Critical Written Analysis Around Akron Machining

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Critical Written Analysis Around Akron Machining

Hello there!

I have a final paper in Literature course and it is about choosing 2 texts from the list below, and produce a comparative analysis of how they treat a major course theme. There are six texts that you can pick two out off them (Note that I don’t have the books)

  1. Signs
    Preceding the End of the World     by Yuri Herrera, trans. Lisa
    Dillman (And Other Stories)

  2. Never
    Let Me Go     by
    Kazuo Ishiguro (Vintage)

  3. Dien
    Cai Dau     by Yusuf
    Komunyakaa (Wesleyan)

  4. Song
    for Night     by Chris Abani (Akashic Books)

  5. When
    the Emperor Was Divine     by Julie Otsuka
    (Doubleday)

  6. The
    Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time     (Doubleday)

Purpose: To complete a substantive piece of critical written analysis around 1800-2000 words in length, using global literature as the object of inquiry. To develop logically coherent and convincing arguments through the interpretation of literature.

Skills/knowledge practiced: Longer-length essay writing; textual analysis; close reading; writing with citations; use of textual evidence; developing argument; analysis of narrative techniques; cultural critique

Grading Criteria: Essays will be graded on a 0-100 point scale using the categories outlined in. https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/blackboard.learn.xythos.prod/584b12a1a0ed8/574799?response-content-disposition=inline%3B%20filename%2A%3DUTF-8%27%27Grading%2520Rubric%2520for%2520Essays.pdf&response-content-type=application%2Fpdf&X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Date=20200427T182350Z&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&X-Amz-Expires=21599&X-Amz-Credential=AKIAIL7WQYDOOHAZJGWQ%2F20200427%2Fus-east-1%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-Signature=1c3905da916aebfb5fdf3cc14270884a71f6a6b6ecec0a4ebc5e21910ce90fe9

Instructions: This is an opportunity for you to flesh out your own proposed ideas about the course’s topics as well as further your development as a writer through detailed comparative analysis of one or two texts. You should aim to develop an insightful and significant comparative argument and support it using textual evidence of specific passages and close literary analysis.

Technical requirements:

  • As per normal, your essay should be formatted as follows: 12 pt. font, 1-inch margins, double-spaced with header, page numbers, Times New Roman font, Word Count listed, Works Cited page on separate page, submitted as Microsoft Word or PDF. See the following for an example: MLA Citation
  • Have a descriptive title that is not overly general or vague
  • Be approximately 8 pages in length (about 1800-2000 words) and typed
  • Be written in present tense, e.g., “My Luck travels down the river” and not “Kathy went to a boarding school”

Content requirements:

  • Have a straightforward and compelling thesis/proposition that is not a mere summary of the text(s).
    • Note: Your thesis should make an argument that is an insightful comparative analysis of both texts that is also not so broad as to be applicable to any given text(s). A good rule of thumb is that a strong thesis uses language that specifically pertains to the narratives/themes of your selected texts but wouldn’t necessarily be applicable to other texts in this course or beyond.
  • Consistently use direct quotes from one or two texts as evidence to support an argument. Your quotes should not be overly long nor overly short/non-existent, and your analysis of them should illuminate the deeper meaning of specific imagery cited in the quote. A good rule of thumb is that for every line of text you cite, you should include one or more lines of analysis to unpack it, comment on its significance, connect it to your thesis, etc.
    • Note: Quotes should be properly introduced and framed by your own sentences—no standalone quotes, please. Quotes involving poetry should indicate line breaks with / and stanza breaks with //. Quotes that are longer than 4 lines should be formatted as single-spaced indented block quotes. Examples of correctly formatted quotes can be seen at this link.
  • Your analysis should be balanced between close readings of the particular narrative content of your texts as well as the larger themes that pertain to both of them. A useful guide for comparative analysis can be found here.
  • Good: framing your writing in powerful language about the meaning of the text. For example: “The figure of silence in Song for Night indexes both My Luck’s physical inability to speak as well as the symbolic silences caused by the violence of war. Symbolically, Abani uses silence to represent how war results in the loss of children’s innocence, the tragic deaths of loved ones, and emotional traumas in and out of battle.”
  • Not as good: framing your writing in deferred or vague language that suggests the text has meaning and power. For example: “Song for Night is a powerful novel with deep meaning for the reader to understand. Its themes include silence, war, and violence and the novel discusses these in different places throughout the narrative. These concepts are related to each other, some more than others and some less.”

Please do your best because I am almost failing this course