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Essay #1 - Unit 1 (close reading)DeAnza College-EWRT1C
Instructor: Hearn
Fall 2002 - Essay #1 - close reading
Unit 1 - Who Is the Monster?
Assignment:
Select a 1-2 page passage from "The Metamorphosis", a poem, or a short story from this unit. Write a 2-3 page essay that provides a close analysis of the passage/text. In your essay, you should show how the form of the text expresses the content of the text. Thus, your essay will address both the structure as well as the theme(s) of the text.
You should utilize the skills and terminology for literary devices we have reviewed when providing your analysis. Since this is a fairly short assignment, you should keep your introduction and conclusion brief. Instead, I am more interested in your reading of the text. Outside research is not necessary and should be used sparingly, if it all. Your objective in this essay is not to show how the author's life is intertwined with the text or what other scholars have said about the text; rather, it is to show what the text itself is saying about a topic. Thus, the evidence for your interpretation should come from the text itself (i.e. a formalist reading of the text).
Make sure that you use details in your close reading. You should not engage in a general discussion of a theme; instead, you need to point your reader to specifics in the text.
Example
Too general:
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Gregor Samsa's transformation into a "monstrous vermin" represents the commodification and objectification of his body. |
| Stronger: | Gregor finds "himself changed in his bed into a monstrous vermin."
The sentence is written in passive voice to show that Gregor has no agency in this metamorphosis. Gregor does not change himself "into a monstrous vermin"; rather, it is something that is done to him. His body is commodified and objectified by his family as well as his society. |
Possible themes
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Logistics:
- All papers must be typed and double-spaced. Papers should have 1" margins on all sides and standard 12 pt. font should be used.
- Papers must be a minimum of two pages (not including the heading and title). Do not use an entire sheet of paper just for a title page.
- The paper is due by Friday, October 4, 2002 in my Administration Mailbox or in my office by 12:00 p.m. Do not submit papers in my English Department Mailbox.
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