FACULTY OF CREATIVE AND CRITICAL STUDIES
DEPARTMENT OF CRITICAL STUDIES
2014 – 2015 Winter Term 2
Introduction to Literary Genre (ENGL 150-104)
Dr. Anderson D. Araujo
Research Essay
Length: 1,500 words (5 pages)
Value: 30%
Instructions (read carefully): Choose ONE of the topics below for your final Research Essay. After choosing a topic, use the research strategies you learned during the Library Orientation session earlier this semester to find at least TWO scholarly secondary sources (i.e. journal articles, book chapters, scholarly books, etc.) to help you formulate a comparative thesis and argument.
Important: Your chosen texts must come from the required anthology and assigned plays and novel for our course, but do not write on any poem that we have already discussed in class or written about for the In-class Essay.
*required reading: “King Lear”( this one is the most important one, please use it) , “The importance of being earnest”, “The passion”.
*all the topic need to include one poem, you can choose from: “The broadview anthology of poetry, 2nd edition. Ed. Herbert Rosengarten and Amanda Goldrick Jones. Peterborough:
Broadview Press, 2009. BUT you can’t choose from poems in class handouts, (PPT attachments are the class handouts)
Other attachments are all class handouts, please read them is useful, but doesn’t mean you need to based on them. Thank you
Topics
1. The structure of a literary work often shapes its meaning. Examine the development of this idea in at least ONE poem from the course anthology AND at least ONE play or novel assigned this semester (see Instructions above for further details).
2. Analyze comparatively some examples of language to stimulate the reader’s visualization of scenes in at least ONE poem from the course anthology AND at least ONE play or novel assigned this semester (see Instructions above for further details). How have the authors used symbols, metaphors, hyperbole, paradox, irony, etc., as means of communicating to the reader some meanings not implicit in your chosen poem(s) and play(s)?
3. The catastrophic circumstances that often destroy or nearly destroy human beings, as likely as not, result from their own foolishness or folly. Examine this statement as a theme developed in at least ONE poem from the course anthology AND at least ONE play or novel assigned this semester (see Instructions above for further details).
4. With reference to at least ONE poem from the course anthology AND at least ONE play or novel assigned this semester (see Instructions above for further details), write a comparative essay focused on any given discourse(s) of gender (i.e. feminism, gender roles, (homo)sexuality, marriage, oppression, emancipation, agency, violence, etc.).
5. Many poems and plays, from antiquity to modernity, explore the complex range of human emotions, especially the extreme manifestations of these. With reference to at least ONE poem from the course anthology AND at least ONE play or novel assigned this semester (see Instructions above for further details), discuss how extremes of emotion (passion, anger, madness, ecstasy, etc.) help to determine the outcome of your chosen works.
6. Open topic: Come up with a topic and construct your argument around it. I encourage you to explore any range of possibilities that may relate to the material studied this term. Remember that the primary objective here is for you to demonstrate your ability to construct a well-argued reading of the material. Your thesis should be focused and clear. All open topics must be approved in consultation with me at least ONE WEEK before the essays are due.
The details:
Essays will be written according to standard essay style: typed, double-spaced, single-paged (i.e. do not print on both sides of the page), 12-point font, on white 8.5″ x 11″ paper, with 1-inch margins. Staple the pages or attach them with a paper clip (other bindings, plastic covers, etc., will only add to the world’s landfill problem). Guidelines for grading are specified in the syllabus. You should follow the MLA style consistently in documenting your sources.
For MLA style, on the first page, include your name, the professor’s name, the course number, the date, and the title of the essay. As per MLA specifications, do not include a cover page. For further citation instructions, you may consult a purchased copy of the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, 7th ed, or consult a copy at the library (Call Number: LB2369 .G53 2009). To quickly reference MLA style guidelines, you may also consult the Purdue Online Writing Lab link “MLA Formatting and Style Guide” (http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/).
Essays are due in class on the due date. Papers handed in late will be returned with a grade but no comments. Papers handed in late without prior permission will be deducted 5% per day late, including weekends. Papers handed in after the assignment is returned will not normally be accepted.
Please keep one copy of each of your papers. Save a copy of your essay (a hard copy and/or a copy on flash drive, cloud, etc.). Retain all returned, marked assignments until you receive your final grade for the course. Essays will not be accepted by email or fax, unless otherwise stated.
