LCP: Primary Source Analysis
Your analysis of the American author’s work(s) you selected will form the foundation of your research paper. Do not consult SparkNotes, Shmoop, etc. -- it’s obvious to me when you do, and I’m not interested in what lame internet sites say. I want to know what you think.
To analyze anything, consider its function (purpose) and form (design), and how the function and form work together. To apply this to literary criticism:
Ask yourself what purposes the author has for writing -- what is he/she trying to show, or argue, or criticize, or question?
Ask yourself how the author has formed the work -- what structures and techniques do you see him/her using?
Ask yourself how the form and function work together.
The questions below will guide you through these basic considerations. Your final will focus on the most interesting answers you find. Replace the examples with your typed, double-spaced responses; keep the numbers. You must use complete sentences. No first or second person. Every quote needs an MLA in-text citation and accompanying entry on the Works Cited page at the end of this assignment. …show more content…
Only quote from primary sources on this assignment.
Subjects and Themes:
What subjects does your author use in the work(s) you read? 1-3 sentences
For example: Arthur Miller uses the Salem witch trials as the subject of his play, The Crucible. He focuses on human relationships, especially marital and family bonds.
In Christine, Stephen King uses the connection between a teenaged boy and his car as the subject of his book. He focuses on friendship, greed, and maturing. What themes does your author develop with these subjects? 1-3 sentences
For example: Miller uses marital and family bonds to explore ideas about truth and sacrifice. These bonds affect the protagonist’s decision-making throughout the play -- they help John Proctor to speak the truth even though it causes him to suffer.
King uses the elements of friendship, greed, and maturing to show how people can change with time. These elements weave their way throughout the story, affecting the characters in their choices and actions along the way. As time goes by, Arnie and Dennis mature as greed comes into play, testing their friendship. What position on these themes does your author assert? 3-6 sentences For example: In the end, John Proctor decides to die for the truth. He struggles to make this decision, but does so when he considers the example his actions will give his family. He wants his sons to act with integrity, so he must do the same. Miller suggests that the right decision often requires a person to sacrifice for the good of others. Miller also argues that truth trumps mere survival -- Proctor dies in the end, but with honor. As the story progresses, Arnie and Dennis slowly grow further apart as Arnie’s greed and obsession with his car fills up the widening void that was once their strong friendship. However, through this experience, both boys are maturing, further developing their personalities and characters. As Arnie is driven further and further away, Dennis tries harder and harder to bring back his old friend. Structure: How does your author structure his/her work(s)? 2-4 sentences per work - For novels or short stories: does the story progress chronologically? Does the author interrupt the chronology with flashbacks, or tell a non-linear narrative (like Kurt Vonnegut in Slaughterhouse-Five)? - For poetry: does the poet use an established form? (Sonnet, ballad, haiku, ode, etc.) Does the poet use a regular meter (rhythm) or rhyme scheme? A pattern of stanzas? For example: Walt Whitman writes his poem “Song of Myself” in free verse. He divides the poem into stanzas of irregular length -- some as short as one line, others spanning more than twenty lines. No pattern of end-rhyming exists in this poem. As the story progresses, Stephen King writes Christine in chronological order. In order to further explain some things, he brings a memoir, in the form of a flashback, into the story. This gives bit of a backstory. He uses memoirs, to take the reader back in time, giving a sort of personal account.
Your analysis of the American author’s work(s) you selected will form the foundation of your research paper. Do not consult SparkNotes, Shmoop, etc. -- it’s obvious to me when you do, and I’m not interested in what lame internet sites say. I want to know what you think.
To analyze anything, consider its function (purpose) and form (design), and how the function and form work together. To apply this to literary criticism:
Ask yourself what purposes the author has for writing -- what is he/she trying to show, or argue, or criticize, or question?
Ask yourself how the author has formed the work -- what structures and techniques do you see him/her using?
Ask yourself how the form and function work together.
The questions below will guide you through these basic considerations. Your final will focus on the most interesting answers you find. Replace the examples with your typed, double-spaced responses; keep the numbers. You must use complete sentences. No first or second person. Every quote needs an MLA in-text citation and accompanying entry on the Works Cited page at the end of this assignment. …show more content…
Only quote from primary sources on this assignment.
Subjects and Themes:
What subjects does your author use in the work(s) you read? 1-3 sentences
For example: Arthur Miller uses the Salem witch trials as the subject of his play, The Crucible. He focuses on human relationships, especially marital and family bonds.
In Christine, Stephen King uses the connection between a teenaged boy and his car as the subject of his book. He focuses on friendship, greed, and maturing. What themes does your author develop with these subjects? 1-3 sentences
For example: Miller uses marital and family bonds to explore ideas about truth and sacrifice. These bonds affect the protagonist’s decision-making throughout the play -- they help John Proctor to speak the truth even though it causes him to suffer.
King uses the elements of friendship, greed, and maturing to show how people can change with time. These elements weave their way throughout the story, affecting the characters in their choices and actions along the way. As time goes by, Arnie and Dennis mature as greed comes into play, testing their friendship. What position on these themes does your author assert? 3-6 sentences For example: In the end, John Proctor decides to die for the truth. He struggles to make this decision, but does so when he considers the example his actions will give his family. He wants his sons to act with integrity, so he must do the same. Miller suggests that the right decision often requires a person to sacrifice for the good of others. Miller also argues that truth trumps mere survival -- Proctor dies in the end, but with honor. As the story progresses, Arnie and Dennis slowly grow further apart as Arnie’s greed and obsession with his car fills up the widening void that was once their strong friendship. However, through this experience, both boys are maturing, further developing their personalities and characters. As Arnie is driven further and further away, Dennis tries harder and harder to bring back his old friend. Structure: How does your author structure his/her work(s)? 2-4 sentences per work - For novels or short stories: does the story progress chronologically? Does the author interrupt the chronology with flashbacks, or tell a non-linear narrative (like Kurt Vonnegut in Slaughterhouse-Five)? - For poetry: does the poet use an established form? (Sonnet, ballad, haiku, ode, etc.) Does the poet use a regular meter (rhythm) or rhyme scheme? A pattern of stanzas? For example: Walt Whitman writes his poem “Song of Myself” in free verse. He divides the poem into stanzas of irregular length -- some as short as one line, others spanning more than twenty lines. No pattern of end-rhyming exists in this poem. As the story progresses, Stephen King writes Christine in chronological order. In order to further explain some things, he brings a memoir, in the form of a flashback, into the story. This gives bit of a backstory. He uses memoirs, to take the reader back in time, giving a sort of personal account.