Write A Critical Analysis Or Compare And Contrast Stories

Write a critical analysis or compare and contrast stories for weeks 1 and 2

Write a word essay on one of the following topics. The word count does not include formatting or the works cited page. Write a critical analysis of one of the works from weeks 1 or 2. An overview of approaches can be found here , but many are quite straightforward. Psychological, gender, sociological, biographical, and historical are all approaches that many use naturally in viewing a work.

However, if your interest lies elsewhere, feel free to choose another approach. Compare and contrast two of the stories from weeks 1 and 2. Be sure that you have isolated a strong and debatable thesis on which to build the essay. Simply pointing out the differences is not analysis. Toward that end, you may want to focus on a specific element of the stories.

If there's an aspect of the stories from these two weeks that particularly interests you, you may choose your own topic, but you must run it by me first to be sure it is headed in an analytical direction. Your essay should be formatted in MLA style , including double spacing throughout. All sources should be properly cited both in the text and on a works cited page. As with most academic writing, this essay should be written in third person. Please avoid both first person (I, we, our, etc.) and second person (you, your).

In the upper left-hand corner of the paper, place your name, the professor’s name, the course name, and the due date for the assignment on consecutive lines. Double space your information from your name onward, and don't forget a title. All papers should be in Times New Roman font with 12-point type with one-inch margins all the way around your paper. All paragraph indentations should be indented five spaces (use the tab key) from the left margin. All work is to be left justified.

When quoting lines in literature, please research the proper way to cite short stories, plays, or poems. You should use the online APUS library to look for scholarly sources. Be careful that you don’t create a "cut and paste" paper of information from your various sources. Your ideas are to be new and freshly constructed. Also, take great care not to plagiarize.

Whatever topic you choose you will need a debatable thesis. A thesis is not a fact, a quote, or a question. It is your position on the topic. The reader already knows the story; you are to offer him a new perspective based on your observations. Since the reader is familiar with the story, summary is unnecessary.

Rather than tell him what happened, tell him what specific portions of the story support your thesis.

Paper For Above instruction

The assignment requires crafting a comprehensive, analytical essay centered on one of the literary works studied during weeks 1 or 2 of the course. The core focus is to develop either a critical analysis of a single work or a comparative study of two stories from the initial weeks. The essay must demonstrate a clear, debatable thesis that offers new insights rather than mere summaries or superficial differences. This thesis should serve as the central argument, guiding the interpretation and analysis of chosen textual elements.

In developing the essay, students should employ one or several analytical approaches—psychological, gender, sociological, biographical, or historical—that best suit their interpretative stance. These approaches should be integrated seamlessly into the analysis, supporting their thesis with specific evidence from the texts. Originality and critical thinking are paramount: students must avoid plagiarism, ensure that ideas are freshly constructed, and properly cite all sources in MLA style, both within the text and on the Works Cited page.

The essay should be written in third person, with adherence to MLA formatting: double-spaced, Times New Roman font size 12, one-inch margins, and indented paragraphs (five spaces). The upper left corner of the paper must include the student's name, professor's name, course title, and due date. When quoting literary sources, students should research proper citation methods for short stories, plays, and poems to ensure correctness and consistency.

Since the assignment presupposes familiarity with the stories, the essay should delve into specific textual elements that support the thesis rather than recount plot details. Critical analysis should offer a nuanced perspective that enhances understanding of the works examined.

References

• Bloom, Harold. Bloom's Literary Reference. Bloom's Literary Criticism, 2007.
• Fowler, Alistair. The Philosophy of Literary Analysis. Routledge, 2010.
• Hacker, Diana. A Writer's Reference. Bedford/St. Martin's, 2011.
• Laberge, Jean. "Literary Approaches and Critical Perspectives." Journal of Literary Criticism, vol. 15, no. 2, 2015, pp. 45-60.
• Leitch, Vincent B. The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism. W.W. Norton & Company, 2001.
• Long, William J. "The Role of Formalist Analysis in Literary Criticism." Modern Criticism Journal, vol. 22, no. 3, 2018, pp. 115-130.
• Scholes, Robert, et al. Textual Power. Routledge, 1990.
• Tompkins, Jane. A Life in Stories. Harvard University Press, 2006.
• Wimsatt, William K., and Monroe C. Beardsley. “The Intentional Fallacy.” The Sewanee Review, vol. 54, no. 3, 1946, pp. 468–88.
• Young, Park. Analyzing Literature. Pearson, 2015.