Delving into the literary world by reading longer works such as novels and plays or watching feature-length films can provide us with opportunities to escape from our daily lives. However, studying longer works can also help enrich our understanding of the texts and explore how they connect with real-life. For example, we can ask questions about a text’s themes and ideas, like “What is the text saying about society?” and “What relevance does it have to our daily lives?”
For this assignment, you will produce a multi-paragraph essay (1200-1800 words, 4-6 pages) that synthesizes a longer text (play, novel, film) with independent research in order to present your argument that provides a deeper understanding of the text via a critical lens.
You will complete this essay by working through the following process:
●Choosing a critical lens through which to analyze the text in order to discover a theme and/or topic(s) that you want to explore.
●Finding a variety of sources relating to your theme and/or topic(s) using the library databases and general web-based search engines, summarizing those sources for your peers, then evaluating them to determine which ones will be most effective for your purpose and how they will best support your own ideas.
●Planning how you will organize your essay by completing an outline.
●Drafting a detailed discussion in which you synthesize your research with the text in order to support your thesis that some aspect of the text intersects with everyday life.
●Providing feedback to and receiving feedback from your peers in order to determine how to strengthen your essay.
●Revising, formatting, proofreading, and submitting your essay by the deadline.
●Your ideal community of readers is an academic one that is familiar with the critical lens you have chosen but with neither the text nor the theme or topic(s)you have chosen.
●You need to include and cite evidence from the primary text and at least three other sources, one of which must be a scholarly source.
●Your paper must be in accordance with the MLA style of writing and include a Works Cited page.
●The Academic Learning Center is a wonderful resource. Please use it!