Length: 4 pages (plus additional Works Cited page)
Sources: Use 1-2 primary sour

Length: 4 pages (plus additional Works Cited page)
Sources: Use 1-2 primary sources of fiction AND 2 or more secondary sources of literary criticism as described below
Documentation: Correct MLA documentation is expected, including in-text citations and a Works Cited page. If you include any source material without giving proper credit, you risk either earning a zero on the assignment or an F as your final grade in the course.
Purpose:
This assignment will help you practice literary analysis and research skills that are essential to your success in this course:
Skills:
Create an interpretation based on close reading of 1-2 fictional texts.
Find at least two relevant and credible secondary sources of literary criticism.
Provide evidence from the 1-2 fictional texts and the secondary sources to support your interpretation.
Use MLA documentation, including correct source integration, in-text citations, and Works Cited page.
Connect your analysis to a larger context, such as the time period when the story or stories were written or set.
Practice the writing process by planning, drafting, revising, and editing your essay.
Assignment:
Create a literary analysis essay built on close readings of 1-2 fictional texts. Consider the elements of fiction and vocabulary terms you have learned this semester, and then choose one specific aspect of the text(s) to analyze, such as plot, point-of-view, characterization, setting, style, theme, tone, symbolism, irony, or use of a specific figurative language device.
After you have selected one aspect of the text(s), reread the text(s), looking for patterns. Think about how and why the author uses the elements of fiction to create meaning. Try to be specific. A statement like “Shirley Jackson’s ‘The Lottery’ uses foreshadowing” is a fact, not a thesis. You will have to think about how and why she uses foreshadowing. Then you have an interpretation that will need proof, which is much better.
If you select two fictional texts, you should choose ones that have a significant similarity in the element you wish to discuss. For example, if you wish to discuss how Tessie Hutchinson serves as a scapegoat for her community in Jackson’s “The Lottery,” you could connect that to another story with a scapegoat character, like the child in LeGuin’s “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas,” or if you wish to examine symbols of isolation in Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper,” you could pair that with another story with significant symbols of isolation, like Glaspell’s “A Jury of Her Peers” or Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily.” Then you can compare and contrast the texts to find patterns and come up with your thesis.
You may wish to consider a topic that you have already thought about or something mentioned on the course Content. If you need inspiration, the Analysis and Commentary sections in Modules 1-6 provide many different possible topics and questions for you to consider.