Dr. Henrik Eger, Delaware County Community College, ENG 112, heger@dccc.edu
Literary Analysis
Primary and Secondary Sources
For your first literary paper, write a comparative literary analysis on two essays (out of five),
developing your skills in quoting, paraphrasing, and summarizing in as objective a manner as possible,
and providing a complete Works Cited section.
Minimum: 600 words (maximum: 800 words) plus a Works Cited page. Everything must be
double-spaced, Arial 10. For the correct use of the MLA format, carefully study the MLA-formatted
MBTI handout (see website) as well as the “MLA Documentation Basics” in the “Quick Index” at the end
of Writing and Reading Across the Curriculum, 10th ed. by Behrens and Rosen, 2008.
Literary Analysis based on two “Cinderella” Essays
To get a better understanding of texts, we need to study the primary (original) sources first, in this
case, the original Cinderella story. Therefore, for this assignment, read the Perrault version of Cinderella,
and at least one other Cinderella version of your choice.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
“Cinderella,” Charles Perrault (591-595)
“Ashputtle,” Jakob and Wilhelm Grimm (595-600)
“The Cat Cinderella,” Giambattista Basile (600-04)
“A Chinese ‘Cinderella’,” Tuan Ch’êng-shih (604-06)
“The Maiden, the Frog, and the Chief’s Son” (An African “Cinderella”) (606-10)
“Oochigeaskw—The Rough-Faced Girl” (A Native American “Cinderella”) (610-12)
“The Seven Foals,” Andrew Lang (612-17)
“Cinderella,” Anne Sexton (619-21)
Then read the five secondary (analytical) sources presented in Chapter 12 of the textbook. “A
secondary source is a document that relates or discusses information originally presented elsewhere. A
secondary source contrasts with a primary source, which is an original source of the information being
discussed. Secondary sources involve generalization, analysis, synthesis, interpretation, or evaluation of
the original information” (Wikipedia).
For this assignment, choose two of the essays below, and write a critical, literary analysis that
compares and contrasts the essays you choose. Weave together the main points of the texts and
compare and contrast the ideas that each essay presents about the Cinderella story. You can discuss
content, presentation of the persona of Cinderella, use of language, etc.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
“The Rise of Perrault’s ‘Cinderella’,” Bonnie Cullen (622-27)
“‘Cinderella’: A Story of Sibling Rivalry and Oedipal Conflicts,” Bruno Bettelheim (627-35)
“My Best White Friend: Cinderella Revisited,” Patricia J. Williams (635-40)
“I Am Cinderella's Stepmother and I Know My Rights,” Judith Rossner (640-44)
"’Cinderella’: Not So Morally Superior,” Elisabeth Panttaja (644-48)
Update: 9 Sept. 2008