Your second short essay will be an open topic essay. You can choose one work that we have already read--or that we will read--and explore a topic that you think is interesting and significant. You will formulate your own topic or focus on a topic from our class discussions. You should not, however, just summarize or repeat class discussions.
As you consider the length of this essay, your topic should be narrow enough so that you can develop your discussion thoroughly. It is possible to compare and contrast two works, but be sure you can address both works in sufficient detail. Check with me if you have questions.
For this paper, you will need to use a minimum of two secondary sources. Most likely sources will be journal articles and/or an essay collection in book form. Use the library databases to search for articles (e.g., JSTOR, MLA International Bibliography. Specific journals may be helpful, e.g., Victorian Studies). Some websites may be helpful, but a website does not count toward the two minimum sources. It will be an additional sources. See our course website: Resources menu----British Literature Links ("Victorian Literature"). Reference works (e.g., Oxford English Dictionary) may be helpful but also do not count towards the two minimum sources.
Once you chose your work and topic, begin by (re)reading, notetaking, and
thinking about the work you are writing about. Formulate a main question your essay will answer.
Study your chosen work and line up your evidence. Draft a working thesis and
then an outline that gives you a view of the entire essay - structure and content.
You might also try freewriting as an invention strategy. Write out
your work and topic. Then write nonstop for 20-30 mins--everything
about the topic that comes to mind without worrying about structure or
grammar. Analyze this freewriting for key ideas. Then proceed to your
working thesis and outline. **You will need to turn in your
outline, handwritten or typed, with your final essay (5pts). See the
outline handout you used for essay one.
Turn in the actual outline you use throughout the writing process. This
will be the same type of scratch (paragraph) outline you wrote for essay one.
Finally, as you formulate your topic, complete an initial search for sources
to see what is available for your topic. Sources should focus on the
work you are writing about. If you need help finding sources,
seek help from a librarian.
Your introduction should be brief for a short essay--most likely one paragraph. Begin your essay by naming the work your are writing about. Frame the issue you are exploring or ask a key question(s) that you will address. You might also briefly contextualize the work you are writing about within the author's other works. Then state your thesis--the main point, conclusion, or claim you are making about your chosen work(s).
SAMPLE
(Thesis is in brackets)
Title: Marriage as an Experience in Eliot's Middlemarch
Intro: After reading Middlemarch, one's thoughts focus on the novel's two central marriages. Since both marriages result in unhappiness, it appears as though George Eliot views marriage as a confinement or a source of self-inflicted pain. This interpretation results from taking a narrow view of the novel, not considering its entire scope. [Through its central marriages, Middlemarch reveals the growth or loss which results from marriage. Marriage is not an end, but a beginning, a single fragment of human experience resulting in a fruitful relationship or an
unfortunate loss.]
After you have formulated a thesis, find the best evidence you can to support it. Do not organize your essay around "the plot"; organize it around the central idea you are presenting (in your thesis). Select the best examples to illustrate your ideas. You should use direct quotations--let the poem speak for itself and present readers with emphatic or telling examples that would lose their impact if paraphrased. Be careful if you use block quotations (make use of ellipses?) and do not use too many quotations. Remember, quotations are not a substitute for your own thinking. You must interpret them for readers. Quotations are examples that illustrate your ideas. For prose and fiction, use page numbers; for poetry cite line numbers. See the MLA Handbook (9th ed.) for the mechanics of quoting. Also, consult the handout on integrating quotations you used for essay one. Copies are in the library. For this essay, you will use in-text or parenthetical citations and a works cited page.
In your essay, you might reference other works we have studied this semester to make apposite comparisons.
Even if you are just using the Norton Anthology, you need a works cited page. Again,
consult the MLA Handbook (9th ed.) as needed.
- When discussing literature, use the present tense (e.g., In "The Man Who Would Be King," the narrator explains . . . .).
- Also, use third person rather than first or second person. See the sample introduction above. You don't need to say "I think/believe" or "In my opinion."
- Tone and style will be formal - avoid contractions and colloquialisms/slang.
- For grammatical issues, consult a current handbook.
- The essay length is 6-7 pages (not counting the works cited page), double-spaced, one-inch margins, 12pt, Times New Roman. Since you are indenting paragraphs, you do not also need extra spaces between paragraphs. Please use page numbers. Include a title (not just the work's title or "essay 2.") Use a paper clip rather than stapling.
Assume readers, who are students taking a 200- or 300-level English literature course, have a basic knowledge of the
work's plot. What would this audience expect to learn from your essay? What would be their reason for reading it? Keep these questions in mind as your draft and revise.
Feel free to see me if you have any questions. I'll also be glad to look at drafts as you write them.
The essay's due date is on the syllabus.