Explain how research into the history of chivalry and/or knights informs our understanding of
James Joyce’s “Araby.”
You must use credible secondary research to inform an analytical thesis. Develop your thesis by
using the secondary research to provide a framework or explanation of specific textual details
within Joyce’s original text. Your essay should not just be a summary of some other research,
but instead, should use your research as a mechanism for explaining some concept about the
short story. In other words, you need to apply information found in your secondary research in
order to analyze the primary text.
Assignment Parameters
Your essay should develop a focused, analytical thesis that answers the above prompt and
meets the objectives identified on the “Academic Essay Grading Rubric” provided for this
course. In addition to those objectives, follow the proceeding parameters to produce a wellcrafted essay.
❖ Your essay must include 1-2 credible, academic sources in addition to the primary text.
❖ This essay must demonstrate more significant insight into the text than what is
knowable from the primary text alone.
❖ Your essay must be 3 –5 typed pages, using 12-point font and 1-inch margins, and have
an original title centered at the top of the first page. Please include your name and full
class number in the upper left-hand corner of the first page.
When writing about literature, remember the following:
❖ Use formal third-person.
❖ In the first paragraph, identify the author and title of the work you are discussing,
making sure to punctuate the title correctly.
❖ Refer to authors by first and last names on the first mention and then simply by last
names thereafter. Never refer to an author by just the first name.
❖ All literary analysis should be in present tense.
❖ Avoid plot summary—you can assume your audience knows the story. Use your writing
to develop an analytical thesis, not to retell the story.❖ All references (paraphrases, summaries, and quotes) to either primary or secondary
sources should include MLA style parenthetical citations, and all sources should have a
corresponding, bibliographic entry on the Work(s) Cited.
❖ Remember that quotes should never stand as sentences unto themselves but be
introduced with clear attributive tags and/or integrated into grammatically correct
sentences.
❖ Avoid long quotes when a summary/paraphrase or shortened quote will suffice to
convey the idea.
❖ Use your conclusion to examine implications or applications of your argument, not to
restate the thesis or summarize what you have already written
