RESEARCH PAPER
ENGLISH III AP
DUES DATES
• Six Sources due by Wednesday, Feb. 12.
• Annotated Bibliography is due to Turnitin.com Feb.
14, Friday, by midnight. (Quiz Grade)
• Thesis and topic sentences due Feb. 18 in class.
• Rough Draft of Research Paper is due Sunday, Feb.
23 by midnight. (Quiz Grade)
• Peer editing on Turnitin.com due by Wednesday,
Feb. 26, by midnight. (Quiz Grade)
• Final Draft of Research Paper is due Monday, March
3, 2014.
REQUIREMENTS
• Use MLA format.
• Essay must be 6 pages in length.
• Annotated Bibliography must have at least 6
sources.
• Students may only use sources from FBISD
databases.
• All assignments will be turned into and scored using
Turnitin.com.
ASSIGNMENT
Students will select a novel read as
a requirement of this course and
analyze recurrent motifs, significant
symbols, settings, or the author’s
characterization, as the device
illustrates the work’s meaning as a
whole.
NOVELS
• Of Mice and Men
• In Cold Blood
• The Crucible
• The Scarlet Letter
• The Great Gatsby
• The Sun Also Rises (Academic Decathlon)
• All the Pretty Horses (UIL Academics)
TOPICS
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Characters (women, men, authority figures)
Author’s style (tropes and syntax)
Setting (juxtaposition of settings)
Imagery (color, light and dark)
Allusions (historical, biblical, literary)
Recurrent motifs
Symbols
SCARLET LETTER DISCUSSION TOPICS
• Target 1: Tropes/Figurative Language (metaphors,
similes, personification, imagery, etc.)
• Target 2: Historical allusions
• Target 3: Biblical allusions
• Target 4: Gothic or Romantic Elements
• Target 5: Symbols
• Target 6: Hawthorne’s Style/Romantic Hero/Themes
ANNOTATION GUIDE FROM IN COLD
BLOOD
• Consider objective vs. subjective narration (Does
Capote achieve true objectivity?)
• How does Capote achieve suspense, particularly in
the first section?
• Symbols: birds, cars, maps
• Point of view (omission of the author as a
participant; wandering point of view between
various characters; juxtaposition between point of
view, speed of cutting)
OF MICE AND MEN
• Symbols-- animals, rabbits, the farm, Candy’s dog
• Corruptive influence of women
• Objectivity (3rd Person POV): Watch for the objective study of
human beings.
• Naturalism—literary movement
• Humans are characterized as “human beasts.”
• Humans are governed by their instincts, passions, heredity and
environment. But there is also a compensating humanistic value that is
affirming about life.
• TENSION—discomforting truth about life with a desire to find meaning.
• Characters are low-class. They live lives governed by outside forces.
• “Brute Within.”
• Nature is an indifferent force acting on the lives of humans.
• The universe is indifferent to the suffering of human beings.
• Track themes of loneliness, isolation, brotherhood, dreams
THE GREAT GATSBY ESSAY TOPICS
• For some works of literature, an understanding of the time period in which the work is set—the
social, political, and moral climate of the era, for example—is critical to appreciating fully the
ideas and theme presented in that work. Discuss how such an understanding of America in
the nineteen-twenties contributes to the reader’s understanding of one or more of the themes
presented in The Great Gatsby.
• For many works of literature, the title is straightforward representation of the work’s content.
For other works, however, an understanding of the title’s meaning is derived only after fully
understanding the work’s content and themes. In a well-organized essay, discuss the title of
Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, and explain the title’s significance in relation to the novel as a
whole.
• In great literature, no scene of violence exists for its own sake. In a well-organized essay,
explain how the violent scenes in The Great Gatsby contribute to the meaning of the
complete work. Avoid plot summary.
• The most important themes in literature are sometimes developed in scenes in which a death
or deaths take place. Choose a novel or play and write a well-organized essay in which you
show how a specific death scene helps to illustrate the meaning of the work as a
whole. Avoid mere plot summary.
• In literature, a recurrent image, word, object, or action can serve a noticeable role in a work.
These motifs can define the nature of the story. In a well-organized essay, explain how one of
the motifs in The Great Gatsby helps to illustrate the meaning of the work as a whole.