pleases read the instruction carefully
- For your final essay, you will be looking at generaltopics/themes—ideas that connect the stories and poems in Volume E: AmericanLiterature since 1945. All reading selections must come from thetextbook. Here is a link to the table of contents (in case you don’t havethe book): http://media.wwnorton.com/cms/contents/NAAL8_VE_TOC.pdf
- Before writing your essay, please read either theintroduction to Volume E or the briefer online introduction (copiedbelow). You will find the part called “Literary Developments”and the timeline very useful.
- In your essay (750-1000 words or more), you will traceone of these general ideas through at least four pieces ofliterature by different writers (poets, playwrights, fictionwriters–no essays, speeches, or non-fiction prose) from this timeperiod.
- In other words, you will be discussing the work of fourwriters; you may include more than one work by each of the fourwriters.
- The paper should be in essay form with an introduction,body paragraphs, and a conclusion rather than a collection of readingresponses. Please do not use sub-headings.
- You must use quotations from the readingselections as support for your general ideas.
- You should not use the same works that you used in yourreading responses for Volume E or the novel or short story that you wroteabout in your research paper.
- Please do not choose long reading selections for thispaper.
- If you have questions or need suggestions, please letme know.
The final should show me that you have read selections fromvarious parts of Volume E.
Here are some possible ways to group the reading selections (choose one):
- Reading selections that reveal something aboutrelationships between parents and children during this time period(especially adults looking back on their relationships with their parents)
The final is a test of your ability to use critical thinking skills as youdiscuss the stories and poems, so you should use sources sparingly. Also, ifyou are quoting, even from the textbook, please use quotation marks or block(indent 10 spaces from the left margin) quotations of more than three lines. Asalways, you should follow MLA format. If you don’t use secondary sources(sources other than the textbook), you do not need a works cited page. If you use the textbook as your onlysource, just include page numbers. Do not repeat the authors’ names over andover in parentheses. The authors’ names should be in sentences in the text ofthe paper, not in parentheses. Only page number should in parenthesis.
