English 10600 (Spring 2013)
Literary Analysis: 150pts
For this unit we have discussed the idea of gender in its current iteration contemporarily. To
broaden our understanding and discussion we read the essay "Night to His Day: The Social
Construction of Gender” by Judith Lorber, as well as “A Wall of Fire Rising” by Edwidge
Danticat. We read the literary analysis “Doing the Right Thing in Edwidge Danticat’s ‘A Wall
of Fire Rising’” by Nick Baca who posed an interpretive question and sought to provide an
in-depth answer to it. This assignment now asks you to use the genre of literary analysis to
write a 2-3 FULL page paper in which you pose an interpretive question concerning gender,
answer it and support your answer with quotes from the text. Your task is to write a literary
analysis based on assignment ONE (1) in the “Write This” section on page 142 of WT.
Preferably, you should use "A Wall of Fire Rising" by Edwidge Danticat, however, you may
instead choose a short story or poem that you read outside of the class readings. Please see
me if you choose this option to ascertain whether the story/poem highlights clear gender
issues. Ultimately for this assignment, you need to read the text once to get the overall
meaning and once or twice more making notes about what different aspects of the text
mean. From there you will create an interpretive question based on connections that you
may have noticed. Your paper should focus on answering your interpretive question with the
strong supporting details/quotes from the text.
To complete this assignment you should:
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Carefully follow the instructions for writing a literary analysis on p. 113-21 of WT
Use one of the two basic organizations for a literary analysis on p. 109 of WT
Conform to the specifications indicated in the assignment
Clearly state which text and author you are writing about
Provide a targeted summary of the text (about one paragraph)
Clearly state your interpretive question
Ensure you have a clear thesis which answers the interpretive question
Support your analysis with quotes from the text
Conform to MLA formatting throughout paper
Include a Works Cited page (see class syllabus/class handout online)
Please ensure that you:
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Bring in a printed draft or detailed outline of your paper to conferences
Bring in an electronic draft to class on Wednesday Thursday 21st September, 2013
Complete an outline of the paper
Please hand in:
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A printed copy of your polished assignment
A printed copy of the peer reviewed draft
A hard copy of your paper outline
Your peer review worksheet
A copy of your assignment emailed to egoddard@purdue.edu
The final, polished paper, worth is due on Monday 25th March, 2013. Signing up for a visit to
the Writing Lab (HEAV 226) may help with the polishing of your paper. Please make your
appointment with them at least a day in advance so that you will have time to implement
their suggestions and bring in a copy of the assignment sheet.
Spring 2013
Course: Engl 10600
Instructor: E. Goddard-Scovel