English 231, American Literature
RESEARCHED CRITICAL ANALYSIS ESSAY
Select one or two works written by one or two American authors in either Volume A or B of your textbook. Design your own original persuasive thesis
based on your interpretation of the work(s) you’ve chosen. In your essay, please be sure to include direct quotations from both the primary and
secondary sources for support. ??Purpose: To guide your audience to a place of deeper understanding of 1) your literary work as a whole; 2) why the
work still matters and has relevance in the 21st century and beyond (See Course Description on syllabus)??Audience: Students (peers) who have read
your literary work but need help with interpretation, context, and understanding long-term relevance (See Course Description on syllabus) and your
instructor??Requirements for final essay: 5-8 MLA formatted content pages plus Works Cited page with 1 or 2 primary source(s) and a minimum of 3
secondary sources, which must be scholarly/ professional.??(Annotated Bibliography of sources precedes this assignment.)
Additional Requirements: MLA format; correct grammar, spelling, punctuation, sentence structure; appropriate essay form; seamless secondary source
incorporation – paraphrase, summary or quotation; thesis; incorporation of literary terms/elements?? Brainstorming ideas:??1) Place the work in the
context of a particular “–ism.” Explain how the work features tenets of that “-ism” and why it is especially representative and significant. ??2)
Compare a work of American Romanticism with one of its British counterparts (British Romantic writers: William Blake, Lord Byron, Percy Shelley, John
Keats, William Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Mary Shelley, etc.) Explain which work or style, in your mind, is more effective, engaging,
and/or far-reaching and why. ??3) Examine the Native American or European literary voice/perspective in a specific context. ??4) Trace a connection
(“thread”) through the various periods of early American Literature (identity, independence, nature, land, religion, cultural conflict, war,
immigration, heroes and outsiders, the role of women, etc.). Discuss ways in which an author or authors incorporates or illuminates or comments upon
that “thread” similarly and/or differently than other writers or of each other.
5) Analyze how a historical “thread” developed by characterization, plot, setting or theme.
Suggestion: Submit your work to the Writing Center soon! Those who work there, mostly A-B Tech English instructors and student peer tutors, are
available to help you during any stage of this process from thesis creation/ brainstorming to drafting to making final revisions.
http://www.abtech.edu/WritingCenter
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