ENG4U
Independent Study
STEP ONE: Select a novel from the 12U ISP list.
STEP TWO: Acquire a minimum of two professional source literary criticisms on your novel. Eventually,
your task will be to critique two such pieces of literary criticism.
STEP THREE: Conference with your teacher. Your conference will consist of the following processes and
requirements:
1.Submit a minimum of one thesis idea in complete sentence form. Thesis options; a statement of the
author’s central message (see samples provided on the ISP Conference Preparation handout attached
here -this is the most highly recommended method of arriving at a thesis), a statement of the author’s
purpose or an argumentative position (least preferred method). Accompany each thesis proposal with a
minimum of 3 potential main support points.
2.Submit the required secondary sources along with evidence that you are familiar with their content in the
form of both highlighting of key ideas and point form notes (see the ISP Conference Preparation
handout for further instruction.
3.Be prepared to discuss the content of your novel and answer any questions about it.
The main objectives for the conference are to select the two pieces of criticism to be critiqued and to arrive
at an agreement on a thesis and support points for your essay.
1 and 2 above must be submitted by the due date assigned. This is a deadline date – if not submitted by
this date, marks for written conference work will be forfeited.
STEP FOUR: Complete and submit two separate critiques of the professional source literary criticisms
that you acquired for Step Two. Along with photocopies/printouts of the actual secondary sources in their
entirety. You must clearly indicate on the sources which portions were used in your own critique. This must
be typed and double-spaced. Additional process work is not required. Additional instructions on how to
write the critique are found on a separate page in this ISP booklet entitled Writing the ISP Critique.
STEP FIVE: Complete and submit a literary insight essay (or, if approved, an argumentative essay) on the
thesis approved during your conference. This must be typed and double-spaced and must conform tom
expectations for MLA format. The final product must be accompanied with a complete draft and evidence
that sufficient peer-editing feedback has been acquired (proofreading, content commentary and style
commentary) as per instructions from the classroom teacher. You must use both the thesis and at least
three of the main points agreed upon your conference. OTHERWISE YOUR ESSAY WILL NOT BE
ACCEPTED.
DEADLINE DATE FOR ISP CONFERENCE WORK SUBMISSION:__________________________
DUE DATE FOR ISP CRITIQUES:_______________________________
DUE DATE FOR ISP ESSAY:________________________________
CONTENTS OF THIS ISP PACKAGE
ISP Overview and General Instructions, pp.1 , 2
ISP Booklist, p.3
ISP Conference Preparation Instructions, p.4
Sample Thesis Proposals. P.5
Searching for ISP Criticism, p.6 (omitted here but included in the ISP booklet distributed in class)
How to write the ISP Criticism, p.7
ENG 4U ISP BOOKLIST
Achebe, Chinua
Adams, Douglas
the
Allende, Isabel
Alvarez, Julia
Lost
Alvarez, Julia
Angelou, Maya
Bird Sings
Austen, Jane
Ballard, J. G.
Banks, Russel
Bellow, Saul
Callaghan, Morley
Card, Orson Scott
Cather, Willa
Chopin, Kate
Conrad, Joseph
Cooper, James Fenimore
Crane, Stephen
Courage
Davies, Robertson
Defoe, Daniel
Dickens, Charles
Dickey, James
Dinesen, Isak
Dostoyevski, F.
Dreiser, Theodore
Ellison, Ralph
Esquivel, Laura
Faulkner, William
Findlay, Timothy
Flagg, Fannie
Forster, E.M.
