And Then There Were None By Agatha Christie
Rules: 8-10 pages, double-spaced, 1-inch margins, TNR 12, cited in MLA.
Research her style of writing and elements of the craft. You may include a brief biography in the paper, but this is an analytical paper about the person’s writing, not a life story.
You must include a brief synopsis of the novel (a half-page paragraph should be more than sufficient for most – if you think you have a particularly dense work that requires more, please discuss this with me in advance), but the vast majority of your paper will be an in-depth analysis of the writing and the critical material published on your author.
This is NOT a book review – the book is merely the focus as your primary example of the writing style of the writer. You may use other novels or short stories written by the writer as well to provide support for your conclusions, but you must use the novel that you have chosen.
You must have at least five critical (articles or books) sources supporting the claims that you are making about the writing of your author (Note: neither the novel you have chosen, nor any of the texts assigned for the course can be considered one of these five, although you may use any/all of them, if appropriate to your argument).
You may focus on a literary element, such as a theme that dominates the writer’s works (for example, Kate Chopin always wrote about the role and positioning of women in her society) or a rhetorical element (for example, Hemingway always wrote in very brief sentences, yet seemed to pack so much into them). I strongly recommend passing your thesis by me when you get one up and running. This will help to keep you from handing in something that is much too superficial and thus unworthy of a passing grade.
[Note: Rhetoric is the fancy word for the craft of writing. It includes word choices, how an argument or point is created, what is included, as well as what is left out. It can include discussions of logic, emotion, or morality, if the writer uses those to make points, as well as any other literary “tools” a writer might use regularly. The example above of Hemingway using short sentences would be considered a rhetorical element that a critic – which is what you should be envisioning yourself to be for this paper – again, critic meaning someone doing intelligent discussion, not attacking – would discuss in a paper about his writing.]
Assigned Texts not to be used as critical sources – but can be referenced
• The Cambridge Companion to Crime Fiction. Ed. M Priestman. 2006. Cambridge University Press. Digital ISBN: 9781107485587 Print ISBN: 9780521008716
• Classic Crime Stories . Ed. James Daley. 2007. Dover Publications. Print ISBN: 9780486456829.
• The Godwulf Manuscript . Robert B. Parker. 1973. Dell. Print ISBN: 9780440129615
• In Cold Blood. Truman Capote.1994. Vintage International Publishing. Print ISBN: 978-0679745587
• Indemnity Only . Sara Paretsky. 1991. Dell. Print ISBN: 978-0440210696
• Antigone Sophocles. Gutenberg Online Project, p. 100 of Oedipus Trilogy
• Trifles Susan Glaspell Gutenberg Online Project, pp 1-14
• Capote In Cold Blood
• Parker The Godwulf Manuscript
• Freier, Mary P. “Information Ethics in the Detective Novel.” Clues; Fall 2005; 24, 1; 18 – 26. (Library link)
• Paretsky Indemnity Only;
From The Cambridge Companion to Crime Fiction:
• “Introduction”
• “The Short Story from Poe to Chesterton”
• “The Golden Age”
• “The Private Eye”
• “Women Detectives”
• Edgington, K, “Defining the Enemy: Housewives and Detectives.” Clues; Winter 2007; 25, 2; 55 – 63. (Library link)
From Classic Crime Stories:
• Poe “The Murders in the Rue Morgue”
• Doyle “A Scandal in Bohemia”
• Orczy “The Case of Miss Elliott”
• Chesterton “The Blue Cross”
• Freeman “The Case of Oscar Brodski”
• Hammett “The Gutting of Couffignal”
• Cain “Pastorale”
• Chandler “I’ll Be Waiting”
