ENGL 1302 Essay #1- Fiction Analysis

Instructor

ENGL 1302-??

ENGL 1302 Essay #1: Fiction Analysis

For your first short essay, critically read and analyze a short story of your choice from our textbook. All the selections are excellent, but I highly recommend some of my favorites:

· “Cathedral,” Raymond Carver

· “The Shabbat” from Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi

· “Sonny’s Blues,” James Baldwin

· “The Lady With the Dog,” Anton Chekhov

· “A Pair of Tickets,” Amy Tan

For your essay, focus on one element of fiction (based on your readings in our textbook: character, plot, narration/POV, setting, symbol, etc.) and analyze it closely as it pertains to the story you have selected. Sometimes other elements may factor into your analysis, but your analysis should stay clearly focused on that primary element of short fiction.

Your essay will be no more than 2 to 2 ½ pages but must reveal critical thinking about the literary situation. Format your essay according to MLA guidelines (like this sheet):

· MLA-style paper heading, pagination

· Times New Roman, 12-point font

· Double-spaced lines with no extra space between paragraphs

· Appropriate citation of any quoted material

· MLA-style works cited page for any cited sources

I will not grade any essay that does not observe MLA conventions; if you turn in an essay that is not MLA appropriate, I will reject it and reduce your grade by 10% for every day that it is late until you have it correctly formatted and resubmitted. The assessment rubric for this paper is based on a maximum possible score of 100:

10 pts: The essay is guided by an articulate thesis that frames the work by identifying the element of fiction being analyzed

30 pts: The essay presents a clear and critical analysis of one element of fiction in the selected literature

20 pts: The essay uses specific evidence from the chosen text to illustrate the analysis

30 pts: The essay organization guides the audience through the analysis and justifies the analysis in a logical structure.

10 pts: Correct MLA formatting, including the Works Cited page, in an essay of no less than 2 full pages with minimal (5 or fewer) grammar and mechanics errors

_________

100 points total