Gordimer, Nadine
Hardy, Thomas
Casterbridge
Hardy, Thomas
Hardy, Thomas
Hawthorne, Nathaniel
Heller, Joseph
Hemingway, Ernest
Hemingway, Ernest
Sea
Hemingway, Ernest
Hugo, Victor
Irving, John
Garp
Things Fall Apart
The Hitchhiker's Guide to
Galaxy
House of the Spirits
How the Garcia Girls
their Accents
In the Time of Butterflies
I Know Why the Caged
Pride and Prejudice
Empire of the Sun
The Sweet Hereafter
Seize the Day
More Joy in Heaven
Ender's Game
My Antonia
The Awakening
Heart of Darkness
Last of the Mohicans
The Red Badge of
Fifth Business
Robinson Crusoe
Great Expectations
Deliverance
Out of Africa
Crime and Punishment
Sister Carrie
Invisible Man
Like Water for Chocolate
The Sound and the Fury
The Wars
Fried Green Tomatoes at
the Whistle Stop Cafe
A Passage to India
July's People
The Mayor of
The Return of the Native
Tess of the D'Ubervilles
The Scarlett Letter
Catch 22
A Farewell to Arms
The Old Man and the
The Sun Also Rises
Les Miserables
The World According to
Joyce, James
Kafka, Franz
Kesey, Ken
Cuckoo's Nest
Keyes, Daniel
Kogawa, Joy
Knowles, John
Lawrence, D.H.
London, Jack
Mailer, Norman
Malamud, Bernard
Malamud, Bernard
Marquez, Gabriel
Foretold
Marquez, Gabriel
Cholera
Mason, Bonnie Ann
Melville, Herman
McCourt, Frank
McCullers, Carson
Hunter
Miller, Arthur
Mistry, Rohinton
Mistry, Rohinton
Morrison, Toni
Morrison, Toni
Morrison, Toni
Morrison, Toni
Morrison, Toni
Oates, Joyce
O'Connor, Flannery
O'Neill, Eugene
Night
Tyler, Anne
Tyler, Anne
Tyler, Anne
Restaurant
Rand, Ayn
Shute, Nevil
Sinclair, Upton
Steinbeck, John
Swift, Johnathon
Vonnegut Jr., Kurt
Vonnegut Jr., Kurt
Walker, Alice
Wharton, Edith
Wilde, Oscar
Gray
Wright, Richard
Yoshinoto, Banana
ENG 4U
ISP Conference Preparation
A Portrait of the Artist
as a Young Man
The Trial
One Flew Over the
Flowers for Algernon
Obasan
A Separate Peace
Sons and Lovers
The Call of the Wild
The Naked and the Dead
The Fixer
The Natural
Chronicle of a Death
Love in the Time of
In Country
Billy Budd
Angela's Ashes
The Heart Is a Lonely
All My Sons
A Fine Balance
Such a Long Journey
Beloved
The Bluest Eye
Song of Solomon
Sula
Tar Baby
Them
Wise Blood
Long Day's Journey into
The Accidental Tourist
Breathing Lessons
Dinner at the Homesick
Atlas Shrugged
On the Beach
The Jungle
The Grapes of Wrath
Gulliver's Travels
Breakfast of Champions
Slaughterhouse Five
The Colour Purple
Ethan Frome
The Picture of Dorian
Native Son
A Lesson Before Dying
REQUIREMENTS
1.Reading:
-Your novel must be read and you must be prepared to verbally demonstrate this
through responding to various questions regarding the central conflicts, plot stages
and characterization.
2.Criticism:
-You must submit no less than 2 professional source literary criticisms
of your novel – printed off in their entirety
-You must identify the source if it is not directly indicated on the printout (be as
detailed as possible regarding where the criticism is from)
-You must demonstrate familiarity with the content of your criticisms by both
highlighting of key ideas and providing point form notes
-What you need to highlight and take notes on are statements in which
the critic either identifies strengths or weaknesses of the novel or offers analysis of
meaning in the novel that could be open to interpretation and subject to
disagreement
-Keep in mind that when it comes time to critique the criticism, you will be obliged
to address either 2 or 3 critical observations made by the author of the criticism.
1. Thesis Proposal(s)
-You must provide a minimum of one fully worded, complete statement thesis
proposal . Each thesis proposal must be accompanied by no less than 3 support
points
-Your thesis statement(s) must be focused on a central theme message.Your thesis
must be more than just a mere observation – it must present an insight into life that
the author is offering to his/her readers. Focusing on the human journey, the human
condition or a universal truth can be very helpful in formulating a thesis.
