Introduction to Literature Assignment

Why Write a Draft?

All writers begin a project by brainstorming their ideas and constructing a rough draft. The draft is not a completed paper; rather, it allows writers to explore and develop their ideas. As part of the writing process, it is important for writers to rehearse their materials before those materials "go live."

You will complete a draft this week that will allow you to explore and develop your ideas in preparation for your Literary Analysis, which is due in Week Five. Writing a literary analysis helps us to more readily connect conflicts in literature to our everyday experiences and analyze our own lives as well as human motivations and behavior in general. Finally, it improves our writing and reading skills overall.

How to Write the Draft

Closely read and take notes on the Literary Analysis assignment found under the Week Five tab. There, you will find complete directions. By this point in the course, you will have discussed two texts from the List of Literary Works, defined at least one conflict, and identified and described at least three literary techniques as specified in the Week Five Literary Analysis prompt.

For this assignment, you will construct a working thesis statement that defines in detail the conflict you will analyze, the two texts you will address, and the literary devices you will apply to your final analysis. Review the Writing a Clear and Sound Thesis for a Literary Analysis for support.

The body of your paper, which will consist of 800 to 1000 words, is to be presented in four sections as detailed below.

Conflict

Identify the conflict in the two texts you have chosen.

Identify the similarities and differences in the representation of the conflict in the texts.

Identify three literary techniques and elements that help represent this conflict.

Literary Techniques in [Title of First Chosen Text]

Explain where and how you see the three literary techniques at work in your chosen first text.

Provide specific examples by quoting, paraphrasing, and/or summarizing.

Explain how the literary techniques/examples define and draw out this conflict.

Literary Techniques in [Title of Second Chosen Text]

Explain where and how you see the three literary techniques at work in your second chosen text.

Provide specific examples by quoting, paraphrasing, and/or summarizing.

Explain how the literary techniques define and draw out this conflict.

Similarities and Differences

Compare and contrast the manner in which the texts address the conflict.

Explain if they use different and/or similar literary techniques to articulate that conflict.

Explain the different and/or similar resolutions of each conflict and how those resolutions were reached.

Compile a working references list on a separate page that is formatted according to APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center.
Keep in mind you are writing a literary analysis so please avoid supplying extensive summaries of the texts. Write a summary only when it aids you in describing a specific conflict and/or application of a literary device.

Assignment Requirements

Topic: Your draft must contain a working thesis that helps you to explore the topic. Your paper must address at least two of the texts (one of which must be a short story), a specific conflict, and at least three of the literary techniques.

List of Literary Works

For your Literary Analysis, select at least two works from the list below that share the same type(s) of conflict(s). Remember, one of them must be a short story. You can either compare two short stories, a short story and a poem, or a short story and a play.

- Short Stories

o "Country Lovers" (Gordimer, 1975)
o "Hills Like White Elephants" ( Hemingway, 1927)
o "Good Country People" (O'Connor, 1953)
o "The Things They Carried" (O'Brien, 1990)
o "No Name Woman" (Kingston, 1975)
o "Sonny's Blues" ( Baldwin, 1957)
o "Sweat" (Hurston, 1926)
o "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been" (Oates, 1966)
o "A Rock Trying to Be a Stone" (Troncoso, 1997)
o "Greasy Lake" (Boyle, 1985)
o "What You Pawn, I Will Redeem" (Alexie, 2003)

- Poems

o "Let America Be America Again" (Hughes, 1935)
o "What It's Like to Be a Black Girl" (Smith, 1991)
o "Child of the Americas" (Morales, 1986)
o "To Live in the Borderlands" (Anzaldua, 1987)
o "A Point West of San Bernardino" (Delgado, 2013)
o "America" (Blanco, 1998)
o "Oranges" (Soto, 1995)
o "Poetry" (Neruda, 1982)
o "Burial" (Che, 2014)
o "Ways of Talking" (Jin, 1996)
o "Bright Copper Kettles" (Seshadri, 2010)
o "Blood" (Nye, 1986)

Introduction to Literature

o "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night" (Thomas, 1952)
o "My Last Duchess" (Browning, 1842)
o "The Boxer" (Simon, 1968)
o "Grief Calls Us to the Things of This World" (Alexie, 2009)
o "The Raven" (Poe, 1845)

- Drama

o Macbeth (Shakespeare, 1606)
o A Midsummer's Night Dream, (Shakespeare, 1590)
o Mistaken Identity (Cooper, 2008)
o The Importance of Being Earnest (Wilde, 1895)

Length: Your draft must be 800 to 1000 words in length, excluding the title and references pages.

Sources: Your draft must contain a working references page with two to four sources used to support your examples and findings.

Elements of Academic Writing: Your draft must contain clear transitions between sections.

APA: Your assignment must be formatted according to APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center.

Separate Title Page: Must include a separate title page that lists the following: an original title, your name, date of submission, and your instructor's name.

Separate References Page: At the end of your paper, include a separate references page that lists all sources utilized for and cited within your analysis.

Proper Citations: All sources must be properly cited according to APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center, both within the text of your paper and on the references page.