Faculty of Arts,
Chulalongkorn University
Final Paper and Presentation Guidelines
Final Paper
We are at a remarkable point in literature where exciting new
technologies, genres, cultures and languages along with their sets of
conventions, aesthetics, tools and audiences, open up our field of
literary studies, like at other defining moments and crossroads in the
history of English, to reassessment and invention. For the final paper, as
you reexamine texts in the course, think about how shifts and changes
throughout literary history and now might demand responsive adjustments
and innovation on the part of reading and analyzing texts. How could we
look at literature? What new tools do we have to study them? How do we
write about them to share our findings with others?
Consider the wide range of sources that have informed our
reading this semester. In addition to solid foundational close reading
skills developed since last semester, our understanding and interpretation
of literary texts have benefited from diverse sources external to the
literature itself ranging from other literature to biographies,
dictionaries of etymology, idioms, slangs and symbols to documentaries,
films, interviews, letters, journals, live readings and performances,
concordances, manuscripts, maps, and more.
When you read Milton's Sonnet 19 with the benefit of knowing
from the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) that in his time
"fondly" meant "foolishly" or when you learn from Martin Gardner's The
Annotated Alice that Lewis Carroll explains the meaning of
"jabberwock" to a class of students thus: "the Anglo-Saxon word 'wocer' or
'wocor' signifies 'offspring' or 'fruit.' Taking 'jabber' in its ordinary
acceptation of 'excited and voluble discussion,' this would give the
meaning of 'the result of much excited discussion'" (153), your perception
of the meaning of both works changes. Perhaps the revealed self-awareness
and self-referentiality that show Milton's play and Carroll's joke on
poetry and its study add new layers to your reading and increase your
appreciation of these texts.
Consider the means, methods and structures of texts and these
other sources and how they might influence the shape, style and argument
of your writing. Expand from your reading responses and extend class
discussion.
Write a 3–5-page paper (MLA
style citation and formatting) on one of the topics below or on one
of your own choosing. Keep in mind that these are suggestions for
analysis. In working on your paper, you will eventually formulate an
argument or thesis that is the result of your research and examination of
the texts to develop in response to these prompts.
- Analyze Kincaid’s use of verbs in “Girl.” What functions do verbs have
besides their usual part of speech role? How do they call attention to
agency and kinds of actions? How do they shape the narrative?
- Compare and contrast the two sisters in Aimee Bender’s “Tiger
Mending.” In what ways are they similar or different? Also possibly
illuminating: What makes them the same or different? Are the
elements that align them or differentiate them characters or forces
within the story or are they storytelling devices?
- Analyze Victor’s learning in “Indian Education” through the years and
grades in terms of a) self, b) Indians, c) non-Indians, or d) family.
- Self: What constitutes the narrator’s self? What informs his
learning about self? What does the U.S. government have to do with his
learning about self? How do the following relate to Junior’s learning
with respect to self?
- Physical traits
- Language
- Name
- Place, location
- Family, kinship: What range of meanings does the narrator use the
word brother to signify? How is the Native American sense of family
different from that of mainstream America and how does that shape
his understanding of self?
- Friends, friendship
- Strangers
- Afiliation
- Age
- Gender
- Ethnicity
- Tribe
- Stereotypes
- Discrimination, racism, bias, prejudice
- History
- Past, present, future: What time category does the narrator
associate with himself at different points of the story? What does
the description reveal about his self-perception?
- Behavior, acts, actions: How does fighting or violence enable or
facilitate the narrator’s learning about himself and his identity?
What role does laughing or laughter play in his learning? How does
eating define his sense of self? How does he use literal vs.
figurative meanings of actions to express different aspects of his
learning?
- Academics, intelligence
- Death
- Culture, tradition
- Media
- Typography
- Diction, denotation, connotation: What is a powwow? What is a
tavern? What does Victor's remark about the Powwow Tavern say about
his classmates and himself?
- Verb tenses
- Point of view
- Reflection
- Success, failure
- Time, timing, parallels, juxtaposition
What changes occur in the narrator’s learning about who he is, what he
should or can be, what he should or can do, where he should or can
learn, and from whom or from what? Is the structure of the short story,
divided into twelve grades and a postscript, helpful and illuminating or
limited and distracting as a window into Victor's learning about
himself?
- Family: What does the narrator learn regarding the meaning of family
(Does the Indian meaning of family the same as an American or a white
one?), the function or role of family, the presence of family, the
expectation of family, his role toward family, his views of/toward
family, his relationship to family, his use (and abuse) of family?
What are his methods of learning, the significance of the learning,
and the implications of the learning? (What does it mean that his
previous understanding of family as x has now become y? What does it
reveal about his growth? What further does it reflect on or about the
local community, about the larger American society?) How does he learn
about family, where, at what stages or points in his life? Does his
idea about family change? How does his behavior toward family change,
if at all? What is his language like when he describes family? What is
the mood or tone? What is the connection between names and family?