***see back for sample thesis statements based on previously studied literature
Sample Thesis Statements
The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock
Not Approved: In The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, T.S Eliot demonstrates Prufrock
to be a character who is victimized by his own procrastination
Approved: In The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, T.S. Eliot demonstrates that
procrastination regarding matters of love must be avoided at all costs if an
individual is to acquire a life of personal contentment.
Death of a Salesman
Not Approved: In Death of a Salesman , Arthur Miller demonstrates that the central
character, Willy Loman, is essentially lacking in any meaningful measure
of self-awareness.
Approved: In Death of a Salesman, Arthur Miller exemplifies that the human journey is
most successfully negotiated when navigated with full self-awareness as
opposed to the delusion and self-deception all too often brought on by
clinging to the American Dream.
Of Mice and Men
Not Approved: In Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck illustrates how George is
consistently able to exert control over Lennie through the use of his guiding intellect.
Apporoved: In Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck irrefutably demonstrates that the human
condition is comprised of a constant struggle between passion and thought in which
success and contentment are fully dependent on the latter gaining and maintaining
guiding control over the former.
The Catcher in the Rye
Not Approved: In The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger depicts a central character,
Holden Caulfield, who is essentially paralyzed by his own unwavering
recognition of and disdain for phony adulthood.
Approved: In The Catcher in the Rye, J. D. Salinger offers to the reader the universal
insight that only through the acquisition and maintenance of love and empathy can one
successfully combat the potentially paralyzing reality that the adult world is riddled with
superficiality, insincerity , rampant materialism and an unsavoury absence of ideals.
ENG 4U
Writing the ISP Critique
Step One: Introduce the novel , author, year, novel reviewer and the reviewer's position in the opening sentence.
Step Two: Identify either a strength or weakness of the novel indicated by the reviewer or an interpretation
of the novel offered (the sample below uses an interpretation). Quote the reviewer when identifying
his/her idea.
Step Three: Indicate whether you agree or disagree with the reviewer.
Step Four: Support why you agree or disagree - quoting from the novel will impress. At the very least you
should describe scenes in the novel to support your view of the reviewer's view.
Step Five: The excerpt below provides an exemplar of Steps 1-4. Now repeat steps 2-4 with a new idea from
the reviewer. If you are really looking to impress, repeat Steps 2-4 again so that 3 ideas from the
reviewer are examined, not just 2 (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!).
Step Six: End by providing an overall grade for the reviewer's review using any sort of scale you deem
appropriate.
An Excerpt from a Critique of Roger Ebert's Review
In his review of Robert Redford's Quiz Show (1994), Roger Ebert is very supportive of the film's
central messages in how Redford is critical of a rapid decline in American values. Ebert praises how
Redford recognizes " that it is a greater sin to tempt than to be tempted, and (his) movie firmly reminds
us of that". Ebert is correct both in citing this as a central message of Redford's film and in praising
this important theme. Come the climax of the film - the HUAC hearings conducted by the
superiors of investigator Richard Goodwin - the audience is firmly hoping to see Charles Van Doren
redeem himself when he finally takes the witness stand against Goodwin's advice. Van Doren's "I've
flown too high on borrowed wings" sentiments tug on the sympathies of the viewer while subsequent
testimony from the likes of producer's assistant Albert Freedman only serves to leave a bad taste in our
mouths. With testimony such as "It isn't like we're hardened criminals here, we're in show business" as
the only defence offered for deceiving millions of viewers it is clear that Freedman and producer Dan
Enright are the unsavoury temptors while Van Doren is the comparatively innocent "tempted" in the eyes
of director Redford.
Here is the excerpt from the original review by Roger Ebert from which the sample review excerpt takes its
quote.
"The movie makes it clear that NBC and Geritol were able to claim they "knew nothing" about
the rigged games, although they clearly did. And Dan Enright, the producer, was soon back at
work making more TV shows. Only the contestants have continued to pay, and pay, and pay.
There is a theological belief that it is a greater sin to tempt than to be tempted, and this movie
firmly reminds us of that."
When submitting your sources with your good copy of the critique, you must mark the passages that you used/quoted by
circling them and drawing a big “U” with an arrow pointing to the circle (U = Used)