Paper 3 differs from your earlier papers in requiring the use of a secondary source (specifically, a critical article offering an interpretation of the short story you're writing about). This project should
· give you a chance to develop an in-depth interpretation of a short story of your own choosing,
· acquaint you with finding and using secondary sources to analyze literature, and
· allow you to develop an interpretation of a short story in response to a larger scholarly conversation going on among literary critics.
1) Choose a short story. Please choose a story we are not discussing in class. The simplest place to look is in our textbook, but I have a number of other anthologies of stories you may borrow. Above all, make sure it is a story that has been discussed in the critical literature so that you will be able to find articles about it. Read it and develop a sense of what it means (thinking through issues like plot, characters, setting, point of view, symbolism, style, tone, theme, etc.). Your 3rd explication (which will use the story you've chosen for Paper 3) should help you in this process.
2) Find critical articles (secondary sources) about your story. Ultimately, you will need to choose one article that you feel really helps you understand the story better or in a new way. However, you will probably have to read through several articles in order to find one which accomplishes this goal. The best place to look for articles is in the MLA Bibliography (available through the library's Passports page). Some articles will be available full-text, but many will not, so start your research as soon as possible in order to give you time to physically go into the library and find any articles you want or order them through inter-library loan.
3) Write a short annotation (summary) of the article you choose (200-250 words) and bring it to class on October 11th . The annotation should start with a full, MLA-style bibliographic listing for the article.
4) Write a 4-5 page paper which gives your initial interpretation of the story, summarizes your article (your annotation should come in handy here) and explains how the article then changed or influenced your interpretation. Your thesis will probably be about how/why the article affected your interpretation.
As usual, please have someone else read a draft of the paper before you turn in your final version. I am happy to look at your drafts, and the Writing Center is also a good option. The final draft is due by 5:30 pm on October 18 th . You may turn it in via e-mail (but check back to make sure I could open your file -- I will send you a message if there's a problem) or through the Connections portal. If you choose the latter, which I recommend , go to the section for our class as usual, then click on "Files" under "Course Tools" (on the left), and then click on "Add a new file to Paper 3."
Please make sure to follow MLA style and include a Works Cited page that lists your story and article. I will also need copies of your story and article. Please give these to me on October 11 th since it will be hard to get them to me after that.
As you write and revise your paper, keep in mind the following criteria, which I will use when I grade the papers. Please note that these criteria are listed in order of importance. (They should also be useful for peer response.)
1. Is the paper focused? That is, does the essay have a clear overall thesis that all its parts contribute to? Is the nature and scope of the focus appropriate for the assignment and the length of the paper?
2. Is the paper's focus or thesis significant? In other words, do you make clear your readers should care about or be interested in the point of the essay?
3. Do you use enough details, quotes, and examples to back up your ideas and claims?
4. When you refer to or quote from a text, is your interpretation of the text clear? Do you back up or justify your interpretation if necessary?
5. Does the introduction catch the reader's attention and indicate what the paper will be about?
6. Does the conclusion leave the reader with a coherent sense of the author's overall point and its significance?
7. Is the paper clearly and logically organized?
8. Do you use good transitions between paragraphs and between ideas within paragraphs?
9. Are grammar, punctuation, and spelling problems minimal?
10. Is the writing style free of confusion and awkwardness?