PLEASE NOTE: THIS ASSIGNMENT IS NOT FOR YOUR
CLASS
YOUR ASSIGNMENT INFORMATION IN ON "THE BIRTHMARK."
ALL OF THAT INFORMATION IS IN THE PACKAGE WHICH YOU
RECEIVED ON THE FIRST EVENING. CONSULT THAT PACKAGE
AND THE OTHER PLACES IN THIS WEB SITE. THANK YOU.
General Instructions
Your novel is The Great Gatsby about which you will
write a documented essay (detailed instructions will follow
later). For now, you need know only the following:
The subject will be the author's use of
the elements of fiction, which we are covering in class:
structure, setting, character, symbolism (including
allegory, where applicable), point of view, tone, style, and
theme.
You will research the novel to the extent of
a minimum of four sources (not including the novel
itself).
The length will be 1200-1400 words,
excluding extensive quotations (four to five pages, double
spaced.
Full research apparatus and technique--as in
The Riverside Handbook or The Little, Brown
Handbook.
For the time being, forget about the research
and get the book and begin reading.
Where possible, I suggest a paper back which you
can write in. The book is easily available at your local
library, or a good bookstore, such as Barnes and Noble, Borders,
etc.
Get your copy and read it once very quickly to
get the feel of it. Then read it more slowly, taking notes
and/or marking it with your observations about the elements of
fiction as you perceive them operating in the novel.
ALONG WITH YOUR SECOND READING, you should you
begin research, and I will have begun to help you by then. Some
of the library and commercial editions will have substantial
critical material at the rear, which you will be able to use as
part of your research.
Books on Reserve: Listed immediately
after the assignments on the syllabus location (they might be
all you need)
Specific Research Requirements
You must have a MINIMUM OF FOUR SEPARATE SOURCES
(remember that an individual article by an individual critic
represents a single source; A BOOK IS NOT NECESSARILY A SOURCE;
an ITEM BY A CRITIC is a source. So if you have a book which is
a collection of fifteen different articles by fifteen different
critics, you have a potential of fifteen separate sources.)
Your research will consist of the following:
Books by individual authors
Essays in books which are collections of
articles by a number of different authors
Articles in professional journals
Entries in standard reference materials
Introductions and afterwards to editions
of your novels.
Cliffs Notes, Monarch, etc., cannot be
sources, but you may use them to help you understand your
novel
ALL OF THESE MUST BE PRINT TYPE SOURCES
You must have a MINIMUM OF THREE PIECES OF
DOCUMENTED RESEARCH FOR EACH OF YOUR FOUR ELEMENTS. This means
that you will have a minimum of TWELVE documented references. Of
course, you may scatter your sources throughout the paper
however you please so long as you have at least THREE references
in each element.
Length: 1200-1400 words (about five
double-spaced typed pages of TEXT, not including title page,
outline page, and Works Cited page). NOTE: all words count,
including the, a, and, etc.
Format and Packaging
Format:
Have a title page like sample I distributed.
An outline of one or more pages. The outline
must have 4 Roman numerals; each must have a minimum of two
capital letters; and each capital letter must have a minimum
of two Arabic numerals. Space it attractively. The outline
must be words or phrases, not sentences.
Start numbering your pages from the FIRST
OUTLINE PAGE, which is page 1, following the format on the
package.
The first body page is like the sample.
The paper ends with one or more pages of Works
Cited.
A Few Cautions:
Quote sparingly--no more than 2 times
per page.
No page should have more than 2 full
paragraphs, and more often only one.
Remember that when documenting, a word which
represents either an author or a title must appear EITHER IN
YOUR OWN SENTENCE OR IN THE ( ). You can NEVER have just a
page #, even though the reference might be the same as the one
before.
A Sample Page with Citations and Documentation:
Symbolism is of the utmost importance in The
Hobbyist. Perhaps most symbolic is the set of tools
which John Spencer uses to pursue his passion. Whenever
life deals him a blow, he retreats to his workshop and
approaches his tools as if they were friends, confidants, or
lovers. For instance, within an hour of his being fired
from his insurance position, we see him resorting to his
saws and planes in preparation for beginning a new book
shelf (172). As William Shaw points out, "At such moments,
no human being can approach the intimacy with which Spencer
endows his equipment and work area" (23). His wife and
children know full well that when they hear the saw's
whirring and the hammer's din, none of them can approach
him. As the novel unfolds, and Spencer increasingly loses
touch with reality, such moments become more and more
common. This series of events reaches a peak when, after he
realizes he is losing his home, he spends seventy-two hours
in his workshop, refusing to emerge even for food (Robinson
333).
Documented Essay Sample in the Text:
Use this only for the TEXT of your essay because
it does not include the title page, outline, or a separate Works
Cited page. But this sample is very good for the way the BODY of
your paper should look.
Packaging:
I will give you a Post Office Priority
Mailer. Supply your own postage. ADDRESS THE ENVELOPE TO
YOURSELF WITH YOUR OWN RETURN ADDRESS.
Finished paper as explained above, no binder,
staples, or paper clips.
3 x 5 bib. cards, only the ones USED, secured
by a paper clip, in order of Works Cited.
4 x 6 note cards USED, in order of appearance
in paper, secured by a rubber band or paper clip.
I will mail you the paper with a print-out of
your individual grades and your grade for the course.
NOTE: before you type or word process, make sure
that your printer has a clear, dark, and readable ribbon or
cartridge. I cannot read faint print-outs.
English
102 - Documented Essay