Please review the syllabus for upcoming assignments. We have begun Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, so check out the reading schedule to the right for the day's reading.
While working on Hamlet in preparation for a short in-class essay (Essay #3), we will also begin your out-of-class research-based analysis (Essay #4).
Important dates:
April 2--Meet in Roberts Library for research workshop with Mr. Paul Robards or Ms. Judy Ellis, the MGC librarians
April 16--In-class Essay #3
April 21--Research Analysis Topics due!
April 30--Research Essay #4 due!
In order to prepare for our April 2 library visit, you may want to start thinking about selecting a literary work for your final essay. You may select a new work or you may revise an earlier essay. (See below.)
Frequently Asked Student Questions
Research-based Analysis?! What is that? (Essay #4)
You will first select a poem, short story, scene from a play, or a chapter from a novel as the focus of an analysis of your selected work. You will be adding to your essay the opinions of one to two literary scholars.
You will create a thesis and develop your thesis using your ideas, support from the literary work (quotations and direct references), and ideas from the critics.
How many sources do I need?
One to two approved Galileo sources.
Do I have to use Galileo sources?
Yes.
What if I can't find an article that says what I want it to say?
You do not need to use an article that necessarily agrees with your thesis. You can disagree with a critic's interpretation as long as you provide support from the work and your own logic.
What if I can't find any article about my particular poem/story/play/novel!?
You do not even need to find an article that is on your selected poem/short story/ play/novel. You can take a critic's article analyzing another work by your author and apply it to your selected work. Often writers have similar themes that run through several works or maybe your selected work is a departure from other works.
For example, Stephen King has written many books that deal with writers as main characters and their struggle to write. Among these are The Shining, Misery, The Dark Half, and Bag of Bones, to name a few.
But maybe you want to write on Lisey's Story, a newer novel and can't find an article about that novel, but you do find an article discussing earlier novels, say The Shining and The Dark Half and King's writer characters in these novels. You could still use that article for your analysis by taking that critic's ideas and applying them to your analysis of this later novel and see what themes continue and/or have changed.
Start thinking now as we work on Hamlet and prepare for essay #3! Please see me about any ideas or questions you have!
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