Assignment

Choose one of the questions below:

• For the creative soul:

Make use of the tools you have gained in this course to write an essay that analyzes a piece of your own creative writing. The creative piece should be no longer than 3 pages (or, if you are a poet, 3 of your poems written in a similar style) and must be submitted with your essay. Your essay must be at least 4 pages in length. Assume the voice of a literary critic and analyze your work using two narratological concepts from the course (you might consider anachrony, actantial role, the uses of heterodiegesis, or the effect of scene and summary, for example). The goal is to unpack your work using specific textual examples and not to discuss your intention as a writer. TIP: Blog/diary entries and short stories work best for this question. You are graded solely on your essay and not on your creative work.

• For the anarchist soul:

Literary fiction and non-fiction are, as we see in this course, treated as separate genres yet they employ many of the same techniques to construct their narratives. Using one or two narratological concepts from this course (i.e. anachrony, actantial role, heterodiegesis, scene and summary etc) compare and contrast how Northanger Abbey and the essay portion of The Lifespan of Fact rely upon the same narrative techniques to construct character, plot, narration OR story.

• For the trusting soul:

Northanger Abbey, The Lifespan of a Fact (the essay itself) and Adaptation each present us with a narrator who wants us to trust them. Should we? Can we? Using two narratological concepts we have discussed in relation to prose narrative analyze the reliability of the narrator in one of these texts.

• For the obsessive compulsive soul:

Aristotle tells us that showing (mimesis) is better than telling (diegesis). This is particularly relevant in script and film, two forms defined by showing. Yet Adaptation contains a fair amount of voice-over diegesis. Using two narratological concepts from this course analyze the difference between what gets told and what gets shown. Is there a logic for the difference?

• For the thrill-seeking soul:

Northanger Abbey relies on various gothic conventions in order to play with the reader's expectations. Use two narratological concepts from this course to analyze how the narrator achieves moods of suspense or gothic anticipation.

For the philosophical soul:

The Lifespan of Fact presents us, in the marginalia of the text, with a debate about the value of art in relation to truth. Does artistic licence justify distorting facts if it gets us closer to truth? Does art get in the way of truth? Use two narratological concepts from this course to consider the value of art, fact and truth in Lifespan of a Fact.

Your essay must:

• Be written in the MLA style (double spaced, numbered pages, in-text citations, works cited)
• Have a thesis
• Have support for that thesis with specific textual examples

Advice:

• Make sure you have finished the text(s) you will be using and make sure you understand the concepts/terms which will be central to your argument.
• Do not repeat evidence from texts used in lectures
• Make sure that you are quoting from the whole text and not just one section
• If you are comparing two texts be careful to not write two separate essays. Instead, think through your argument using both texts throughout the essay.
• Quotations should only be used to support your claim. Avoid the impulse to allow a text to speak for you.
• Avoid contractions, abbreviations and informal language.
• You can use "I" but be careful that you maintain a critical and analytical tone.
• Paragraphs should be approx. 3/4 of a page in length - significantly shorter paragraphs indicate ideas which are not developed or connected to an argument.