Essay 3: A Good Man is Hard to Find & Good Country People 1500-1600 words
Research Paper: A Survey of Flannery O’Connor’s Work
Reference/ Research Requirement:
Must have 7 sources: Two short stories being compared; Three scholarly works from approved article list below; Two O’Connor Essays “A Reasonable Use of the Unreasonable” and “On Writing Short Stories” (located in Blackboard unit folder)
Step 1. Select a theme that is of the most interest to you.
Step 2. Write a thesis statement based on your theme that compares and contrast the two short stories (see more details in the actual paper assignment instructions below.
Step 3. Select articles from the corresponding theme below and begin your search.
Step 4. Follow the link to Academic Search Complete below and paste in the title of the article you want to view. Read the abstract of each article and select three that you will use for your paper.
Step 5. Create your works cited pages based on the article that you choose.
Approved Article List and Suggested Article Pairings according to themes:
Note: Articles that have links are not available in the Academic Search Complete link
Click on the Academic Search Complete link below and search from the approved article list below: https://library.austincc.edu/eresources/atoz.php
Religion and Redemption
“The Timothy Allusion in a Good Man is Hard to Find” Fike, Matthew.
“Flannery O’Connor’s Spoiled Prophet” T.W. Hendricks
“One of my Babies”: The Misfit and the Grandmother” by Steven C. Bandy
“Suffering and the Sacred in Flannery O’Connor’s Short stories” by Davis J. Leigh
“Grace and Grotesques: Recent Books on Flannery O’Connor” by Brian Abel Ragen
“Narcissism and Spirituality in Flannery O’Connor’s stories” by By Scheurich, Neil;
“Flannery O’Connor’s Misfit and the Mystery of Evil” by John Desmond
“Reading the Map in A Good Man is Hard to Find” by Hallman B. Bryant
“The Contemplative Mentality in Flannery O’Connor’s ‘Good Country People’” Jerome C. Foss
“Flannery O’Connor and the representation of Mystery” by Tracy Jamison
Grotesque
“Grace and Grotesques: Recent Books on Flannery O’Connor” by Brian Abel Ragen
“The Grotesque in Flannery O’Connor” by James F. Farnham
Suffering and the Sacred in Flannery O’Connor’s Short stories by Davis J. Leigh
“The Contemplative Mentality in Flannery O’Connor’s ‘Good Country People’” Jerome C. Foss
“Grotesque in Flannery O’Connor’s A Good Man is Hard to Find” https://e-journal.usd.ac.id/index.php/IJELS/article/download/1634/1282
“A Sharp Eye for the Grotesque in Flannery O’Connor’s Good Country People”
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/282661286_A_Sharp_Eye_for_the_Grotesque_in_Flannery_O’Connor’s_’Good_Country_People’
Place in Society
“Flannery O’Connor’s Empowered Women” by Peter A Smith
“I am no Swan: The Ugly Plot from Good country People to eating the Cheshire Cat” by Monica Carol Miller
“The Political Economy of Flannery O’Connor” by Anemone Beaulier and Scott Beaulier
“Reading the Map in A Good Man is Hard to Find” by Hallman B. Bryant
“The Contemplative Mentality in Flannery O’Connor’s ‘Good Country People’” Jerome C. Foss
“South of Nowhere: Tracing Dynamics of Spatiality and Selfhood in Flannery O’Connor’s A Good Man is hard to Find” by Xavier Menezes
Part 2:
Create an outline for your paper:
Paragraph 1 (300 min word)
Literature Review (What others have said about O’Connor’s work).
Please see Lit Review example in Unit folder
Paragraph 2 (200 min word)
Summary of both short stories
Paragraph topic sentence should state: “Good Country People” and “A Good Man is Hard to Find” are two short stories written by Flannery O’Connor” (or something similar).
The next sentences in this paragraph will be devoted to your summarizing one story and then the other.
The last sentence in this paragraph will serve as your thesis statement in which you discuss a unifying theme between the two stories, as well as discusses the comparative topics setting, point of view, and character. Please underline this sentence.
