Literary Analysis Essay (950 word minimum)   Directions: Analyze selected scenes/character(s) and write

Literary Analysis Essay

(950 word minimum)

 

Directions: Analyze selected scenes/character(s) and write a third person, argumentative, literary analysis essay about a theme in Toni Morrison’s novel, Home. Include textual evidence from the novel and two scholarly articles. Write in MLA style.

—Tips to make sure you are Analyzing and not just summarizing: To analyze is to scrutinize, to break scenes and characters down to reveal a deeper understanding of a theme in the novel that is being explored. Do not just summarize what happens but explain how and why it is happening and what we as readers should learn, realize, understand or feel about what and why it is happening. Only describe scenes or examples that help you prove your interpretation about the analysis.  

Your audience: your readers will be other students in the class. They have already read the novel. They do not need you to tell them what happens. You will, however, include a very short summary in the introduction for readers outside our course, but other than that limit your summary. The balance is 80% analysis to only 15% summary.

Textual evidence from the novel: you will also need to quote the novel to support your claims about the theme you are writing about. Be selective about your quotes. Your quotes should be short. Only include the essence of the quote. Your explanation and analysis must outnumber the select quote. For instance, in each body paragraph most of the words must come from you. Quotes cannot take over your writing. Use quotes as support for your ideas. Quote in MLA like so:

According to Morrison “For instance, in each body paragraph most of the words must come from you. Quotes cannot take over your writing. Use quotes as support for your ideas” (23).

OR

“For instance, in each body paragraph most of the words must come from you. Quotes cannot take over your writing. Use quotes as support for your ideas” (Morrison 23).

Research component: you will need to incorporate 2-3 quotes from two scholarly articles that relate to the theme you are writing about. For example, if you are writing about the power of the women in the novel, you may find articles about feminism or gender roles in the 1950s. Note that the research articles do not necessarily have to be about the novel but they do have to be about the theme in the novel you are exploring. Additionally, the quotes you include from the article must be smoothly integrated into your argument about the novel and cannot exceed 3 lines. You must quote in MLA style like so:

According to Kendra Smith, “During World War II, women took on significant roles outside the home as factory workers, business owners, and other jobs normally reserve for men. When men returned, they found it difficult to reintegrate to society and women found freedom and power in their new roles as bread winners” (46).

Or 

“During World War II, women took on significant roles outside the home as factory workers, business owners, and other jobs normally reserve for men. When men returned, they found it difficult to reintegrate to society and women found freedom and power in their new roles as bread winners” (Smith 46).

Grading point system:

(Intro 10pts):

·         Student has an introduction that 1) hooks the reader, 2) includes the author and title of the novel, 3) provides a brief 2-3 sentence synopsis (very short summary) of the novel, 3) includes an explicit thesis statement that argues something significant about the novel.

(BODY Paragraphs 40pts): Your task is to analyze your scenes from the novel and make a case for your thesis. Ask yourself:

·         Does the body offer at least 3-4 WELL-DEVELOPED supporting paragraphs that convince the reader that your interpretation and analysis is a feasible one?

·         Do these supporting paragraphs have a clear topic sentence that make a claim which refer back to the thesis statement?

·         Are claims supported logically through explanations and specific examples from the novel Home?

·         Does the student include at least one short quote from the novel in all body paragraphs, and are they less than two sentences long?

·         Are the quotes and examples from your novel thoroughly explained and analyzed?

·         Does the student include at least two quotes within the essay from two credible source(s)?

·         Is the quote from the article relevant to the argument about the novel?

·         How smooth are your transitions and connections between the analysis of the novel and your research quotes?

·         Does the student have good concluding sentences that nicely wrap up the ideas of a given paragraph?

(Organization 10pts):

·         Do you sustain and support a focused argument throughout the paper?

·         Are the paragraphs organized logically? Are there transitions between ideas and paragraphs? Are there appropriate paragraph breaks?

(Conclusion 10pts):

·         Is there a conclusion that wraps up the paper nicely and reaffirms the student writer’s position?

·         Does the writer leave the reader thinking deeply about the importance of the paper’s argument?

·         Is the conclusion at least 4 sentences long? 

(Grammar and style 10pts):

·         Is the paper free of major grammatical errors?

·         Is the style appropriate to the Genre — a third person, academic analysis of theme in the novel?

·         How well does it read? Can the reader understand each sentence the first time read?

·         Is there sentence variety and rhythm?

(MLA 10pts):

·         Is the paper in MLA style: double spaced, Times New Roman 12pt font

·         Are the sources, including novel and research articles, cited properly inside the essay?

·         Is there an MLA Works Cited page, which includes the novel and the two articles?

·         Do you include at least 2 credible sources?

(Word Count and Analysis 10pts):  Is the essay at least 900-words in length? Does the paper do more analyzing than summarizing 80/20? INCOMPLETE ESSAY WILL AUTOMATICALLY RECEIVE AN “F”

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