Revised Critical Approaches Essay Assignment Formatted: Font: 12 pt

Formatted: Line spacing: Double

Introduction

One of the most important skills a burgeoning college-level writer must accomplish is the Formatted: Indent: First line: 0.5", Line spacing: Double

art of analysis. Being able to understand the nature of a written work--what, how, why, and

when--is important to developing critical thinking and critical writing skills. Now that youve

completed a genre unit, its time to put your analysis skills to the test. Every genre essay you

write, including the critical approach essay, is designed to help you, not only analyze, but to

practice the writing process, with a special emphasis on revision. Each essay is one small step

closer to creating the final portfolio, where youll be given the chance to make revisions and

make each essay stronger.

Essay Parameters Formatted: Line spacing: Double

Use one of the following critical approaches for your essay. Only use one of the following

approaches below:

Biographical

Psychoanalytic: Freud, Jung, or Lacan

Reader-response

Marxist

Feminist

African American and Ethnic

New Historicism
 Formatted: Font: 12 pt

Essay Prompt

Using the same work from either the Fiction Analysis Essay or the Poetry Analysis Formatted: Indent: First line: 0.5", Line spacing: Double

Essay, use one of the Critical Approaches above to analyze the work. Along with the critical

approach, answer the following question: Looking at the content of the work youve selected,

how can what the work covers be linked to a real-world event or issue, past or present? Please

note: Do not use the critical approach to analyze the real-world event/issue; only use it for the

story or poem youre analyzing.

Formatted: Line spacing: Double

Essay Guidelines

Following the essay prompt above, write a three page essay in MLA format, complete Formatted: Indent: First line: 0.5", Line spacing: Double

with a Works Cited page (separate from page requirement). This essay should carefully and

clearly analyze the work via BOTH the critical approach of your choice and the real-world

event/issue, showing how they are linked/related. To aid in your analysis, your essay must

include at least two quotes to back up your analysis, but not more than four quotes. To address

the real-world event/issue, you are to research the event/issue and select one scholarly article

using NCLive, making sure to include one to two quotes from this text. No quotes should be

longer than three lines long, making sure to properly explain each quotes use in your analysis. In

other words, dont just use a quote, then walk away from it (metaphorically speaking). Explain to

the reader the importance and significance of each quote and how it relates to your analysis.

Only use our text for this essay. Not using a scholarly source will count against your grade for

the final draft in the ePortfolio.

Formatted: Line spacing: Double

 In terms of the content, your analysis must include the basics of essay construction: Formatted: Indent: First line: 0.5", Line spacing: Double

introduction, body paragraphs, and conclusion. However, it should not conform to the

stereotypical five-paragraph essay. Keep in mind that analyses can take several more paragraphs

to get your point across. In the introduction, be sure to include the name of your work and its

author, the critical approach youre using for your analysis, and even a short summary of the

content of the work. End the introduction with your thesis statement, which focuses on the main

idea of your essay. The body paragraphs consist of your analysis and should flow smoothly from

one point to another via clear and effective transitional words or phrases, such as Furthermore,

Also, Another example is, or even In conclusion. The conclusion, other than wrapping up

your main ideas, should also include some form of implication, evaluation, or area of

ambiguity/unanswered question from the text. This is addressed in our text on pages 1268-1269.

This will add depth to the conclusion and your analysis as a whole.

Formatted: Line spacing: Double

Essay Assessment

Because this course has a portfolio requirement at the end, the grades for each essay will Formatted: Indent: First line: 0.5", Line spacing: Double

consist of two parts: the basic requirements grade and the final grade. The basic requirements

grade consists of whether or not the essay meets basic formatting and submission requirements,

with feedback on how to improve your essay for later revision. This portion of the grade consists

of half the essay grade. The final grade will consist of the remainder of the essay grade and will

take into account the revisions youve made to improve the essays quality, as well as submission

requirements. Please note that plagiarism penalties will apply to this assignment (for both parts),

so make sure this essay is original to you for this class in this semester. Borrowing old

assignments is not permitted.

 Formatted: Line spacing: Double

Due Dates and Submission Requirements

The initial due date for the first part of this essay is due Week Thirteen. Check the Formatted: Indent: First line: 0.5", Line spacing: Double

course schedule for the exact date. There will be small group conferences and peer review to aid

with the writing of this essay. In terms of submitting this essay, you will submit the paper copy

in my office (80% of the grade) and via Blackboard dropbox (20% of the grade) on the due date.

The first part of this essay grade is worth 50 points and the late policy (-10%) will apply for

submissions provided one class period after the due date. No submissions will be allowed

afterwards.

Formatted: Line spacing: Double