This assignment for the course, you will write an analysis essay looking at the female characters in Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s short story, “The Yellow Wallpaper” (Literature 516-527), and Henrik Ibsen’s play, “A Doll’s House” (Literature 211-266), using a feminist criticism’s point of view. You are only allowed to use these works for this essay.
Your introduction must include a one-sentence summary of each work. The summaries must include the full title of the works and the full name of the authors. It must end with your thesis, focusing the narrator and her sister-in-law, Jennie, living in a patriarchal system in “The Yellow Wallpaper”, and Nora and Mrs. Linde breaking the rules of the patriarchal system in Act III of “A Doll’s House”.
For the first body paragraphs, focus on the narrator and Jennie in “The Yellow Wallpaper”, and for the following body paragraphs, focus on Nora and Mrs. Linde in “A Doll’s House” (again only use Act III).
Only use only the given works as support in your body paragraphs. Do not do any research. You must also explain the relationship between the support and your thesis. Do not summarize the whole works again in the body paragraphs. What I am looking for is your close reading on particular lines or sections of these given works. Also, only use direct, not indirect, quotations from the given works as support.
The essay must be at least 1,500 words, typed and double-spaced. It must include an eye-catching title and a Work Cited page, following the MLA format.Links to an external site. For those using the Literature: The Human Experience textbook, use the following format in the Work Cited Page:
Last name, First name. “Title of Essay.” Title of Collection, edited by Editor’s Name(s),
Publisher, Year, Page range of entry.
For those not using the textbook, check the Purdue Owl MLA pageLinks to an external site. for the correct MLA format in the Work Cited Page.
Essay Checklist
Introduction
___ An opening statement to attract the reader to the thesis statement.
___ A summary of each work that is only one sentence long and mentions the author’s full name, the title of the work and the key points of the work.
___ A strong, well-focused Thesis Statement that reveals everything about the essay.
Body Paragraphs
___ Transitions between each paragraph (“First,…”; “Second,…”; “On the other hand,…” etc.).
___ A strong, well-focused topic sentence related to the thesis statement.
___ Support, presented as direct quotations taken from assigned poems. It must be introduced by a lead-in (such as, who stated the quote) and/or followed by the correct in-text citation. Note: For most lead-ins, use the present tense.
___ Explanations, showing the logical connection between the support and the topic sentence/thesis statement.
Conclusion
___ Restatement (not a repeat) of the thesis.
___ Final thoughts for the reader.
Other notes
___ Follows the directions of the assignment.
___ Title Page included. Avoidance of a generic title.
___ Correct usage of MLA in Works Cited Page.
___ Correct usage of MLA in-text citations.
___ Avoidance of plagiarism.
___ Usage of specific, detailed and concise sentences and active voice.
___ Avoidance of wordiness.
___ Avoidance of vague, confusing, awkward sentence structures.
___ Avoidance of redundancies and repetitive phrases.
___ Avoidance of irrelevant sentences or phrases to the thesis, the topic sentence and/or poems.
___ Usage of formal, academic language.
___ Avoidance of first-person (“I”) and second-person (“you”).
___ Avoidance of contractions (“don’t”, “haven’t”, etc.).
___ Avoidance of spelling errors.
___ Avoidance of grammatical errors (run-ons, fragments, dangling/misplaced modifiers, inconsistency of verbs, inconsistency of pronouns, etc.).
___ Avoidance of punctuation errors.
___ If a direct quotation is longer than four lines, it is set off from the text and the quotation marks are omitted (MLA regulation).
___ Titles of books and websites are italicized.
___ Titles of short works (like short stories and poems) are enclosed in quotation marks.