Paragraph 3 (300 min word)
Trace your theme through both stories with regards to conflict and conflict resolution: How does the conflict align with the theme?
What specific examples from the stories support this?
What specific quotes from the articles support this?
Here’s how to do this:
Topic sentence that compares or contrasts conflict and the theme
Introduce a quote using a signal phrase that provides context about the theme and its connection to the quote that will follow.
Include direct quote or paraphrase followed by page number
Explain the significance of the quote.
Introduce a quote from a scholar and its relation to the theme (one of the articles that you’ve chosen)
Discuss the quote’s relation to your quote
Repeat this entire process until finish this paragraph
Be sure to include a concluding statement. Never end a paragraph with a quote.
Paragraph 4 (200 min words)
Use your knowledge gained from Lecture and PowerPoints to identify characters in both stories and present them in a way that supports your thesis statement.
How do the characters align with the theme? What specific characteristics attitude behavior, physical appearances do they possess that illustrate the theme?
Use specific textual evidence from the stories (direct quotes and paraphrases) include page numbers for in-text citations.
Use MLA documentation, include citations for all quotes and paraphrases and works cited at end of paper.
Here’s how to do this:
Topic sentence that compares or contrasts character and the theme
Introduce a quote using a signal phrase that provides context about the theme and its connection to the quote that will follow.
Include direct quote or paraphrase followed by page number
Explain the significance of the quote.
Introduce a quote from a scholar and its relation to the theme (one of the articles that you’ve chosen)
Discuss the quote’s relation to your quote
Repeat this entire process until finish this paragraph
Be sure to include a concluding statement. Never end a paragraph with a quote.
Paragraph 5 (200 min words)
How does the setting help illustrate the theme?
Topic sentence that compares or contrasts setting and the theme
Introduce a quote using a signal phrase that provides context about the theme and its connection to the quote that will follow.
Include direct quote or paraphrase followed by page number
Explain the significance of the quote.
Introduce a quote from a scholar and its relation to the theme (one of the articles that you’ve chosen)
Discuss the quote’s relation to your quote
Repeat this entire process until finish this paragraph
Be sure to include a concluding statement. Never end a paragraph with a quote.
Paragraph 6 (conclusion 200 word min)
Reiterate thesis statement.
Remind your audience of your main point.
Summarize your key examples
Other Paper Tips:
All literature should be examined in the present tense. Characters and events are part of
the eternal present. Therefore, verbs such as “was” should appear as “is.”
Type your paper in Times New Roman style and 12-point font. Double-space your entire
Paper (this includes the left header and the Works Cited page).
Your paper must have a title. Do not name your paper Paper# 1 or Literary Analysis. Be
original and provocative.
Your entire paper must contain a left and right header. Do not use a cover page. The left
must contain the author’s full name, the professor’s full name, the class/section, and the
date. The right header must contain the writer’s last name and the page number. It should
appear a ½” from the top of the page.
The paper’s tone should be formal and scholarly. Therefore, avoid first-person pronouns
such as “I, us, me, our, me and mine.” Analyze using the third person only.
Avoid contractions.
Avoid colloquialisms and clichés.
Reference Guidance:
(Documenting from an anthology) Add a Works Cited page. Provide the author, title of
the text of the book/anthology in italics, book edition, volume, editor, publisher, year,
page number.
Eliot, T.S. “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock.” The Norton Anthology of American
Literature, 10 th edition, Vol. D, edited by Robert Levine, W.W. Norton & Company,
2022,
pp. 371-374.
(Documenting from online sites) Add a Works Cited page. Provide the author, title of
the text, title of the website in italics, publisher or sponsor of the website, publication
date, URL.
Coleridge, Samuel Taylor. “This Lime-Tree Bowe my Prison.” Romantic Circles,
University of Maryland, rc.umd.edu/editions/poets/texts/limetree.html. Accessed
Final reminders:
Use specific textual evidence from the stories (direct quotes and paraphrases) include page numbers for in-text citations.
Use MLA documentation, include citations for all quotes and paraphrases and works cited at end of paper
