English 123 – Rosichan
Literary Analysis and Research Essay:
Analysis of Two or Three Works of Literature Using a Single Literary Theory
Value: 250 points
Format : Typed, MLA style: essay + attached Works Cited on the last page of the essay (its own page but numbered consecutively)
Length:
2,000 words or more and 8 or more paragraphs (quotations don’t count as your words)
Due: See the syllabus. Submitting the essay to Turnitin.com earns the student 10 points. If you forget, the 10 points will be forfeit, and there will be an additional 10-point charge, so a loss of
20 points total.
Directions : In an essay of at least 2,000 words, write a claim-driven essay about two or three of the works we’ve read this semester from Shakespeare’s
The Tempest through Franz Kafka’s
“The Metamorphosis.” Your claim should present a unified argument that applies to all of the texts you choose to examine and identifies an overall argument or purpose of the texts based on a question or concern raised by one of the Literary Theories. Support your claim with evidence from the text(s) along with your discussion of that evidence, reason by reason (point by point). In addition, you will need to read and incorporate ideas from 3-5 different scholarly, reliable sources that cover one or more of the following:
1) interpretation/analysis of the text or texts themselves ( not a study guide, such as
SparkNotes or Cliffnotes, etc.)
2) the context(s), such as information about the historical context, author, laws, culture, etc.
3) the literary theory (readings that weren’t in your textbook or provided by me).
You may find sources that overlap (one article may discuss a literary theory as it applies to a particular text, for example). You will need 3 different sources. Remember that the purpose of this essay is to present your analysis & interpretation of the texts, so these sources should help you support & deepen your examination rather than stand separate from that discussion or replace it. Also, there should be an 80/20 ratio: no less than 80% of your ideas and discussion, no more than 20% of outside sources, including quotations from the text. This limit does not necessarily mean you will have to remove quotations; it will require that you select quotations carefully and discuss them thoroughly. Note: Wikipedia , dictionaries, random quotations, and study aids, such as SparkNotes, do not count as scholarly research and should not be used; however, if used, except dictionaries, they do need to be cited correctly but will count against the critical thinking and research grade. Use the NVC Library database to conduct your research to arrive at reputable, credible, & reliable sources. As a final step, submit the final draft of your essay to Turnitin.com.
Be sure to edit and proofread your essay before turning it in.

Remember every time you cite someone else’s ideas (even in your own words), you must cite the source, or it’s plagiarism. Also, remember the one-to-one rule: every source you use must be cited both with a parenthetical in-text citation and a corresponding complete citation on the
Works Cited page, and every source on the Works Cited page must be used in the body of your essay.
Consider the questions you and your classmates have been raising as avenues for exploration, narrowing finally to a single claim about the texts.
For example:
Gender Studies : (just a sampling of questions, not an exhaustive list)
What do the texts suggest about femininity and roles of women in society?
What do the texts suggest about masculinity and roles of men in society?
Discuss masculine oppression of females: its forms, motivation, and purpose.
How and why do women accept oppression?
How and why do women resist oppression?
Note : By considering these last two questions and what we learn from understanding both responses as true, you shift from Gender Studies to Deconstruction.
Marxist Theory : (just a sampling of questions, not an exhaustive list)
How are characters oppressed by the work they’re required to do in order to survive in a capitalist society (in which survival depends upon the individual’s ability to earn money)?
Note : You can narrow the above question to focus specifically on a particular type of character or type of work or type of response to work.
To what extent are characters’ motivation and dreams shaped by the (capitalist) society they live in? And how do these dreams affect (expand or restrict) their choices and lives?
What different classes do we see represented in the works and how are they portrayed/valued?
What privileges are granted and to whom? What privileges are denied and to whom? Why?
Postcolonial Theory : (just a sampling of questions, not an exhaustive list)
In some cases, there are obviously colonizer and colonized, in this case, examine how the colonizer treats the colonized. OR, As a separate approach/paper, consider the response and desires of the colonized.
How does the colonizer view and treat the colonized?
How does the colonized view the colonizer? How does the colonized view him or herself?