Place and family? Appearance and family? Behavior and family? The
past/present/future and family? How abruptly or gradually does he
learn?
- In Tennyson’s “Ulysses,” compare and contrast here-home with
there-world in the three stanzas. What characteristics and motivations
are associated with each place?
- Discuss the role of the artist in The Pillowman. Examining
closely evidence in the play, what observations can you make about its
ideas regarding the artist? What is the task of the artist? is a
question that the play asks and attempts to answer. Is Katurian’s
response “The first duty of a storyteller is to tell a story,” “The only
duty of a storyteller is to tell a story,” or his declaration “I
just write stories” (29) meant to be naïve? What authorities,
responsibilities or functions does the play propose a creator of art can
or should have? An artist creates, but does anybody who creates anything
automatically become an artist? What qualities does the play consider an
artist should have? What is the difference between an artist and a
non-artist? What is the difference between violence and art? What is the
difference between a sick psychotic disorder and artistic imagination
and craft? What does the play show about how aware or active the art
maker should be in society? Does the play suggest there should be no
restrictions on creativity? Does the artist have no responsibility
except to his/her art? In what areas does the play critique artists?
What is the value of an artist in society? What does an artist have to
offer the world? Why is he/she important? What rights or protections
should be given artists? Why is their art important? What is the balance
between creativity and responsibility? What is the price of artistic
freedom? Consider the entire play and its many elements (not just
characters) that comment on the role of the artist. There are props (the
hood, pillows, fake blood), setting, plot (conflicts, parallels, main
plots and subplots, climax, denouement), dialogue (diction, denotation,
connotation; figures of speech, repetition, pace), humor, and point of
view, to name a few.
- Compare and contrast the concept of time presented in Chiang’s “Story
of Your Life” and in Harvey’s “Money, Time, Space, and the City.” What
assumptions relevant to time are addressed? What framework (and through
what vocabulary) is offered with which to view and appreciate the human
vs. another alternative understanding of time? What consequences are
discussed as results of time perceptions?
- Consider the different forms of thought work in “The Lady’s Maid.”
What kinds of thinking is shown and through what means? How does Ellen’s
belief that “thinking’s no good to anyone” affect her thinking?
- Examine how Viramontes transforms everyday life and circumstances in
“The Moths” into deeply affecting events. For instance, consider how
ordinary home life and growing up become disturbing? How does work and
working become magical and spiritual? How does sickness become
beautiful? Why is this presentation of ordinary life significant?
- Analyze Ives’s use of time in Time Flies. What devices are
used to indicate time? How is time depicted? How does it shape the
characters and the play? How does Ives manipulate urgency throughout the
play? What jokes does he make about time and by playing with time words?
Why is time and timing a rich subject for a dating scenario? How does he
weave other thematic commentary with time, ex. love, fear, life, death,
nature, fate, high, low, sadness, defiance, tragedy, comedy, cliches,
originality/creativity, limitations, possibility, size, length,
value/worth, and diversity? Which time references are literal, which
figurative? Does time move at a consistent pace? Why or why not? How
does Ives generate such exuberance of emotions and proliferation of
ideas within such a short play? Why does ten minutes feel like a
lifetime? How can one overcome the constraints of one's nature? What
does the play suggest are ways one can break free from one's physical
and mental shortcomings? What do the mayflies have to celebrate, to be
happy about? Does Ives use time as a prison, a gift, an enemy, or a
challenge? Something else?
- Analyze the function of names in Warlight. What are the uses
of nicknames? Why is namelessness or withholding a name of people,
places, positions important? What are the implications of naming and
renaming?
- Analyze a schwer moment in the novel. In what ways is it
serious, difficult or heavy, in terms of what, for whom, and why? “My
heart is heavy” describes an internal struggle. What is the outward
expression? What is the impact of the schwer moment? What is changed as
a result of it? Examine its significance in the context of its
occurrence and in the larger framework of the novel.
- Discuss the role of maps in Warlight. What kinds of things are
mapped? What is the difference between topographical maps and political
ones? What are the implications of each? Which is depicted in the story
and how is it used? What do different maps prioritize, make seen,
navigable or meaningful? Why are old maps relevant, useful or valuable?
How are different characters associated with maps?
- Examine silence in Warlight. When do characters say nothing,
why? What does silence say or convey? Why is silence preferable or
necessary, when?
- What are “invisible details” (124) that the book makes visible?
Discuss revelations of unseen or unseeable things. How is invisibility
described? Why are invisible details important?
- Analyze the form and medium/media of one or more texts. How do formal
qualities affect a text? Why does it matter that a literary work is
prose or poetry, that it is long or short, that the lines are regular or
irregular, that it rhymes, or is fragmented, or repetitive? To what
extent does the work follow the conventions of its form? What narrative
or poetic form(s) does the author choose or invent? What about that form
enables the text the range of expression that it has? On the other hand,
what problems does the medium pose on the literary product? In what ways
does technology shape medium? How does changing technology and medium
influence audience taste and expectations? If a text has many different
forms or many different versions, how does one “read” it or reconcile
its meanings? You might also consider whether this textual instability
is desirable or not. Are unsettled texts useful, appropriate for their
contents, or informative in any way? Texts to look at include The
Bed Book, “Conversation Piece,” “,” “Girl,” “Jabberwocky,” “A Poison
Tree,” “l(a,” “I Hear America Singing,” and The Pillowman.
