Extended Analysis Essay
Fall 2012
Overview:
This 5-7 page essay will be the culmination of the process-oriented writing practices that
you are developing over the course of this semester. Four elements are fundamental to the
writing process for this essay: close reading, invention, attention to organization, and
revision. Each of these steps informs the others in a recursive rather than linear process
such that, once you come up with a focused inquiry and organization for the paper, you
may need to return to your close reading to re-evaluate it. Or, as you revise your essay,
you may need to re—structure your paragraph organization in order to best structure your
argument.
Thus, although your actual essay will comprise the end-product, it should also reflect
each step in the process. In order to facilitate critical self-reflection throughout the
writing process, you will turn in documents to record each stage of the process.
Invention:
As we have discussed in class, invention may be nominally “first” in the writing process,
but it is actually a recursive step that takes you back to your own experiences of reading,
the text itself, or what others have said about the text. As such, each of the below steps
will occur at different times throughout the semester and in the days leading up to your
first draft. Each of the following will be turned in with your first essay draft on the day of
your presentation.
1. First, you will need to select what text you would like to write about. If you have
any questions about what text to select, please feel free to talk to me in office
hours. Once you decide on a text to analyze, write a brief explanation of why you
selected the text you did. You should feel free to update this reasoning as needed.
Turn this in as your essay 2 proposal on Monday, November 5th
2. Your second task will be to decide what interests you about this text or
performance on a formal level. For this step of invention, you will perform a close
reading or viewing of the piece that follows the steps and practices outlined in
your close reading packets. I would recommend selecting a brief but
representative passage, one that includes the thematic, formal, figurative, or
narrative feature(s) on which you would like to focus. On your invention
document(s), first, write 1-2 sentences explaining why you think this passage
encapsulates the meaning of the piece and/or why it stands out to you, and,
second, answer each set of questions from “Strategies for Close Reading
Fiction,” numbering your responses accordingly.
3. For your critical source, fill out the “Turn Your Topic Into a Search” page and
research log in your invention documents and write up an explanation of why you
decided on this particular secondary source.
4. For your literary critical piece, include a close reading of it that responds to the
questions outlined in “Strategies for Close Reading Non-Fiction and Critical
Work.”
5. Finally, generate a working thesis that combines the ideas you generated in steps
1-4. You may include any/all brainstorming and/or free-writing techniques you
used to generate this thesis in your invention document. Write your working thesis
down in your invention document(s).
Essay Specifics: This essay should be a complete, thoughtfully organized, and critical
analysis of the text. It should demonstrate your ability to pose a research question, your
ability to perform close textual analysis, and your ability to connect that analysis to larger
literary, historical, and/or cultural questions. The paper should include the following
elements:
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An arguable and complex thesis statement
A provocative introduction that sets up your argument and provides some
indication of the significance of your paper (the “so what?” question)
A clear articulation of your close reading/interpretation of the work
And how your reading relates to its literary/formal significance AND the
scholarly conversations surrounding the work
The essay must be 5-7 pages in length, double-spaced, in Times New Roman 12 pt. font,
with 1” margins on all sides.
Important Dates:
 Essay Proposal Due – Monday, November 5
 Invention Journal Due – Monday, November 19
 Peer Review – Wednesday, November 28
 Final Revised Essay Due – Wednesday, December 5