How is power used/viewed? How is it responded to?
Consider the role of assimilation, what it means, its purpose(s) and effect(s).
It’s possible to see some of these same roles, responses, perceptions in less obvious situations
(where we may no longer notice the colonizer/colonized relationship). Consider then:
What defines a colonizer? To what characters can you apply this definition? And so what?
What defines the colonized? To what characters can you apply this definition? And so what?
What does it mean to feel like an outsider in one’s own land/home/life?
Where and how do characters seem to judge themselves based on others’ perceptions or standards? Is this assimilation? Is it oppression? Is assimilation a form or tool of oppression?
Where and how do characters resist outside judgment or perceptions of them?

Psychological or Psychoanalytical Theory : (just one very broad question to narrow)
What similarities do you notice in individual characters: their conscious and subconscious motives or feelings or desires, their behavior, and especially how their behavior/actions, perception of the world, or treatment of others is explained by their experiences?
New Historicism (just a couple of very broad questions to consider, narrow, and apply):
How do studies of the time period(s) in the texts help inform our understanding of cultural, political, and/or social themes within the texts and what the author(s) and/or text(s) may be trying to say about society of the time it describes?
How do studies of the authors’ lives, backgrounds, knowledge base, and works help inform our understanding of their arguments or purposes within the texts?
New Criticism is essentially literary analysis, reading the texts closely and identifying patterns that reveal the meaning of the texts and how they communicate that meaning. Such patterns include symbolism, images, metaphors/similes, personification, repetition, word choice, etc. In your discussion, be sure to identify the pattern not with the word “pattern” and not only with the literary term, such as “symbolism” but with the specific symbol or type of symbolism employed in the texts. You might look for texts that employ a similar symbol or for ones that employ symbolism for a similar purpose.
Deconstruction (just a definition followed by a few questions to consider, narrow, and apply)
Like New Criticism, Deconstruction reads texts closely, identifying patterns that reveal the meaning of the texts and how they communicate that meaning. Deconstruction assumes multiple, contrasting, and even conflicting meanings. However, to write a coherent, unified deconstructive essay, the essay’s claim must find a way to unify these meanings, to reveal what the texts or playwrights are trying to say through these competing but interconnected meanings. Irony (See * below) is an especially useful tool in examining texts from a deconstructive approach. So consider:
Where do multiple definitions or perceptions of the same thing seem to coexist? Why? For what purpose?
That is, what is the text or author trying to say through them?
Where might characters’ actions, etc., suggest multiple interpretations (for example: In what texts might we see a character attempt to free him or herself from societal oppression as well as accept societal norms and limitations? And what is the playwright or text trying to say about oppression?)
Where do characters’ words and actions fail to correspond and what is revealed through the discrepancy?
*Irony occurs when a discrepancy exists between two levels of meaning or experience.
Verbal irony is a discrepancy between what is said and what is meant (either by a character or by the narrator).
Dramatic irony depends on the audience’s knowing something that the character has not yet realized (or on one character’s knowing something that other characters do not know).
Sometimes the audience’s knowledge comes from outside the text, for instance, from their knowledge of historical events, etc.

Situational irony occurs when what happens is at odds with what readers are led to expect, for example, in the story “The Lottery” in which the title suggests a positive not a violent, gruesome outcome.
Reader Response Criticism examines how and why the texts elicit the reader’s sympathies and understanding or insight. What (unlikely or likely) characters are we are asked to identify or sympathize with? Why? What purpose do these playwrights have for wanting or needing us to relate to or sympathize with these characters? What methods in common do you notice the playwrights employing to elicit our sympathies? (One might instead examine characters we are supposed to feel antagonistic toward.)

Name: ___________________________Essay #3 Grading Rubric Score:______ /250 Grade:______ Percentage:______ %
Late (50%) Deduction:_____ One-Time Late pass used:_____ Incorrect Formatting (5%) Deduction:_____ Turnitin +/-_____ (10) points
An “A” Essay or Paper (225-250 points) – SUPERIOR
1. Will demonstrate excellence in Critical Thinking, responding effectively, insightfully, and originally to the assignment, fulfilling or exceeding the length, consistently, thoughtfully, and thoroughly analyzing the text, and demonstrating keen understanding of it (and the literary criticism).
