Assignment: Elements of Fiction and Literary Theory in Huck Finn Story Analysis

Assignment: Elements of Fiction and Literary Theory in Huck Finn Story Analysis

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Question Description
I’m studying for my Writing class and don’t understand how to answer this. Can you help me study?

Reading I choose: Huck Finn
Final Assignment: Elements of Fiction and (a touch of) Literary Theory
This assignment gives you a chance to do an extended literary analysis of the novel you have been reading in a group. Literary analysis may sound new to you, but it’s not! You’ve been doing literary analysis all term in your Reading Notes and discussions. You will continue to explore literary elements and annotate with reading notes but in your novel discussion groups as a way to brainstorm and explore a full-length novel.

Target length: 2-5 pages, word count at least 900

THE ASSIGNMENT

Literary analysis is just like doing analysis in chemistry, where you analyze a compound by breaking it apart to see what it’s made of.

Here are just a few of the many possible ways you can focus your analysis of the group novel:

1. Repeating item (theme):

Decide on a repeating element you want to trace throughout the book. This might be a repeating image, idea, action (re-read Lesson 5 on Theme for more elements that could repeat). Locating three or four or more places in the novel where you find this item, either explicitly or implicitly. Quote from those places in the novel and explain how each recurrence affects the whole novel.

2. Character sketch:

Decide on a character you want to write about. Find several places in the novel where that character demonstrates who he or she is, what type of person he or she is, either through actions, speech, or even physical description. Explain how each of these places in the novel contributes to your understanding of that character, and how that character affects the whole story.

3. Figures of speech:

Identify several similes and/or metaphors in the novel, and explain why they are there. What kind of work do those figures of speech accomplish in the book and in your mind as reader?

4. Comparison:

Pick two of our stories and compare some element of literature that they use in a similar fashion (a character, or a plot, or a theme, etc.) to what you have read in your novel.

These are just examples. Feel free to come up with your own focus, topic, and organizational principle for your paper.

Select a critical approach to literature to put into your concluding paragraph by reviewing the descriptions of each at the OWL Literary Theory and Schools of Criticism webpage

Go ahead and read the pages describing the mode of literary criticism that you thought you’d like to experiment with. I’m not asking you to employ these modes in your paper. In fact, you don’t need to refer to the mode of literary criticism at all until the end of your paper. You can state in your introduction which mode you are interested in, including why you are drawn to it, and then write the paper. Then (and maybe only) in your conclusion, explain how – if you were to employ it – the mode of literary criticism you chose might affect a person’s reading of the story.

For some of you, this concluding paragraph may feel pretty artificial, especially if you find you have a different sort of conclusion in mind. In that case, you can just write the paragraph several spaces below the end of your paper.

Rough Draft Worksheet to Help You Revise:

If you can, you should try to get a peer to read your draft.This could be someone in the class (you could email them the paper) or it could be someone in the Writing Center. You can also just ask a friend who likes to read. When they give you some feedback, you can use this to revise your paper before turning it in. If you find it useful, go to the RNT reading groups to talk about your paper and get some feedback.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR READERS/PEER REVIEWERS:

Read the draft all the way through before stopping to annotate it.

Ask the author for Google doc commenting privileges so you can annotate the copy.

DON’T try to fix grammar or mechanics errors. Remember, this is a rough draft. Looking at errors will just get in the way of reading the content.

Use the annotated copy to answer the following questions:

a. Thesis: What idea does the writer want you to agree with when you read this paper?

b. Body: Do you see how each paragraph helps to support the thesis, either through illustrating a point or giving background information? If a paragraph does not seem to help, tell the writer which one it is.

c. Evidence or illustration: Are there two or three quotes from the book?

d. If there is summary, is it no longer than one paragraph? If it is too long, tell the writer.

e. At some point in paper, (this could be the beginning or the ending or both) does the writer mention one type of literary criticism and say how it might be relevant in reading this story? If not, do you have any suggestions?

f. Does the writer use some literary terms s/he learned in class? (Like the 6 elements of literature, for example)

g. Does the writer uses proper MLA in-text citation style? (If you don’t know, say so, and the writer will have to carefully use a handbook to check.)

Again, please don’t fix grammar or mechanics unless your partner specifically asks you for help.

