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English
120 Major Project #3
Option #1: The Literary Analysis
Points possible: 40
Aprx. 4-6 pages
Helpful reading:
Draft #1 due _______________
Draft #2 due _______________
Final version due _______________
The Call to Write About Literature
People enjoy talking about books, films, plays, art shows, music. You're sitting around a dinner table with friends picking apart a movie you all just saw, arguing about what it "means." Or, in your blog or on Facebook, you reflect on the coffeehouse poetry reading you just attended, commenting on how it made you feel. Maybe you're talking with your mother about how Harry has changed in the newest Harry Potter. Or, on Amazon.com, you post a lengthy comment to an ongoing discussion of a political or religious novel (e.g., The DaVinci Code), which has provoked disagreement about current iussues.
Though it isn't mentioned in CTW, the aesthetic work is a social occasion which "calls us to write" just as any other does. Arguments continue about just what comprises an aesthetic or literary text, about its value, and even about its place in a college writing course. And no one seems to agree much on how writing about aesthetic texts fits into our everyday world. There's no denying, however, that this breed of writing and speaking is around us and in our lives.
The Rule of the Bone is a novel in the realistic mode (as opposed to fantasy, science fiction, romance, etc.), and, like any novel, is open to a number of possible formalist readings. How, for instance, would you identify the book's theme? What is the main character's central problem and is it resolved by the end? What is the function of Willy the cat, of Rose the little girl, or of Chappie's grandmother (how do they contribute to the story)? What tensions or opposing forces/ideas/feelings are operating in the story, and which side of any opposition is ultimately favored or endorsed?
Likewise, the book invites inumerable culturalist readings. What, for instance, does the work as a whole say about coming of age in America in the late 20th century? About the American family at this point in history? About personal, social, and national identity? About literacy, education, and leadership? If you had to imagine Bone growing up to become a major national or world leader, or simply someone who "makes a difference in the world," how would his story in this book have prepared or not prepared him for the task? How many kinds of "leaders" or mentors does the work examine? How might this book diagnose or critique American culture or American institutions? How does it seem to construct or deconstruct "boyhood" and "manhood"? How might this be a novel about justice? What ideologies does the book seem to promote, and what ideologies does it criticise? Who is Russell Banks, who published his novel, and why? Who is its targeted audience? What does the novel reveal about you, as a reader; your expectations, values, and understanding of "literature"? And, finally, how might this novel compare to others of its kind, such as Catcher in the Rye or Huckleberry Finn?
Instructions and Purpose
For this project you will analyze and build your own interpretation of a contemporary literary work, Rule of the Bone. As with any commentary, your goal is to illuminate your subject for your readers. That is, you want to
1) identify patterns of meaning in the book and/or in the book's relationship to the culture which produced it;
2) argue for your understanding of the work's primary statement, effect, or theme—or for your understanding of the work as a cultural artifact;
3) help the reader better appreciate/understand the book and get more out of it.
A focus on "understanding leadership" (our special theme of English 120) would work well for any of the above tasks.
Click here for some brainstorming to help you focus your interpretation.
You're free to focus on any facet of the work which you consider interesting or important, and you're free to interpret the story any way you wish, as long as you carefully support your claims with clear reasoning and specific evidence—description, examples, summaries, scenes—from the book itself. Finally, don't forget to acknowledge, and refute, contrasting views.
Audience
Imagine that your essay will appear in a blog devoted to discussion of new books, or in a casebook on Rule of the Bone designed for college students. (A casebook is a collection of essays interpreting and commenting on a literary work to broaden readers' understanding.)
Evaluation Criteria
Your essay should be written with attention to the commonly excepted standards for undergraduate-level literary analyses. It should have a clear thesis about the novel, developed in detail and supported with specific quotations, summaries, and paraphrases from the book (as well as, if needed, outside sources or the book you are comparing this novel to, if you are writing a comparison-contrast essay). Provide a comprehensive introduction and conclusion, focus your paragraphs with strong topic sentences and transitions, and provide MLA-style documentation of sources (in-text citations and Works Cited page). As with any argument, pay careful attention to the needs and expectations of your targeted audience and heed opposing views. There is no special chapter in CTW for this option, but you should pay plenty of attention to all of our semester discussions about what makes a good argument, spend some time reviewing Chap. 3, and look up sample literary essays. Finally, remember to proofread your work for lapses in style or mechanics.
For MLA manuscript formatting review, CLICK HERE.
For MLA documentation review, CLICK HERE.
Turning in Your Work and Late Policy for Project #3
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