Final Paper – Calvino, A Plunge Into Real Estate

In your 8/9-page final paper you are expected to 1.answer the proposed prompt, 2.develop your own thesis, 3.use meaningful quotes from the text to support your argument, 4.select appropriate secondary sources and integrate them into your paper.

Prompt:
Calvino, A Plunge Into Real Estate – A Plunge Into Real Estate’s third-person narration offers a very informed point of view on the complex entanglement of thoughts and emotions that characterizes Quinto, the protagonist. This confused and uncertain character shows us both the shared values of that historical moment (economic success / speculative building without thinking about the consequences) and the remorse of some intellectuals and political activists who glimpse the human and environmental injustices that are being put in place. In your final paper, discuss the evolution of Quinto’s contradictory thoughts and choices and the impact they have on his family and the territory of the Riviera. Here are some questions you may want to consider: Why does Quinto decide to build a house on family land? How is his relationship with Caisotti? Does Quinto’s intellectual formation and his connection with political parties influence his choices? And the presence of his family, in particular his mother and brother? In what way is Quinto’s story linked to the more general history of the Ligurian Riviera?

For your final paper you will need to find, read, and quote at least 2 secondary sources. Acceptable secondary sources are:

Articles in academic journals (double blind peer-reviewed)

Chapters in academic books

Academic books

Please do not use unreliable online sources (such as Wikipedia or other similar platforms).

Where to find reliable academic sources:

https://library.qc.cuny.edu/

https://scholar.google.com/

You can look for articles/chapters/books that discuss Carlotto’s writing in general, or that comment on the specific novel itself, or on the main theme you’re working on. Remember that this is a literature class, so the sources you find should be related to literature. You can use one of the academic articles attached, but remember, you will need at least one more secondary source!

How to format your citations

General guide:
https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/mla_style/mla_formatting_and_style_guide/mla_formatting_and_style_guide.html

In-text citations: https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/mla_style/mla_formatting_and_style_guide/mla_in_text_citations_the_basics.html

Example: https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/mla_style/mla_formatting_and_style_guide/mla_sample_paper.html

Works cited page:
https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/mla_style/mla_formatting_and_style_guide/mla_works_cited_page_basic_format.html

Example: https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/mla_style/mla_formatting_and_style_guide/mla_sample_works_cited_page.html