Introduction:
Literature comes in many forms and
comments on the culture and society in which it was written. However, the tools
for successfully analyzing and interpreting literature remain constant
throughout genres and time periods. Careful study of the written word results
in finely honed analytical tools, which cross discipline boundaries and are
further useful in interpreting and understanding mathematical equations,
scientific problems, and day-to-day events.
This task asks you to critically read,
analyze, and interpret two works of literature. You will analyze the ways in
which characters in the literary works experience social struggles, whether
they are based in class, race, gender, sexuality, educational level, or region.
In order to achieve this, you will choose literary elements that help you
analyze and show how this social struggle is represented in the literary works
you choose.
For this assessment, choose one of
the following options:
Option
1: Multimedia Presentation (suggested length of 15–20 slides)
Your slides should include the
following:
Introduction
with thesis
Main points of
your argument/literary analysis
Relevant
quotations and citations from the texts
Conclusion
Option
2: Written Analysis (suggested length of 10–12 pages)
Your analysis should include the
following:
Introduction
with thesis
Main points of
your argument/literary analysis
Relevant
quotations and citations from the texts
Conclusion
Select two of the following
literary works of the same genre (e.g., two novels or two poems)
to be the subject of your presentation or analysis.
Short Stories and Novellas:
Jorge Louis
Borges, “The Garden of Forking Paths”
Ray Bradbury,
“The Veldt”
Angela Carter,
“The Loves of Lady Purple”
William
Faulkner, “Arose For Emily”
Jacques
Futrelle, “The Problem of Cell 13”
William
Gibson, “Johnny Mnemonic”
Charlotte
Perkins Gilman, “Yellow Wallpaper”
Nathaniel
Hawthorne, “Rappaccini’s Daughter”
E.T.A.
Hoffman, “The Sandman”
Henry James,
“Daisy Miller”
H.P.
Lovecraft, “The Outsider”
Katherine Mansfield, “Miss Brill”
Yukio Mishima,
“Patriotism”
Toni Morrison,
“Recitatif”
Joyce Carol
Oates, “In the Region of Ice”
James Tiptree Jr, “The Girl Who Was
Plugged In”
Plays:
Jean Anouilh, Becket
David Auburn, Proof
T.S. Eliot, Murder
in the Cathedral
Brian Friel, Translations
James Goldman,
The Lion in Winter: A Play
Lorraine
Hansberry, Raisin in the Sun
Henrik Ibsen, A
Doll’s House
Ben Jonson, Volpone
Thomas
Middleton, The Revenger’s Tragedy
Marsha Norman,
‘night, Mother
Eugene
O’Neill, Long Day’s Journey Into Night
William
Shakespeare, Measure of Measure
John Patrick
Shanley, Doubt
Anna Deveare
Smith, Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992
Tom Stoppard, Arcadia
Luis Valdez, Zoot Suit
Novels:
Sherman
Alexie, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian
Margaret
Atwood, Cat’s Eye
Jane Austen, Persuasion
Octavia
Butler, Kindred
A.S. Byatt, Possession
Michael
Cunningham, The Hours
Phillip K.
Dick, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
Charles
Dickens, Hard Times
E.M. Forster, Howard’s
End
Zora Neale
Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God
Ursula LeGuin,
The Left Hand of Darkness
JhumpaLahiri, The
Namesake
Walter Mosley,
Devil in a Blue Dress
Michael
Ondaajte, The English Patient
Zadie Smith, On
Beauty
Jonathan
Swift, Gulliver’s Travels
Virginia
Woolf, Mrs. Dalloway
Edith Wharton, House of Mirth
Poems:
W.H. Auden,
“Funeral Blues”
Anna Leticia
Barbauld, “Washing Day”
Elizabeth
Bishop, “In the Waiting Room”
Gwendolyn
Brooks, “To the Diaspora”
Mark Doty,
“The Embrace”
Paul Laurence
Dunbar, “Sympathy” (“I know why the caged bird sings”), 1899.
Queen
Elizabeth I, “The Doubt of Future Foes”
Robert Frost ,
“Out, Out—”
Allen Ginsberg, “A Supermarket in
California”
Seamus Heaney,
“Blackberry-Picking”
Langston
Hughes, “Theme for English B”
SuhiKwock Kim,
“Monologue for an Onion”
Li-Young Lee,
“For a New Student of These United States”
AudreLorde,
“Hanging Fire”
Marianne
Moore, “Poetry”
Marge Piercy,
“Barbie Doll”
Mary Jo
Salter, “Welcome to Hiroshima”
Wallace
Stevens, “Sunday Morning”
Walt Whitman,
“Beat! Beat! Drums!”
Thomas Wyatt, “They Flee From Me”
Choose
three of the literary elements listed below:
Plot
Characterization
Point of view
Irony
Figurative
language
Diction
Tone/mood
Symbolism
Theme
Setting
Imagery
Task:
A. Introduce the first literary work and
how the characters experience social struggles.
B. Introduce the second literary work
and how the characters experience social struggles.
C. Analyze the ways in which the first
literary element helps to reveal the characters’ social struggles.
1. Cite one example from the
first work that demonstrates how this literary element reveals a specific
social struggle.
2. Cite one example from the
second work that demonstrates how this literary element reveals a specific
social struggle.
3. Compare and contrast how the literary
element reveals the characters’ social struggles in the two works.
D. Analyze the ways in which the second
literary element helps to reveal the characters’ social struggles.
1. Cite one example from the
first work that demonstrates how this literary element reveals a specific
social struggle.
2. Cite one example from the
second work that demonstrates how this literary element reveals a specific
social struggle.
3. Compare and contrast how the literary
element reveals the characters’ social struggles in the two works.
E. Analyze the ways in which the third
literary element helps to reveal the characters’ social struggles.
1. Cite one example from the
first work that demonstrates how this literary element reveals a specific
social struggle.
2. Cite one example
from the second work that demonstrates how this literary element reveals a
specific social struggle.
3. Compare and contrast how the literary
element reveals the characters’ social struggles in the two works.
F. Analyze the ways in which the author
of the first work reveals his/her own social struggles in the social struggles
represented in the literary work.
G. Analyze the ways in which the author
of the second work reveals his/her own social struggles in the social struggles
represented in the literary work.
H. When you use sources, include all
in-text citations and references in APA format. Note: When bulleted points
are present in the task prompt, the level of detail or support called for in
the rubric refers to those bulleted points.
Note: For definitions of terms commonly
used in the rubric, see the Rubric Terms web link included in the Evaluation
Procedures section.
Note: When using sources to support
ideas and elements in a paper or project, the submission MUST include APA
formatted in-text citations with a corresponding reference list for any direct
quotes or paraphrasing. It is not necessary to list sources that were consulted
if they have not been quoted or paraphrased in the text of the paper or
project.
Note: No more than a
combined total of 30% of a submission can be directly quoted or closely
paraphrased from sources, even if cited correctly. For tips on using APA style,
please refer to the APA Handout web link included in the General Instructions section.