SOME CONSIDERATIONS AND ADVICE
Don’t summarize the story. Plot points are only useful when being analyzed in the context of your own thesis.
Write this paper with that friend in mind as your reader.
In choosing the focus of your analysis, you might consider reviewing your Reading Discussion group conversation that may contain seeds of ideas with potential for development. I want to know what you think – your ideas – based on your own insights about life and what literature should do. You may also refer to class discussion or group discussions in your essay; just make sure that you use your classmates’ names if you use their ideas.
Organize your paper according to a clear thesis at the beginning
Your introduction should contain the topic of your paper (title, author) and a clear statement of your opinion about your analysis. Then the body of your paper should be made up of examples that help me to see why you have that opinion. Introduce your topic as if to someone who hasn’t read it, but remember NOT to spend any more than one paragraph in summarizing, if that. Don’t retell the plot. Use summary only when illustrating a point you want to make.
Use quotes from the story to illustrate your points
Be sure that your readers can find the evidence in the story that supports your ideas. Give direct quotes (and page numbers if you are citing a print copy).
Use Purdue University’s Online Writing Lab (OWL) or a grammar handbook for guidance
Here is the Purdue OWLwebsite where you can get help putting together a literary analysis, and other basic help about writing assignments in general: https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/subject_specific_writing/writing_in_literature/index.html. There are lots of useful sections on writing at this website, so you might look around a bit. If you follow their advice on how to decide on your thesis and how to quote and comment on quotes, you will have a good paper. Please don’t fuss over grammar until you are reading your paper for the last time. If you worry over every sentence as you write it, your writing will get stuck inside your head and never tumble out onto the page. WRITE FREELY FIRST, then fix it later.

You must proofread your paper. But do not strictly rely on your computer’s spell-checker and grammar-checker; failure to do so indicates a lack of effort on your part and you can expect your grade to suffer accordingly. Papers with numerous misspelled words and grammatical mistakes will be penalized. Read over your paper – in silence and then aloud – before handing it in and make corrections as necessary. Often it is advantageous to have a friend proofread your paper for obvious errors. Handwritten corrections are preferable to uncorrected mistakes.

Use a standard 10 to 12 point (10 to 12 characters per inch) typeface. Smaller or compressed type and papers with small margins or single-spacing are hard to read. It is better to let your essay run over the recommended number of pages than to try to compress it into fewer pages.

Likewise, large type, large margins, large indentations, triple-spacing, increased leading (space between lines), increased kerning (space between letters), and any other such attempts at “padding” to increase the length of a paper are unacceptable, wasteful of trees, and will not fool your professor.

The paper must be neatly formatted, double-spaced with a one-inch margin on the top, bottom, and sides of each page. When submitting hard copy, be sure to use white paper and print out using dark ink. If it is hard to read your essay, it will also be hard to follow your argument.

ADDITIONAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE CLASS

Discussion Questions (DQ)

Initial responses to the DQ should address all components of the questions asked, include a minimum of one scholarly source, and be at least 250 words.
Successful responses are substantive (i.e., add something new to the discussion, engage others in the discussion, well-developed idea) and include at least one scholarly source.
One or two sentence responses, simple statements of agreement or “good post,” and responses that are off-topic will not count as substantive. Substantive responses should be at least 150 words.
I encourage you to incorporate the readings from the week (as applicable) into your responses.
Weekly Participation

Your initial responses to the mandatory DQ do not count toward participation and are graded separately.
In addition to the DQ responses, you must post at least one reply to peers (or me) on three separate days, for a total of three replies.
Participation posts do not require a scholarly source/citation (unless you cite someone else’s work).
Part of your weekly participation includes viewing the weekly announcement and attesting to watching it in the comments. These announcements are made to ensure you understand everything that is due during the week.
APA Format and Writing Quality

Familiarize yourself with APA format and practice using it correctly. It is used for most writing assignments for your degree. Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for APA paper templates, citation examples, tips, etc. Points will be deducted for poor use of APA format or absence of APA format (if required).
Cite all sources of information! When in doubt, cite the source. Paraphrasing also requires a citation.
I highly recommend using the APA Publication Manual, 6th edition.
Use of Direct Quotes

I discourage overutilization of direct quotes in DQs and assignments at the Masters’ level and deduct points accordingly.
As Masters’ level students, it is important that you be able to critically analyze and interpret information from journal articles and other resources. Simply restating someone else’s words does not demonstrate an understanding of the content or critical analysis of the content.
It is best to paraphrase content and cite your source.
LopesWrite Policy

For assignments that need to be submitted to LopesWrite, please be sure you have received your report and Similarity Index (SI) percentage BEFORE you do a “final submit” to me.
Once you have received your report, please review it. This report will show you grammatical, punctuation, and spelling errors that can easily be fixed. Take the extra few minutes to review instead of getting counted off for these mistakes.
Review your similarities. Did you forget to cite something? Did you not paraphrase well enough? Is your paper made up of someone else’s thoughts more than your own?
Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for tips on improving your paper and SI score.
Late Policy

The university’s policy on late assignments is 10% penalty PER DAY LATE. This also applies to late DQ replies.
Please communicate with me if you anticipate having to submit an assignment late. I am happy to be flexible, with advance notice. We may be able to work out an extension based on extenuating circumstances.
If you do not communicate with me before submitting an assignment late, the GCU late policy will be in effect.
I do not accept assignments that are two or more weeks late unless we have worked out an extension.
As per policy, no assignments are accepted after the last day of class. Any assignment submitted after midnight on the last day of class will not be accepted for grading.
Communication

Communication is so very important. There are multiple ways to communicate with me:
Questions to Instructor Forum: This is a great place to ask course content or assignment questions. If you have a question, there is a good chance one of your peers does as well. This is a public forum for the class.
Individual Forum: This is a private forum to ask me questions or send me messages. This will be checked at least once every 24 hours.