Make sure you relate your chosen element in meaningful ways to other significant elements in the story (character, plot, symbols, figurative language, etc.), as appropriate.****You must cite from two outside SCHOLARLY SOURCES in your essay!!! VERY IMPORTANT.
****You must locate these sources via either the JSTOR or Project Muse databases.
****YOU MAY NOT USE Wikipedia, Sparknotes, or websites found via general Google searches.Choose one of the following essays:
The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe
A Rose for Emily by William Faulkner
Young Goodman Brown by Nathaniel Hawthorne***Setting: In gothic fiction, the element of setting assumes a prominence beyond its usual role in most stories that is disturbing.
-Why?
-What makes it a “gothic” (horror-inducing) place and/or space?
-What themes are implied by the detailed descriptions of Poe’s gothic places/spaces?
-Are the places/spaces symbolic? Of what? What language describing the places/spaces suggests those ideas?
-To what extent could the gothic places/spaces, perhaps, be considered active
participants in the stories? In what ways? Can the descriptions of the settings be read as a projection or reflection or revelation of the character’s psychological state, perhaps of his/her sub-conscious? If so,
what do we learn about the inner world of the character?
-How does the language describing the settings contribute to the horror effect in
general? Look closely at language as you answer these questions. Narrator: See definition of unreliable narrator (online). Discuss some of the ways the author undermines the “reliability” of the narrator’s presentation of the story.
-How and why does that undermining create a sense of horror?
-To what degree is the narrator’s narration unreliable?
-What is his motive? Is he lying or mistaken for some reason? unethical? indifferent or lazy?
downright crazy? Or what? Does the narrator think he is
unreliable?If we can’t believe everything the narrator says (and
have good evidence for our skepticism), then how do we know what “really” happened or what is the “correct” way to interpret signs or actions or passages? Keep in mind that the author has to provide us, through the narrator’s narration, with enough information to determine the possible shortcomings of the
narrator–very tricky technique since the narrator cannot be aware that he is undermining his own narration. Is the revelation of the narrator’s shortcomings gradual throughout the story or a surprise (shocking?) revelation near the end of the story? In looking back over the story, where has the
author inserted some foreshadowing of the unreliability of the narrator–or with-held information that
would make us question the narrator more closely? Why? How does all this contribute to the overall
horror-effect of the story?Structure:
Your essay should include an introduction that introduces the topic and ends with a clearly worded, 1-2 sentence thesis statement. Each supporting paragraph (there should be at least 3) should begin with a strong topic sentence and should incorporate evidence, including direct quotations from secondary scholarly sources. Direct quotations should be incorporated using the quotation sandwich method and proper MLA in-text citations. The essay should also contain a
strong conclusion. The final page of the document should consist of a Works Cited page. Tips for formatting electronic sources can be found here (link: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/05/)You need to compose a full first draft of your literary analysis essay. As the instructions state, you will need select one element (setting or unreliable narrator) and explain how it is used to create a sense of horror in ONE of the short stories listed above.In your essay, you should also reference literary criticism (i.e. scholarly research) pertaining to the short story you’ve selected (a good starting place for key search terms should probably include the title of the short story and the term “gothic”). Remember to use the databases that I’ve stipulated.Formatting Tips:
Your document should be 5-7 pages in length, typed and double-spaced, in Times New Roman font, size 12. Your paper should have 1-inch margins and should include a properly formatted heading and a title.Tips:
**As you study your selected story, develop a solid thesis about this topic–some conclusion you have arrived at–
and make sure you cite lots of examples and details from the story to support and illustrate your thesis and subpoints. And make sure you discuss and explain your evidence.
**And please read Organizing your Paper (online). One thing you do NOT want to do is to produce a paper that
just answers each of the above questions, one after another. There is no particular reason or purpose in the order of the questions, so you would end up with a very unfocused and disorganized paper.
**You must cite scholarly sources in this paper. You must include all sources cited in your essay (both the primary texts, i.e. the short stories, as well as any outside sources) in your Works Cited page. This page, which will be the final page of your document, must be formatted according to MLA requirements. This page should list all works referenced in your paper (including your short story).
Use standard in-text citation (author and page), and put the source information on the final page of your
document labeled “Works Cited”). Follow MLA directions (link: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/ _
See this short summary of MLA style.Scroll down the page to find a long list of links for in-text citation and
bibliographies, including how to do electronic sources (online) https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/08/
