Literary analysis assignment
Description
Literary Analysis Assignment Sheet
For this final major assignment, you will read a set of Raymond Carver stories and make a claim that they are better in either their edited or unedited form. You will support your claim through analysis of the stories you read and with reference to critics who agree or disagree with you. You may write on as many or as few of the stories as you find useful for the assignment.
Timeline
This essay will be completed in the following stages. First, you will read and discuss the stories in class along with two critical essays—one arguing that Carver’s stories are better in their edited form another arguing that they were better before the editing. We will hold an in-class work day on April 14, for which you should bring your laptop or other writing implements. You will complete a first draft, which we will workshop on the final day of class, April 16. You will then turn in the final draft of this essay on Canvas before 11:59 PM on April 19.
Basic Requirements
Length and Format
The essay must be 5-6 pages in length (not counting a Works Cited page), double-spaced, using 12-point Times New Roman font and one-inch margins.
Sources
You will need to cite both the stories you are analyzing and at least one of the critical essays we read. You may find it useful to cite further sources, but you are not required to cite any additional sources. Any sources you cite should be included on a Works Cited page at the end of your essay, formatted according to MLA style. The Works Cited page will not count toward your page requirement.
Rubric
Content 60%
Makes a specific, interesting claim about which set of stories is better.
Proves this claim by directing readers to the most relevant evidence and expertly explaining its significance and by offering a substantive engagement with a critical source.
Makes a mostly specific and interesting claim about which set of stories is better.
Proves this claim by directing readers to relevant evidence and adequately explaining its significance and by engaging with a critical source.
Makes a claim about the stories that lacks specificity or interest.
Proves this claim by directing readers to evidence that is not clearly relevant or inadequately explained. Use of a critical source is minimal or misleading.
Makes a claim about the stories that lacks specificity and interest.
Attempts to prove this claim through irrelevant or poorly explained examples and does not draw on a critical source.
Style 40%
Writing is engaging and fluent. Logical organization and smooth transitions enhance the essay’s claims.
Free of grammatical errors and properly formatted.
Writing is sometimes fluent and engaging. Organization and transitions follow a clear logic.
Mostly free of grammatical errors and properly formatted.
Writing sometimes slows and confuses the reader. Organization and transitions present but inadequate.
Some grammatical errors or improper formatting.
Writing often slows and confuses the reader. Organization and transitions inadequate.
Many grammatical errors or improper formatting.
