For this paper, display your skill at argument by answering ONE of the following questions using the close reading techniques . Your argument will be graded based on the originality and insightfulness of the thesis, the level of detail and specificity of the evidence you use from the poem, and the polish and elegance of your writing. Avoid obvious answers, rambling or disconnected lists, summaries, and unsupported introductions, claims, or conclusions. Analyze the novel in a thoughtful way that highlights your own innovative thinking and your eye for meaningful detail. Be sure to practice smooth transitions, correct use of punctuation and grammar, and organized paragraphing.
Since this is largely a close reading assignment (see Bb “What is a close reading?”), I am looking for a great deal of engagement with the novel.
Remember: I do not believe anything you say unless it is backed up by quotes or paraphrases from the text itself! You do not need to use sources beyond the text; however, if you choose to use sources, you MUST cite them or fail the paper (remember that cliffnotes, sparknotes, your old notes, Britannica, your roommate’s opinion, or ‘some guy’s’ website are sources!)
What is Close Reading?
Close Reading
The term “close reading” derives from a school of criticism called New Criticism, which flourished in the early twentieth century (1920s-40s). Unlike earlier critics who focused on a text’s author (his or her biography), on the text’s moral or social propriety, or on the text’s sources or politics, New Critics focused on the text itself.
By close reading, new critics analyze how language creates impressions, effects, and meaning. Close reading is simply a very detailed analysis of a text’s language and may focus on figures of speech, images, repeated phrases or words, word choice, the auditory sounds of reading aloud, the placement of words on the page, punctuation, or other patterns in the text. Such patterns may run through an entire work; thus, any passage in a well-written text may be the subject of close reading since it contributes to the whole, just as any portion of a plaid displays the pattern of the whole.
In a close reading assignment, examine the assigned section for patterns of language which generate meaning in the text, which create effects such as sympathy, pity, or terror, or which unify the text as a whole. Your thesis will describe what overall effects, patterns, or meaning you see in the passage (or in the whole poem).
consider choosing one or two key scenes to close read, rather than providing a list of events or quotes. Keep to your thesis at all times!
Grading Rubric:
Argument: thesis, themes, claims, innovation, logic, insight = 10 points
Evidence: quotation; discussion of diction, phrases, sentences, images; support for claims = 10 points.
Writing: paragraphing, structure, sentences, transitions, spelling, punctuation, grammar = 10 points
Notes:
1. Papers must have a works cited page (see MLA format document)
2. Papers must be submitted in .doc or .docx format
3. Papers must be 3-5 pages in 12 point font, typed, and doubled-spaced.
4. Follow MLA style.
5. All papers must be submitted to Bb’s turnitin.com link (You may hand in a paper copy also, if you wish)
Questions: Answer only ONE of the following questions. You may refer briefly to other characters, but the two you choose should dominate your essay. Remember, this is one essay with one thesis. Do not allow it to become two essays on two characters! Be sure that BOTH the characters you choose work together to support your thesis.
1. Choose two minor characters from the novel: why do we need these characters? What ideas, themes, or meaning would be lost if they were to be cut from the novel? (ex. Paul Barton, Kosti, M. Achille, Odette, Edna Novemali, Grey Maturin, Mrs. Bradley etc.) (Mr. M, Isabel, Elliot, Larry, Suzanne, and Sophie are major characters.)
2. Americans cherish the notion of rebelling, of going one’s own way and of flouting tradition. Is rebellion against one’s culture, parents, or tradition necessary in the transition to adulthood for any two characters, or do these characters show that rebellion’s value is exaggerated?
3. Suzanne says that falling in love can be dangerous. In the lives of any two characters in this novel, is it better to live a life centered around love or better to live a life centered around other considerations (ex. security, finances, prestige)?
4. Mr. M. denies us a plot that ends with a rite of passage (such as a wedding or funeral) that usually ends a novel. Are rites of passage significant in the lives of two characters, or does the novel undermine the notion that rites of passage hold any meaningful value or function at all?
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