ENG 102 Essay connecting ideas in three works

LENGTH: 1000-1100 WORDS - Criteria for evaluation

Critical commentary (secondary sources)

DUE ~  Topic and selections -11/16 ;  Essay due -11/21


Assignment:
Choose three or four works from the course from two or three genres* which appeal to you and which have similar themes or ideas. You must select two works which you have not written about in the first two essays. Use the thematic index in the text appendix to review themes and related titles. In reviewing the works, think critically and creatively about the ideas and characters and review notes from class discussions and your assignments. After rereading your selections, compose an essay in your own words interpreting the idea common to the three works.

Audience: People who have read the works and want a better understanding of the theme and characters.

Organization

Introduction
In the opening section (one or two paragraphs) identify the title and author of each work you are interpreting and explain the focus of your essay. Your main point (the thesis--the point you will prove) should be the last sentence of your first paragraph or the closing sentence of the second paragraph, depending on how you've decided to introduce your essay. The essay's title should also reflect your thesis. In this section you might also pose one or more questions you are addressing.

Body
The body of your essay depends on what you've decided to examine as supporting evidence. For example, you might analyze the theme of prejudice and how it limits communication. You might examine how power is abused in relationships or how greed causes human suffering. You might also look at how three different characters influence the protagonist to change or experience a new self-awareness. Remember, your main purpose is to explain what you have learned by connecting ideas and analyzing the works, not just to list similarities and differences. Choose relevant supporting details and use five or more quotations; you should include at least one quotation and citation for each work. Make sure the quotations are properly introduced and integrated in the text of your essay.

Conclusion
Your final paragraph may frame the essay by referring to a statement or image in your opening section or title. You may make a final judgment of one character as more admirable than another or explain what the future may hold for the characters.


Document Format
and Citations

 

Works Cited

Browning, Robert. "My Last Duchess." Literature: A Pocket Anthology. Ed. R. S. Gwynn. New York: Longman, 2012. 558-559. Print.

Glaspell, Susan. Trifles. Literature: A Pocket Anthology. Ed. R. S. Gwynn. New York: Longman, 2012. 1031-1044. Print.

Ibsen, Henrik. A Doll's House. New York: Dover Publications, 1992. Print.

Miller, Michael G. "Browning's My Last Duchess." Explicator 47.4 (Summer 89): 32. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web.

 

Criteria for judging written essays

*Genres we have read include short stories, plays, and poems.

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