PURPOSE:  Your purpose in writing this essay is to construct your own interpretation of a primary work of literature (fiction, nonfiction, poetry, drama) that you have selected.  By exploring how specific concepts from three literary theories prove useful/helpful to you in interpreting the primary work, you will create your own interpretation.
 

Select specific concepts from three literary theories analyzed in this course (e.g., formalism, archetypal theory, new historicism, postcolonialism, post-structuralism, psychoanalysis, gender studies, cultural studies, reader‑response) and use these theories to analyze a literary text of your choice.   Note: you do not have to use all of the major concepts from any one literary theory.  You can select concepts that are useful to you as you build your interpretation.
 

To prepare for writing the documented essay, please follow  these steps:  1) examine specific elements present in one primary work of literature; 2) analyze how specific concepts selected from three different critical theories might interpret the meaning of this work;  3) draw your own conclusions as to the usefulness of each of the critical approaches to you in interpreting the work of literature you have selected. 

Your objective in this assignment is two-fold:  1) to do research, using electronic and print sources, on a specific topic and 2) to prepare a documented essay of at 12-15  double-spaced, typed pages that integrates your and other sources' perspectives and that demonstrates your ability to use MLA documentation style.  Because MLA style calls for parenthetical documentation, you will have a minimum of endnotes (and no footnotes); endnotes will be necessary only to add information and/or explain a point.

1.  Three electronic WWW sources   (e.g., websites)

2.  Three hard print sources (e.g., critical articles, book chapters, intreviews, essays)

3.  Two other sources of your choice

Useful URLS:

http://www.columbia.edu/cu/cup/cgos/idx_basic.html    
Columbia Guide to Online Style
 

http://webster.commnet.edu/mla/index.shtml      
Writing Documented Essays