the evidence that can support your claim. Writing an argument in literature is the same as writing any type of argument: first you need a thesis that states your claim and then an essay that provides the support.
Prewriting:
In order to prepare to write this essay, select a work of fiction that you intend to argue for its inclusion in any literary survey course. Read the work carefully, annotate the work, determine the story’s theme and its value. Find out more on the work’s author; use only reliable sources in this case.
The college’s library’s database collection contains biographies of most writers that are in our text and others who are not, so review at least two different biographies on the author of the work you chose.
You may also want to read literary criticisms on the work itself; literary criticisms are essays that evaluate and unravel a literary work in order to find its deeper meaning and value. Our college’s library collection also contains databases like JSTOR, Academic Search Complete, Literary Reference Center Plus, and Artemis .that are specifically dedicated to literary criticism.
Read some other writers’ commentary on the work you’ve chosen. Don’t skip this preliminary work, for it is meant to give you a holistic understanding of the work, the author, and even the historical impact of the work you’ve chosen. This early work will provide you the reasons to support your assessment of the text. See the library module that immediately follows Week FOUR.
Once you’ve done some background investigating, take some time to brainstorm or create a Mindmap of all the reasons you believe this specific work should be a part of of a beginner’s course.
Then organize those ideas into an outline of what you believe are the strongest, most pertinent points and create a problem statement that identifies WHY this work should be a part of any introductory course’s list of works to study.
Your essay should include reasons WHY this work should be studied, so consider things like:
The writer’s influence on literature, culture, and/or society
The important themes in the work that apply to all humans in some way
Character types that present meaningful lessons for readers to learn about the human condition
The writer’s style, the way he or she puts sentences together
What other literary critics say about the validity of the work
The historical significance of the work
The above is certainly not an exhaustive list, but it is a place to get started. Once you formulate an outline, begin drafting your essay.
Drafts must appear in correct MLA format
Drafts must contain 3 FULL pages of content and not exceed 4 FULL pages of content
Drafts must contain an introduction, body, and conclusion
Drafts must have an underlined thesis statement at the end of the introductory paragraph.
Each body paragraph should contain quoted material from the work of fiction or from the ONE outside source you retrieved to support your argument
Quotes must be limited to 3 lines of typed text (no blocked quotes) and quoted material must follow all 3 steps of integration
Drafts must contain a work cited page, in correct MLA format with two entries: one for the work of fiction and one for the secondary source
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