What impact did the war have on these boys to make them react in the way that they did.

For the Literary Analysis Essay, you will choose one of the authors that we have studied this semester and examine one of his/her works and make an argument about a theme, character, motivation, or historical context.

SOURCE MATERIALS:
The Library’s website will have access to a number of journals and databases that may help assist you in your search. You should use at least three scholarly sources (Sources that are derived from scholarly journals found in databases like JStor, Academic Search Premiere, or a similar database. DO NOT USE BLOGS. Blogs are unregulated, and can contain information that appears valid, but is in fact erroneous.
DO NOT use Wikipedia, Shmoop, eNotes, Sparknotes, or Cliff Notes as a source to support your argument. Restrict your outside sources to academic materials: Academic Articles, Historical Texts, and News articles from reputable sources (Huff Post, Breitbart, etc. are blogs and they are not acceptable).

You are required to use at least 5 outside sources in order to provide a background and support for your argument. These sources would go to support the argument you are making about the text. The paper will be written in MLA format, and must be 5 to 7 pages long. The bare minimum of the number of pages is 5, but a longer page count can help to insure a higher score.

METHODOLOGY:

In order to approach this essay from a historical stand point, you should start with the question: How is this author’s work a product of the societal conditions in which he/she was living? For example, if you choose to write about Graham Greene’s “The Destructors,” you would couch your discussion in terms of the historical conditions and attitudes in England. How did the war effect the psychology of the youth of the time period. What impact did the war have on these boys to make them react in the way that they did.
If you choose to do a character study, say Iago in Shakespeare’s Othello, you might start by asking what makes Iago so malevolent? In order to support your argument, you would like choose from sources written by psychologists, and historians as well as literary scholars.
You are also free to do an expanded reading of a poem. For example, if you chose Sharon Olds’ “I go back to May 1937”, you would look into the poet’s biography, criticism of the poet’s work, and perhaps even bring in some psychological texts.
Finally, the more daring of your number might choose to do a feminist reading of Joyce Carol Oates “Where are you going? Where have you been?” I would surmise that a wealth of feminist criticism could be found on the text through the library’s website. Such a reading might couch the Connie as the heroine of the story, and that her choice to leave with Arnold was just that: her choice. Moving forward one might suggest how the story, and Connie’s actions at large are resistance against male oppression. The possibilities are endless.

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