Option 1: Write a Literature Research paper where you critically analyze a literary work in order to interpret possible meaning(s) about the work. You must incorporate scholarly academic research into your paper to support and develop your own analysis of the literary work(s). You can choose any of the literary works from the semester that you have not already written a paper on. For this option you can also choose to analyze more than one literary work from the course that accomplish some greater purpose. Your argument would then focus on the connection you are making between the works.
Your thesis statement in your Introduction should clearly state the argument/interpretation you are making about the literary work. Here are some questions to help you come up with an argument:
How is human experience portrayed? What does this work reveal about issues like reality, imagination, truth, morals, values, relationships, gender roles, power structures, etc.? What social issues are raised by this character’s actions? How does the conflict in the story illustrate changing value systems or a resistance to change? How does the narrative structure manipulate reality in the story? What do the internal and external conflicts reveal about social issues during the time period it was written? How are these issues relevant to modern readers? Why is the symbol ____ significant to the literary work? How does this symbol illustrate larger issues within the work and/or outside the work?
Incorporate scholarly research to support and develop your analysis of the literary work:
Discuss why or how this critic’s argument provides valid and significant insight to the literary work.
You should NOT use Google for your research. Use the Palm Beach State databases to find reliable, scholarly arguments about the literary work, such as Academic Search Complete (Ebsco), JSTOR, or Academic One (Gale). You will find no shortage of articles in these databases.
You must also introduce, explain, and analyze any quoted material in order to prove the interpretation you are making. Do not expect readers to simply understand your interpretation by reading the material you quote. As the writer, it is your job to make your analysis of quoted material clear. Remember that ANY information or words not from your brain MUST be cited properly or you are plagiarizing. If you are unsure about what information to cite, see me. However, when in doubt, cite.