2. Will have excellent Focus, presenting a clear, specific, unified claim (thesis) and aptly focused reasons (points) in support of it.
3. Will provide excellent support and development, offering an abundance of relevant, specific reasons (support points), evidence (examples and details from or about the text), warrants, and backing (explanation and discussion of the meaning of the evidence).
4. Will have logical and effective Organization.
5. Will have correct, sophisticated, and effective Integration of Sources, with correct presentation and effective use of quotations, paraphrase, and summary, and correct MLA in-text citation, according to genre.
6. Will have clear, specific, and expressive Writing, effectively communicating the ideas.
A “B” Essay or Paper (200-224 points) – STRONG
1. Will demonstrate good Critical Thinking, responding effectively and originally to the assignment, fulfilling the length, consistently and thoughtfully analyzing the text, and demonstrating good understanding of it (and the literary criticism).
2. Will have good Focus, presenting a clear, specific claim (thesis) and focused reasons (points) in support of it.
3. Will provide good support and development, offering sufficient relevant, specific reasons (support points), evidence (examples & details from or about the text), warrants, and backing (explanation and discussion of the meaning of the evidence).
4. Will have effective Organization.
5. Will have correct and effective Integration of Sources, with correct presentation and effective use of quotations, paraphrase, and summary, and correct MLA in-text citation.
6. Will have clear and specific Writing, effectively communicating the ideas with occasional awkwardness or minor errors that do not detract from the ideas.
A “C” Essay or Paper (175-199 points) – ADEQUATE
1. Will demonstrate adequate Critical Thinking, responding adequately to the assignment, fulfilling the length, demonstrating adequate understanding of the text (and the literary criticism), and presenting some analysis of the text with occasional slips into (plot) summary,
(character) description, judgment, or personal experience that do not derail from the overall analytical purpose.
2. Will have adequate Focus, presenting a vague or general claim and reasons (points).
3. Will provide adequate Support and Development, offering general and often vague evidence, warrants, and backing.
4. Will demonstrate adequate Organization, so that the reader can follow the argument despite occasional lapses.
5. Will have adequate Integration of Sources, clearly distinguishing between the student’s ideas and ideas from the text though presentation or use of quotations, paraphrase, summary, and parenthetical in-text citation may be inconsistent or incorrect.
6. Will have Writing that communicates the ideas but has some serious errors as well as considerable awkwardness, vagueness, and minor errors.
A “D” Essay or Paper (150-174 points) – WEAK
1. Will demonstrate minimal Critical Thinking, responding incompletely or inconsistently to the assignment, falling short of fulfilling the length, failing to stay focused on analysis but instead summarizing or judging the text or its contents or discussing irrelevant material, or demonstrating an oversimplified or incomplete understanding of the text (&/or literary criticism).
2. Will be poorly Focused, having an unclear, unfocused claim and reasons.
3. Will have minimal Support/Development, mostly relying on generalizations without explanation of them or vaguely or minimally supported opinions.
4. Will be poorly Organized, lacking transitions or clear sense of division or progression of ideas.
5. Will have sloppy Integration of Sources, attempting to distinguish others’ ideas from one’s own but often lacking correct or clear attribution and/or citation.
6. Will have poor Writing due to frequent and/or serious errors so that the reader has to work and sometimes guess at the meaning.
An “F” Essay or Paper (0-149 points) – INADEQUATE
1. Will lack Critical Thinking, failing to respond to the assignment, failing to fulfill the length, failing to analyze but instead summarizing or judging the text or its contents or discussing material not in the text, or failing to understand the text (and/or literary criticism).
2. Will lack Focus, having no claim.
3. Will lack Support/Development, listing facts from the text without explanation of them and/or listing opinions without supporting them.
4. Will lack any sense of Organization.
5. Will be plagiarized or contain plagiarism unintentional or intentional. Will have unclear Writing due to numerous and often serious errors that prevent the ideas from being communicated