World Literature I: Critical Essay 200pts
The Critical Essay is your opportunity to showcase your ideas and exercise critical thinking. Feel free to explore things that we did not have a chance to discuss in class. Following your interests will make this essay all the easier to complete. These are the guidelines:
1 The essay should be at least 1500 words (5-7pgs) in length and analyze a text we have read in class; 12pt font, Times New Roman, double-spaced, and no cover sheet (put your information on the top left-hand corner of the first page and your title centered).
2. You must utilize at least three (3) critical works, either about the author or the text itself (historical or critical). Use MLA in-text citations and you must include a Works Cited.
3 Plagiarism (the use of another’s work as your own) will not be tolerated and at the least will result in failure of the essay (if it is more severe a case, it could be grounds for failure of the class and for being reported to Student Affairs). If you have any doubts or questions, let the instructor know.
4. You do have the option of creating your own topic. You must turn in an essay topic for instructor approval by April 8th. After this date or if you do not receive approval, you must select one of the topics below.
5 Please find below a rubric that will be used for evaluation.
6. The outline worksheet is due April 15th. The essay, and Works Cited is due April 27.
Here are some possible topics for the Critical Essay. If you choose to create your own, remember that you must receive instructor approval. By choosing one of the topics below, you automatically have approval of your topic. Also, feel free to use the topics as tools to compare/contrast texts (our class film counts as a text).
- Discuss the portrayal of Good vs. Evil. What form does evil take? How does good overcome evil?
- Discuss the roles of women. What do the roles of
women reflect about the culture? - Compare/Contrast the story of Joseph in the Hebrew Bible and in the Koran. What can one learn from what the texts share in common? Differences?
- Discuss the role of religion. How does religion shape the plot, characters, or language of the literary work?
- Discuss the theme of storytelling in works like The Thousand and One Nights, Sunjata, OR The Canterbury Tales. What seems to be the function of telling stories in any of these works?
Your Critical Essay is worth a total of 200 points. To obtain your average score on your paper, simply divide the total points earned on the paper by 200. Your total points on your essay were assigned in the following manner: