For the Documented Essay, you must choose one of the texts that we have studied this semester and make an argument about the text. You are free to approach this from a number of different angles so long as you make an argument that explores some aspect of the text and what it is saying. Stories we have not read for the class are NOT acceptable.
You are required to quote at least 5 outside sources in the paper in order to provide a background and support for your argument. The paper will be written in MLA format and must be 5 to 7 pages long, the works cited page DOES NOT COUNT toward the final page count. The bare minimum number of pages is 5, but a longer page count can help to ensure a higher score.
The Library’s website will have access to a number of journals and databases that may help assist you in your search.
DO NOT use Wikipedia, Shmoop, eNotes, Sparknotes, or Cliff Notes as a source to support your argument. Restrict your outside sources to academic materials: Academic Articles, Historical Texts, and News articles from reputable sources (Huff Post, Breitbart, etc. are not acceptable).
In order to approach this essay, you should start with the question. For example, if you choose to write about Poe’s “The Tell-Tale Heart,” you might choose to discuss society’s understanding of the psychology of the day. Or you might choose to discuss the narrator as an “Unreliable narrator.” The narrator tells us that he/she is not insane, but his/her behavior suggests otherwise. What does this tell us?
Another approach is the Historicist approach, wherein the writer suggests that the literature is a product of its historical period. For example, you might look at a text like “Rip Van Winkle.” A historicist reading would look at the changes in America during Irving’s time.
Still another reading might employ a feminist lens to explore Hawthorne’s Women in either “The Birthmark” or “Rappaccini’s Daughter.” A feminist reading might explore the relationships and treatment of women during Hawthorne’s time, and whether or not these stories make something of a proto-feminist argument about the treatment of women.
Any of these lenses would be acceptable for an argumentative literature essay.
