ENGL 301 (Section 001, Schedule #31836)
Virginia Commonwealth University
Spring 2017
MWF 2-2:50pm :: Hibbs 207
Prof. David Golumbia
Office: 324D Hibbs Hall
Spr 2017 Office Hours: MW 1:30-2, 2:50-4pm

Introduction to the English Major

PAPER ASSIGNMENT 3

Write a 5-6 page (1500 words) paper on one of the following topics. Your paper should stick closely to the text of the work you are analyzing. Your paper should develop an analytical argument about the work and have a clear statement of your thesis, and you should use quotations from the book to provide evidence for your analysis.

1. Several of the books we have read can be classified as realistic novels that have a few small elements of magic or the supernatural (for example: the I Ching in The Man in the High Castle; elements of "magical realism" such as Pilate not having a navel in Song of Solomon; the supernatural elements of Jane Eyre). Choose one or two of these novels and discuss how and why the author uses the supernatural to complement the realistic setting of the novel. What part of the novel's meaning is shifted onto the supernatural? Why can't those elements be accommodated in a realistic setting?
2. In quite a few of the books we've read, books or other texts are referenced within the novel itself that ultimately play a large role in the outcome of the novel. Examples include the I Ching in The Man in the High Castle; the Song of Solomon that Milkman discovers in Song of Solomon; Zero Hour in It Can't Happen Here; and various gothic novels in Northanger Abbey. Use one or two of these examples to construct an argument about the way texts create meaning in the world, and/or in the worlds of the novels.
3. A few of the books we've read include odd or abrupt characterization or changes of characterization in main characters (but typically not protagonists). Examples include Juliana in The Man in the High Castle, Tea Cake in Their Eyes Were Watching God; and Rochester in Jane Eyre. Some characters (e.g. Adeline in I Hate the Internet) are characterized in such a way so as to make them difficult to identify with as people? Do the novelists believe these kinds of characters and changes in characterization represent the way human beings actually are? How are these forms of characterization maintained while the novels are also about human beings?
4. Reflect on the endings of one or more books, especially ones where what happens at the end represents an outcome we might not have expected during the rest of the book. How does the ending change what happens earlier in the book(s)? How might the books have been different if they'd ended differently? How does the way fiction ends inform the meanings of novels?
5. Several of these novels feature characters very concerned with their own welfare, more than with the welfare of others. What does that say about the way the novels understand the nature of the human individual? Do the novels you choose see human beings as innately selfish, or in some way more in contact with their communities?
6. Construct an argument about how one or more novels understand the function of fiction in regarding to affecting political issues in the real world (i.e., the world outside the novel).
7. Open Topic. You may write on any topic that you find interesting in the books we've read (or will read) in this class. However, you need to get your topic approved by me (either in email or in person) prior to writing the paper.
   

Submission of Assignments

Please submit your assignment in the "Paper 3" selection under Assignments in Blackboard.

General Paper Instructions

The essay should be 5 to 6 pages in length, but please use your word processor to count the number of words; word count and not page length is the official metric for the assignment. An English paper should include quotations from the work you are analyzing, and short quotations DO count toward the total word count for the essay. Long quotations (of 50 or more words) should not generally be counted toward the 1500 word total for the assignment.

This is not a research paper, and you are not expected to consult outside sources except for the primary book or piece of media you choose to interpret. Any sources, including that primary source, should be properly cited in your paper, using any acceptable bibliographic citation format. One very simple format is to use a list of Works Cited at the end of the paper, and indicate by author, work and page number in parentheses the exact quotations within the paper itself. Refer to assignment 1 for information on some correct ways to cite material for the paper.

This is not primarily a research paper, and you do not need to consult outside sources except for the primary book or piece of media you choose to interpret. However, you are also very welcome to include secondary and primary sources of any kind that relate to the assignment and the course material. Any sources, including that primary source, should be properly cited in your paper, using any acceptable bibliographic citation format. One very simple format is to use a list of Works Cited at the end of the paper, and indicate by author, work and page number in parentheses the exact quotations within the paper itself.

For convenience, here are some citations from readings for another course. For works other than movies, articles, or books, just do your best: the point is to indicate where you got material that is not written by you; I am less concerned with the exact form your citation takes than I am with the attempt to provide a citation. This includes Wikipedia entries, a model reference to one of which is included below.

Within the paper, you would cite things this way:

One critic says that "surveillance is always at work, whether we know it or not" (Andrejevic, "The Work of Watching One Another," p. 34).

A Wikipedia entry might be cited like this:

Morrison "went to Howard University graduating in 1953 with a B.A. in English; she went on to earn a Master of Arts from Cornell University in 1955" ("Toni Morrison," Wikipedia).

Works Cited

Mark Andrejevic, "The Work of Watching One Another: Lateral Surveillance, Risk, and Governance." Surveillance & Society 2:4 (2004). 479-497.
Julia Angwin, "It's Complicated: Facebook's History of Tracking You." ProPublica (Jun 17, 2014). http://www.propublica.org/article/its-complicated-facebooks-history-of-tracking-you.
Richard Barbrook and Andy Cameron, "The Californian Ideology." Mute 3 (Autumn 1995).
Adam Curtis, dir. All Watched Over By Machines of Loving Grace. Three Parts. United Kingdom: BBC, 2011.
"Toni Morrison." Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toni_Morrison. Accessed Feb 2, 2016.

Other standard forms of citation (such as footnotes) are also acceptable, but failing to properly indicate sources technically constitutes plagiarism.

Last updated April 23, 2017.