Transformation in Literature Essay: How or why do characters transform themselves throughout the course of a literary work or works. Analyze any of the literature form our course text The Literary Experience with themes of transformation.
Use poems or stories by authors such as Sylvia Plath, Alice Walker, Adrienne Rich, Charles Perrault, Sophocles, Shakespeare, Symborska, Joyce Carol Oates, Nathaniel Hawthorne Jhumpa Lahiri, Shirley Jackson, Merman Melville or Ernest Hemingway who are all included in the course reader. Writing about readings that address transformation from outside the course text, such as Colum McCann’s TransAtlantic is fine as well.
Questions to consider: what are the different types of transformation, flight or change portrayed in the writing? Who or what is “trans” as moving or crossing? How is the character or plot transformation either political or personal? How do the transformations in your chosen literary work or works relate to and/or effect history? Try to develop a few ideas and a thesis or main point of your own. This should be some topic (the idea of home, music, or migration, for example) that elaborates on one or several literary works. You must have 4-5 sources in your works cited. It is a reading of Ernest Hemingway’s “Hills Like White Elephants” and only includes three references. You must include more than that. Remember, while you will use critics to support your reading of a literary work, your thesis should not simply echo their ideas. You may use, discard, agree, or disagree with what others have said about a literary work but the paper should predominantly display what you think about the subject you have chosen. Be sure to cite your sources for every idea that is not your own, both when you quote the other writer’s words and when you borrow his or her insights.
PAPER FORMAT: You are expected to use MLA style of documentation and make several trips to the library. The papers should include citations, source references, proper grammar, and clear language. Each paper should contain a specific argument. It should contain an organized introduction and conclusion, supporting details, transitions, and well-developed paragraphs. They are not diary entries. You will be graded on the basis of these qualities in your writing: critical quality, clear articulation, proper citations, ability to critique a problem, and overall clarity.
An “A” paper will include original insights and theoretical ideas as as well as superior writing. Strong essays with no major flaws or logical inconsistencies will receive a “B.” You will receive a “C” if there are grammatical errors, including improper references or lack in the bibliography. No bibliography and/ or sources is an automatic “D” or “F”.