Writing Assignment Essay #2: Literary Analysis with Critical Commentary
Writing Assignment Essay #2: Literary Analysis with Critical Commentary
Assignment One of Ibsen’s biographers argues that the play is not so much about women’s rights as about “the need of every individual to find out the kind of person he or she really is, and to strive to become that person.” 1 For this writing assignment, you must use two of the articles of critical commentary that are posted in the Critical Commentary folder in Module 9 on Blackboard as well as your own reading of the play to support Meyer’s interpretation. In other words, the question that you are trying to answer in this essay is: In what ways is this play an argument for the individual’s responsibility to find out who they really are, whether they are a man or a woman? You will use A Doll House as your primary source. The two critical articles that you select to incorporate as support for the argument that you are making are your secondary sources. I have uploaded an essay called “Emotions in ‘The Story of an Hour’” as a model for you of how literary scholars write essays about texts with the incorporation of critical commentary by other scholars. Expectations Your essay should be typed, double-spaced, in 12-point font with one-inch margins, in MLA format, no fewer than 700 words (two and a half complete pages), and proofread prior to submission. Please rely on class notes, information posted on Blackboard, and your textbooks for appropriate MLA citation information and incorporation of quotes into sentences. Your essay should adhere to conventions of writing that you have learned in your previous writing classes and in the videos that you reviewed on Blackboard.
This essay should also include a works cited page that will include entries for any texts or references that you utilized in your essay. Grading My grading will focus on the format, structure, and organization of your essay, but primarily, my attention will be on the quality of your argument (make sure you have a strong thesis statement and topic sentences to guide and control your writing) as well on the effective incorporation of two secondary sources. Use these sources to help you make your point or use them as a counterargument to refute. BE CAREFUL! The challenge with assignments like this is that students allow critical commentary to make an argument for them. Make sure that your argument is the primary argument in the essay and that you are bringing in these additional sources as support for what you want to say about the play. Submission You will upload your essay through the link in Blackboard that says “Dropbox: Literary Analysis with
Critical Commentary.” When you click on that, you should submit your document as an attachment by
clicking on “Browse My Computer.” If you are not using Microsoft Word (.doc) as your word processing
software, please be sure that you save and upload your document as a .pdf (Portable Document Format)
to prevent compatibility issues.
Help! As always, please contact me at kpiatche@irsc.edu if you have any issues, concerns, or questions prior to the due date.
1 Michael Meyer, Ibsen. Sutton Publishing, 2005.
