Purpose: To write an argumentative essay examining how a given “text” (book, artwork, story, etc) comments on the culture that produced it. By completing this assignment you will:
Practice proper use of evidence and explanation in forming an argument.
Practice analysis (textual, literary, rhetorical) and “reading” for deeper meaning.
Practice connecting given cultural norms with their artistic expressions.
Practice skills related to evaluation and critique.
Practice forming clear and reasoned arguments.
Prompt: How does the text you are looking at comment on the culture in which it appeared?
NOTE: If you fail to include a proper MLA Works Cited AND proper in-text citation (for both quotations AND paraphrases), your work will receive an automatic 0!
For this assignment, you’ll conduct close reading on a text in order to make a larger argument about the text and its context. For our purposes, a “text” can refer to any produced work, including but not limited to paintings, sculpture, fiction, religious works, film and television (although those say more about the modern culture that produced them) and so on. Choose one of the (FICTIONAL) readings, characters, or stories we have done for this unit and read through it carefully for a second time, taking notes on questions, comments, and odd or interesting moments throughout the text. NOTE: You may NOT analyze a video on myth or culture in general. That is, you cannot write a paper about the Overly Sarcastic video on Dionysus, but you MAY analyze the myth of Dionysus’s birth. Pay attention to any unusual details or elements that strike you as distinct and fascinating. Then, think about how the text reflects its cultural inflections – what about it is specific to the time and place it was written, and what can we learn about that time or culture based on the text?
You will craft an argument about the text and its culture based on its specific characteristics. You will need to make sure your close reading and analysis go beyond what was discussed in class. Use your research to connect the text’s specific features to the cultural context that produced it, and at the same time, use the text to gain a better understanding of that cultural context. How does the text reflect the cultural values of its time and place?
The essay should be structured and organized carefully. In general, structuring a literary analysis according to chronology (that is, analyzing it in the order of events that occur in the text) is not a strong structure; instead, organize thematically or topically. Make sure the body paragraphs are constructed carefully, with strong topic sentences (without evidence); plenty of relevant evidence from the text in the form of quotes, paraphrases, details and facts; correct in-text citations for each piece of evidence; analysis connecting the evidence to the overall argument; and a strong concluding sentence to tie everything together.
WARNING: Do not write a report on the culture. Nor should you write a standard analysis of the text. Instead, you are supposed to draw ideas about the culture FROM the text, so both must be included. If you only give me a report or an analysis, you will receive a 50/100 and be asked to rewrite your paper.
Sample Topics: PICK ONE
You could write about such topics as:
-The role of women in Mesopotamian society and The Epic of Gilgamesh
-The representation of nature and/or Shinto in My Neighbor Totoro (or any Miyazaki/Studio Ghibli movie)
-The influence of the church, martial society, and/or women in The Knight of the Cart or The Knight of the Lion
-Understandings of sex and sexuality in Greek, Mesopotamian, Egyptian, or any other theogonies/origin stories
-Fate vs freewill in Oedipus Rex
Goals of Assignment:
To conduct careful close reading of a text, finding and explaining details to demonstrate something about the whole
To make a clear, persuasive argument about an aspect of the text and its relationship to its cultural context
To use detailed and evocative language to express your ideas
To organize your thoughts and claims in a way that will make sense to an outside audience
To use correct citation and source integration methods
To use clear, correct, and varied sentence structures, as well as appropriate formatting
Additional Requirements
Your paper must be a minimum of 750 words. The essay must use correct, 2016 MLA formatting and citations throughout. You must have a Works Cited page as the last page of your document (which doesn’t count towards word count), and it should contain the work you are analyzing. You may also use the videos posted to Canvas to discuss the text’s cultural context; if so, make sure you include correct in-text citations.
Checklist:
Use correct MLA formatting, including the four-line header, page numbers with your last name, Times New Roman font size 12, etc
Put the Works Cited page in the same document as the essay, on its own page at the end
Alphabetize and double space the Works Cited entries, and add a hanging indent.
Introduce the text in the first few lines of the introduction (author’s name, text in italics or quotes as appropriate, time, place, and 1-2 sentence summary)
Give a clear, strong thesis of your own argument about the text without reference to any sources
Do not use any quotes/paraphrases/citations in the first or last sentence of any body paragraph
Use at least 2-3 specific, distinct pieces of evidence per paragraph. In general, give evidence from the primary (literary) text or story first and then explain how this evidence supports your argument
Use clear, correct signal phrases to introduce all quotes, including author name
Use correct in-text citations for all material from the literary sources and any outside sources (such as the videos posted to Canvas).That is usually the author’s name and the page number, unless you’ve mentioned the author already earlier in the sentence
Make sure each paragraph deals with its own sub-argument clearly related to the thesis
Each piece of evidence should be followed by analysis explaining how it proves your point
Don’t forget to connect the text to its cultural context
