English 271 Critical Essay Assignment
30 pts. possible, (30%
of semester grade)
Due date: Thurs. Nov. 30, no later than
Instructions,
Audience, and Purpose
Write a 5-8 page literary analysis, applying your choice of critical lens to any literary work. Imagine you are writing this essay for an undergraduate and graduate-level casebook (critical anthology) on the work in question, OR for a contemporary literary journal which features articles on contemporary fiction and poetry.
Note: Strict New Critical or Formalist approaches are no longer in wide use at the higher levels of academia, though you may occasionally encounter instructors who prefer such approaches to newer ones. If you plan to go on to graduate studies, you might keep this in mind.
Your purpose is to illuminate the work in question, help a college-level reader get more out it, and convince such a reader that your analysis of the work in question is valid. The purpose of the assignment itself is to give you practice applying at least one of the critical lenses we’ve worked with this semester.
Be sure to:
Note: you must look up at least 3 model essays which apply the type of criticism you are using, and write up an abstract/bibliographical annotation for each. Attach these absracts to your final essay.
Evaluation Criteria
To receive credit for your essay, you must complete 1 peer
critique, and 1 possible scheduled student-teacher conference. Your essay should be
focused, organized, and well-developed, with clear, explicit, accurate
application of the critical theory in question. Any sources must be documented
properly and your essay manuscript formatted according to MLA guidelines. Essays
must be received in my hands, my SE 318 (English Annex) mailbox, or on my office desk no
later than
Grading scale:
27-30 = A
23-26 = B
19-22 = C
15-18 = D
Below 15 = F