Similar to Gen Board Post--Proving a point in lit paper--Subject?

[Chris in VA]

(That's called trying to explain too much in the title...:001_smile:)

 

Ds18 has to pick a topic for a 5 page, "literary analysis" paper. He has to "examine a particular work or works," and "Prove a point" using researched information.

 

:confused:

 

I just don't know how to advise him. This is for a public school English 12 class. He was going to do something with Rime of the ANcient Mariner, but has no clue WHAT to do. What in the world COULD he do in 5 pages (double spaced, of course) that would fit? I just don't get it. Any help? Either with Rime or in choosing a different work?

[emubird]

Well, Animal Farm is short.

 

http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/animalfarm/study.html

 

Has he really read nothing but Rime of the Ancient Mariner? sparknotes has lots of questions/themes etc for all sorts of books. Maybe he'd be better off racking his brains to remember some book he's already read, if he can't figure out what to do with the ancient mariner.

 

The albatross is an obvious thing to write about in that poem. Or maybe -- what's the significance of the wedding? Or who is the person the mariner is telling his story to? And why right at that moment? Or why is Kubla Khan in the poem?

 

This is actually the thing I hate most about literary analysis: coming up with a topic that seems worth writing about.

[Mama Lynx]

Have him read or re-read the work. Then talk about it. Have him tell you some things that he found interesting. Ask him questions.

 

Hopefully, out of the discussion you'll find a particular point that he's interested in. Then you want to talk with him about it until he can come up with a thesis statement - an arguable claim about the book. Something like, "The albatross symbolizes blah blah blah" or "Although character X says he wants (this), his actions show that he really wants (that)." "Kubla Khan is in the poem because X." "The Marniner is telling his story to Y."

 

The statement has to be both specific, and arguable. Then, he does the research to support that argument, and makes the argument in the paper.

[Mama Lynx]

Here are some examples: http://www.gradesaver.com/the-rime-of-the-ancient-mariner/study-guide/essay-questions/

 

Have him answer one of the questions. Once he has his answer, there is his argument to prove.

[Charles Wallace]

(That's called trying to explain too much in the title...:001_smile:)

 

Ds18 has to pick a topic for a 5 page, "literary analysis" paper. He has to "examine a particular work or works," and "Prove a point" using researched information.

 

:confused:

 

I just don't know how to advise him. This is for a public school English 12 class. He was going to do something with Rime of the ANcient Mariner, but has no clue WHAT to do. What in the world COULD he do in 5 pages (double spaced, of course) that would fit? I just don't get it. Any help? Either with Rime or in choosing a different work?

 

The point he's being asked to prove could be any of the following:

 

* Prove what the author's main message is.

* Prove what the most important social issue in this book is.

* Prove what the most important message or idea about God/religion/ faith is.

* Prove what the most important message or idea in this book about human nature is.

* Prove what the most important message in this book about sexuality or gender is.

* Prove what the most important message in this book about the nature of reality is.

*Prove what the most important message in this book about race, ethnicity, religion, disability or other "difference" is.

 

 

 

For example, I could argue in at least a few pages pages my point that in Dr. Seuss's Green Eggs and Ham, the author uses the symbolism of color and religious food taboos to argue that one should not judge based solely on appearance. Right there, you're making an argument that the book is conveying a message about appearance v. reality, racism or bias in society, and so on.

 

Does that help?

[Lori D.]

Sometimes it is really hard to come up with a "big picture" thesis; some students work better "parts-to-whole". If that is the case, then going back and re-reading the work (several times if it is a short work!) AND MAKING NOTES (annotating) in the margins as you go can really help. Once you have a good amount of notes on each page, go back and read through the annotations; sometimes a number of your notes seem to "gel" and all point towards a similar theme or meaning, thus giving you a thesis for an essay.

 

A few examples of what you might annotate, and then what that might guide you to a "big idea" as you look back over your annotations:

 

- the same color, word, or object keeps popping up

(Is it a symbol, and if so, what do you think it means? That line of thinking can lead to a thesis for your literary analysis essay!)

 

- parallel/similar -- or opposite -- things happen

(If the same thing happens more than once, does it lead to different conclusions? Is the protagonist "learning" or changing (dynamic) as a result? Or "stuck", doomed or flat? And what does that mean -- again that can lead to a thesis.)

 

- are there allusions to previous works, famous people/characters, etc?

(What is being alluded to and in what was the point of that original work/person being alluded to? In the current work being read, is that allusion "apt" (similar), or is ironic (opposite) from the original work alluded to? What do you think the author's point in making the allusion is -- that can lead to a thesis.)

 

- what is the weather doing, or how is the landscape described?

(Often the weather or landscape either: mirror the protagonist's mental state; foreshadow future events; are ironic (opposite) of the plot events, character's mindset, etc. Why might the author doing that? Possible thesis!)

 

- what is the author's writing style and tone?

(Formal/structured, or traditional for the author's time? (might be mirroring a character's mindset or the society portrayed in the work -- or be ironic) Informal, satirical, or for the author's time? (might be the author's subtle commentary on the characters or their choices, or point toward the author's worldview (can or can't escape fate; there is or isn't a God; etc.)) Highly emotive/descriptive? (gothic/romantic))

 

 

Need to run right now, but hopefully that gives you an idea of how starting with the "parts" of literary elements (metaphor, symbol, foreshadowing, irony, parallelism, compare/contrast, etc.) can help lead to seeing an overall "big idea" or theme that the author might have been trying to convey. BEST of luck! Warmly, Lori D.

[Nan in Mass]

I have vague memories of doing a research paper on Archibald MacKliesh's poetry in high school. LOL I can't even remember how to spell his name. I can't remember my thesis, but it had something to do with alliteration. I loved the alliteration in his poetry and built the paper around that. I think your son has chosen an excellent poem to write a paper on - it is long enough to have lots of examples, not so long it will be hard to hunt through and find those examples, has lots of plot, is very poem-like, and is famous so lots should be written about it. If he is anything like my sons, I wouldn't pick symbolism as the subject; I would pick something to do with the structure of the poem, like the rhyme pattern or imagery. What does he like about the poem? Perhaps writing a page or two of freewriting (random, unorganized, unsupported thoughts) about the poem would help him pick out an aspect to write about. (I'm assuming he likes the poem.) Once he's decided on a topic (like the rhyme pattern), he can do another freewrite in which he writes down everything he has noticed about whatever it is. Then read through the poem a few times trying to notice anything else related. Then he can start looking up the poem and seeing if any experts out there agree with him about whatever-it-is. (But I wouldn't do that step until after he has come up with his own ideas or else it will be too easy to just copy somebody else's already written paper. You want him to be able to look at a few books and pick out a quotes from them that support his own idea.) After he has done all that, he can look at what he has for information and decide on a thesis statement. Then he should write the topic sentences that will back up the thesis. Then he can look through the poem for examples where the author has done what his thesis says he did, and the books where other people have said the author did what your son's thesis said it did, and put them under the right topic sentence. Then he can come up with some sort of intro paragraph and final paragraph (I always found this hard). I think I remember having a few books from the library where AM's alliteration was mentioned and picking out lots of alliteration examples of my own and somehow organizing them into a paper. It wasn't particularly difficult, except for the intro and final paragraph. The rest, since I picked something structural about the poem, not symbolic, was pretty much cookbook. I know my sons, who are pretty typical non-literary boys, would get lost in did-the-author-really-think-of-that-when-he-was-writing land if they had to write aobut something symbolic. They loved that poem, but they liked the plot and the imagery and the writing and totally ignored any symbolism. There is still plenty to write about, though.

 

-Nan