Due Dates

  • Final Project Proposal: Tuesday, November 24 by class to course site
  • Final Project: Friday, December 11 by 2:00 pm to Blackboard

NOTE: Because of the short amount of time I have between when your final projects are due and when your final grades are due, unless you make prior arrangements with me (meaning at least 24 hours before the final project is due but hopefully MUCH SOONER), I cannot accept late final projects at all.

Project Overview

If you choose this final project option, you will write a critically informed close reading of any one of the literary texts (including Pumzi) we have read this semester, EXCLUDING the text you worked on for your Unessay. This essay will be 7-8 double-spaced pages long (2400-2800 words). As with any close reading, your essay should present an original argument about your chosen text that is based on specific evidence from that text. Remember, in a close reading paper you are arguing for your own interpretation of your chosen text. You are trying to answer the question: “so what?” So you’ve found a specific pattern in the text: so what? What does this pattern mean, in terms of the text as a whole? As I talked with many of you about in our Unessay meetings, you need to have a Big Idea, but that Big Idea has to be proven using specific examples from the text. Think back to the posts we did at the beginning of the semester: Find a Pattern – Develop a Hypothesis – Return to the Text. Follow this recursive process until you can link the specific examples you’ve found to one Big Idea about the text.

Additionally, since this assignment asks you to create a “critically informed” close reading, you will need to do some research about your chosen text. You should incorporate at least 2 scholarly sources (articles and/or book chapters, most likely) into your close reading. Doing this research provides the opportunity for you to insert your own, unique argument into the scholarly conversation surrounding your chosen text.

Assignment Details & Requirements

This assignment has two parts:

(1) Final Project Proposal: The first step is to decide what you want you want to write about and to start your research. The final project proposal itself therefore consists of two parts:

  • Abstract: Your abstract should be one paragraph long. This paragraph should state what the argument of your paper will be. The abstract doesn’t commit you to anything; you will be free to change your mind about what your argument is as you work on your essay. However, the idea behind the abstract is that it forces you to sit down and start to articulate your argument. It should include these three things (not necessarily in this order – do what works for you):
    • The text you will be writing about
    • The general topic of your paper
    • What your argument will be, stated in as specific terms as you can state it at this point in the process. Do not hesitate to include the sentence, “In this paper, I argue that…” in your abstract. It will help you ensure that you actually have an argument.
  • Preliminary Bibliography: 5 potential scholarly sources that you might use in your essay.
    • These generally include journal articles, book chapters, or full-length books (or more likely, specific parts of full-length books).
    • They should be written by scholars and published by a scholarly and/or university press or journal. This means that, in most cases (and there are exceptions), articles from popular magazines, online outlets, newspapers, etc. do not count for this assignment.
    • They should also be relatively recent, meaning they have been published within the past 20 years.

Not all of these scholarly sources will make it into your paper (you’re only required to include 2). But doing this preliminary research will give you a sense of what you might include in your paper.

This portion of the assignment is due on Tuesday, November 24 by class to our course site. Post your proposal under the category “Final Project Proposal.” I will not accept final projects from anyone who has not completed a final project proposal.

(2) Final Project: The requirements for your close reading essay consist of the following:

  • 7-8 pages double-spaced (2400-2800 words)
  • Citations and format according to some established citation style (MLA and Chicago style are generally the easiest for text)
  • Incorporates a minimum of 2 scholarly sources
    • These generally include journal articles, book chapters, or full-length books (or more likely, specific parts of full-length books).
    • They should be written by scholars and published by a scholarly and/or university press or journal. This means that, in most cases (and there are exceptions), articles from popular magazines, online outlets, newspapers, etc. do not count for this assignment.
    • They should also be relatively recent, meaning they have been published within the past 20 years.

This portion of the assignment is due on Friday, December 11 by 2:00 pm to Blackboard.

Evaluation

The final project is worth 25% of your course grade. You will be graded on the originality and specificity of your argument, and on whether or not you make a compelling and effective case for your interpretation of your chosen text. You will also be graded on how you incorporate the scholarly sources you include into your argument: Do you incorporate them in a substantive way? Do these sources add to and improve the overall quality of your final project?

Tips

  • We’ve done the Unessay assignment as a class. Go back and read the section of the Unessay assignment page titled “Prelude: Or, why essays can be boring as class assignments.” Don’t go on autopilot here simply because I’m asking you to write an essay. As with the Unessay, I highly prize creativity in this assignment. A-papers will make creative, sophisticated, and compelling arguments.

  • The better the Proposal is that you submit to me on November 24, the more I will be able to help you succeed with this assignment. The Final Project Proposal is not very long, but it should represent a significant amount of work (more than its short length suggests). Proposals thrown together the night before or the day of do not help anyone, least of all you.