Essay 2                                                Spring 2025
Research Paper: Literature in Context

DUE DATES

Due Dates:
 
    Annotated Bibliography due Friday, April 18th @ 11:59P (upload to ICON)

    3-page Rough Draft due Thursday, April 29th for our in-class workshop, (upload to ICON by 11:59P with your specific question)

    Final Draft due Friday, May 9th @ 11:59P (upload to ICON)

TOPIC

For the final 5-7-page paper, you will demonstrate your critical interpretative skills and your ability to situate a literary text within a critical context. You will use outside research to inform an original argument about one of the literary texts we have read this semester. This paper is worth 20% of your final grade. You will write about one of our texts from the second half of the semester: The History of Love, The Tempest, or In the Dream House. 

Make an argument about how one of the texts that we have read this semester deals with a particular theme or idea given its particular sociohistorical moments and use of genre. 
 
In class and on the midterm, we have discussed how various texts take up genres (or forms) to make an argument about certain themes (or content). How does The History of Love play with form to bring together Leo, Zvi, and Alma’s stories? How does Shakespeare layer various situations on the stage to address the play’s central themes? What does the structure of In the Dream House tell us about Machado’s journey toward healing? 

Conduct research to explore how both texts relate to your particular theme and sociohistorical moment. What does The Tempest have to say about the history of (post)colonialism? What conversations were happening about feminism when In the Dream House was published? Why is The History of Love significant as a work of third generation Holocaust literature?

REQUIREMENTS

You will need to incorporate at least one outside source into your paper. Your source must be credible (no Wikipedia or Artificial Intelligence) and relevant. Ideally, your source should be a critical interpretation of the literary text. The goal of including this outside source is not simply to repeat the author’s arguments about the texts, but rather to use their arguments to further your own. 

To find critical sources on your topic, I recommend looking at the database available to you via the library’s website like JSTOR, Project Muse, MLA International Bibliography, and Worldcat. If you have questions about accessing these databases please contact me.  

Successful essays will…

    Begin with an introduction that carefully sets up your topic and ends with a clear, well developed, and complex thesis statement that presents an original interpretation of the texts
    Present solid textual evidence using direct quotations that prove your argument (No Quote Bombs!)
    Carefully explain, explore, and analyze how the textual evidence you’ve chosen supports your thesis
    Use the secondary source to further the critical conversation, either building upon or disagreeing with their interpretation of the text
    Pay careful attention to organization and structure
    Use transitions to connect ideas
    End with a conclusion that leaves the reader with something to consider
    Use correct MLA citation format 
    Be clearly written, free from errors, and composed in a professional tone. 
    Have an interesting title (not “Essay 2”) that reflects the content and essence of your work.

LOGISTICS 

    5-7 full pages, double-space, 12 pt. Times New Roman font with 1-inch margins on all sides
    Use proper MLA format: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/13/  
    Use proper in-text citations: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/02/
    Include a separate page bibliography that is formatted in MLA

Missing any stage of the writing process (the annotated bibliography, the 3-page rough draft with a question, the workshop) will result in 1/3 letter grade drop for each missed step. So, if your final draft is a B-, but you did not turn in a thesis statement draft, that grade drops to a C+. If you also did not bring a polished 3-page draft to the in-class workshop, that grade then drops to a C, and so on. 

Completing all stages of the writing process promptly and competently is important and will result in a more thoughtful, polished interpretation than one written under the influence of panic and caffeine the night before. Of course, plagiarism – intentional, unintentional, or through the use of AI tools – will result in a failing grade and possible repercussions with the University. 

As the syllabus states, late papers will be docked 1 letter grade for every day late up to three days. Late papers submitted after three days will not be accepted. If you are having trouble with an assignment, please talk to me well before the due date. I encourage everyone to meet with me in office hours or by appointment to discuss the assignment at any point leading up to the due date. 

Annotated Bibliography

Use the library databases to generate an annotated bibliography that shows your knowledge of other critical responses to your texts. 

An annotated bibliography is an academic tool. Its framework helps you research, summarize, and evaluate scholarly sources. Completing an annotated bibliography will help you frame your discussion of the text in your essay. The final annotated bibliography should: 

•    Begin with a paragraph that briefly introduces your project. Tell me what text you are discussing, what aspect of the text will be your focus, and what sort of sources you have been looking for. Please include your thesis, which may be a work-in-progress. 
•    Cite two scholarly sources (or one scholarly and one popular source) using correct MLA format. For each source, write a concise one-paragraph annotation. In 100-150 words or so, summarize the author’s main argument and supporting points, and evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the argument. Finally, assess the source’s usefulness for your own purposes—tell me why it is or is not useful for you, and which parts in particular you might wish to discuss. 
•    Conclude with a brief comment on how the two sources relate to one another—what sort of conversation is going on about your text? How do you see yourself jumping in?