Department of English

Faculty of Arts, Chulalongkorn University

Paper and Presentation Guidelines

The final paper (5–7 pp.) is a way for you to engage thoughtfully and more deeply with a particular issue or question we have read about and discussed this semester and to bring together skills in reading, critical thinking, and writing that we have worked on in our meetings. The paper is due in class on Thursday, September 22, 2011 or on Turnitin.com by 1 p.m. on the same date.

Topics

You may examine further a point raised in class discussion, expand on an argument in a reading response, or develop one of the suggested topics below for your paper.

• Characters in Ghosh's novels are diverse and sometimes unexpected or unusual. In an interview about The Hungry Tide, for example, he says "One of the major characters in the book, actually, is the landscape in which it's set [i.e. the Sundarbans]." Choose such a typically atypical character in one of Ghosh's novels and examine that character's role in the work.

• Trace a recurring concept in Ghosh's work and discuss its representation and meaning. You might look at ideas about difference, freedom, poetry, and understanding.

• Using the essays, interviews, and self-reflexive or extra-narrative passages in the novels, discuss Ghosh's portrayal of the writer's role.

• Discuss Ghosh's ideal reader. Look at figures in the novels who seem to embody or exhibit qualities which might be a model for engaging with texts. Consider characters like Henry Piddington, the young Kanai, Piya, Fokir, the project reader of The Calcutta Chromosome, the narrator of The Shadow Lines, and Tridib.

• Analyze Ghosh's use of madness. What things, people, or actions are described as mad or crazy? By whom? When do these people or things act weird? What is at stake in a mad situation? What does characterizing something or someone as mad achieve for the characters involved (at the story level), and for the story (at the narrative level)?

• Explore Ghosh's use of history (historical figures, facts, narratives).

Revision

Some things to keep in mind as you proofread and edit your work:

• 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?

• 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?

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Last updated September 19, 2011