Illuminate the chosen aspect of the work of literature

Instructions, Audience, and Purpose
Write a minimum of eight (8) pages, but no more than twelve (12) pages literary analysis, applying any choice of critical lens to some work of literature of your choice but based off the list available at this link: http://sonic.net/~rteeter/grtbloom.html. It is also preferred students will choose some work of literature not covered in class. The student should include a minimum of three (3) outside, researched sources in the paper to support the student’s ideas. These three sources do not include the actual text being analyzed (in other words, Hamlet or Beowulf or some other work of literature on the list would not be considered a researched source; instead, it would be the primary source upon which the analysis is focused).

Your purpose is to illuminate the chosen aspect of the work of literature, help a college-level reader get more out it, and convince such a reader that your analysis of the subject in question is valid. The purpose of the assignment itself is to give you practice analyzing WHAT a particular subject means, HOW it is significant to an understanding of mythology, and WHY an audience should learn about it. You should also write with an audience of college instructors in mind.

Follow these steps:

After selecting the work of literature you’d like to use, start looking at primary sources on that subject. For example, if you were to choose the character of Ophelia from Hamlet, you might start by looking at articles and books that analyze what Ophelia represents.

Analyze the work you’ve chosen with that question in mind.
Answer the question, and from that answer formulate a thesis.
Find outside critical research on, in this case, the character of the Ophelia, to support the points you will be making. (Three sources)

Provide an especially focused INTRODUCTION which clearly states your thesis, and a similarly focused CONCLUSION which reaffirms that idea. I will post an outline later in the semester.

You will need to:

Research what other critics have said about the subject.
Write the question you are answering, maybe as the attention-getter opening of the paper.
Develop your argument fully, with focused paragraphs and good supporting evidence (reasons, examples, details, quotations, paraphrases) for your claims.
Acknowledge and refute counter-views. (This might be a good place to discuss other critic’s views a bit.)
Keep your audience clearly in mind.
Write engagingly. Write with imagination, insight, and, more than anything, clarity.
Document any sources using MLA format.
Format your manuscript according to MLA guidelines.
Avoid all types of plagiarism.
Carefully edit and proofread your work for lapses in clarity, stylistic problems, and mechanical errors. Sources must be properly credited using MLA format.
Include any drafts with instructor comments, and staple all hardcopy materials.

Illuminate the chosen aspect of the work of literature