- Discuss music and musicality in one or more works, such as in The
Bed Book, “Jabberwocky,” “Emmonsails Heath in Winter,” “40—Love,”
“I Hear America Singing,” The Philadelphia, Time Flies,
“The Moths,” “We Real Cool,” and Warlight. How does music figure in the
work(s)? What constitutes musicality? What is euphonious or cacophonous?
What role does music play? What aspects of the text are musical? What
inspires the music in the text? How is musicality achieved? Why is it
important in the work? In what ways does the text challenge concepts of
what is musical or not? What or who makes music? Can a novel be musical?
Can a non-musical play be musical?
- Choose a poem and follow it like going on a journey. Where and how
does it begin? Trace carefully the construction and development of ideas
through the uses of line, meter, rhyme, imagery, diction, point of view,
tone, etc. Where does the poem take you? What effect does it create?
Where and how does it end?
The paper is due on Thursday, May 2, 2019. You can submit a
paper copy to me in class, in my box at the end of the hall past my office
(BRK 1106) or attach it to an e-mail to me before midnight.
Revision
With feedback from classmates in the forum or in discussions, you have
specific comments to consider when rewriting to fix problems regarding the
argument, support, prose, organization, mechanics, and style to make
your paper more effective. Some things to keep in mind as you proofread and
edit your work before submission:
-
Does my title show that I have a point to make?
-
Is my thesis sound, clear, and interesting?
-
Have I supported my thesis with compelling evidence?
-
Is the organization of my paper logical and appropriate
to the arguments I am making?
-
Is my language clear, consistent, and suited to the
subject matter?
-
Do each of my paragraphs have a clear point and
coherence?
- Have I incorporated quotations smoothly into my own prose?
- Do I provide balanced analysis of the quotes I cite?
-
Are my sentences varied, interesting, and effective?
-
Do my verbs agree with their subjects? Pronouns with
their nouns?
-
Is my paper free of spelling mistakes?
-
Have I cited my sources properly and formatted my paper
using MLA
style?
Final Presentation
Presentation of your final paper is in week 17 of class:
Monday, April 29 and Thursday, May 2, 2019. Each panel of three or four
papers will have fifteen minutes to present their study of texts we have
read in this course. This will be followed by a ten-minute question and
answer session. A moderator will be presiding over the presentations and
discussion session of each panel, introducing the speakers, mediating the
questions and responses, and making sure things stay on schedule.
Practice reading your presentation aloud, with visual aid if
you have any, and edit for speakability, clarity, and time.
Respondents give constructive comments on the panelists'
talk, indicating illuminating and effective points made, pointing out
problems to fix ex. content, logic, substantiation, organization,
clarification, delivery, and giving further commentary and opinions on the
issues being discussed. Respondents assigned to a panel are responsible
for giving feedback to any and all of the speakers on that panel but are
free to comment on papers of other panels as well.
You will be graded both for your performance in giving your talk and in
responding to your classmates' presentations, how you present your own
ideas and how you show that you know how to listen to, think about, and
discuss ideas that others propose.
A program of the final presentation schedule will be posted
on our detailed
schedule page once panel and paper titles, speakers and moderators
are finalized. You are responsible for e-mailing me any revisions to your
presentation title by Friday, April 26, 2019.
Please inform me of any special equipment needs, otherwise
our in-class computer (which uses Microsoft Office 2013) and LCD projector
is provided.
Links
Writing
- "Tips and Tools," University of North
Carolina at Chapel Hill
- "Thesis Statements" (What Is a
Thesis Statement?; How Do I Create a Thesis?; How Do I
Know If My Thesis Is Strong?; Examples)
- Writing for
Specific Fields: "Literature (Fiction)"
(Demystifying the Process, Writing a Paper in 9 Steps)
- Thesis
- Analysis
- James Delaney, "How to Write a Critical Literary Essay,"
Cayuga Community College
- David Rosenwasser
and Jill Stephen, "What Is Analysis and How Does It Work?,"
Writing Analytically (2003)
- "What Is Analysis?," University of
Richmond
- "Analysis," Purdue Online Writing
Lab
- "Literary Analysis Tips in a Glossary
of Analytical Terms," Goucher College
- "A Short Guide to Close Reading for
Literary Analysis," University of
Wisconsin-Madison
- "Cited Material vs. Analysis," Case
Western Reserve University
- "Critical Theory and Critical
Perspectives," University Place School
District (What Is Meant by "Critical Perspective"?,
essential questions for each critical theory)
- Style and Citation
Presentation
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Last updated April 29, 2019