Topic
For this assignment, you will be crafting a literary analysis of either Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep orGattaca, by identifying and engaging with others’ ideas in order to participate in a broader scholarly conversation or debate. The goal of this paper is to practice research skills, so you will be required to find and integrate at least three sources into your paper (5-6 pages), two of which must be scholarly sources.
While you are using sources, your argument should be the focus of this essay! These sources should function as tools to deepen and enrich your argument about the book or film but should not themselves be the source of your ideas. You still need to pull evidence from the text you choose and analyze it! You cannot prove a claim about the text simply by showing that someone else said the same thing.
Finding and Incorporating Sources
As you search for outside sources, you will need to determine guiding questions that will help you ascertain whether or not the sources you find are relevant to your argument. Your sources should be reliable and at leasttwo must be scholarly works (peer-reviewed or from an academic press). If you are unsure if a source seems reliable, please check with me before including it (a quick email with a link is fine). Once you’ve chosen your sources, read them completely and use them to question and complicate your argument.
An excellent essay will advance a cogent, original argument that respects the contributions of others while extending or challenging their ideas. Remember that the conversation is ongoing–your essay should open up further opportunities for argument by posing questions as well as answering them. Avoid merely summarizing the views of others and ensure that you adequately and accurately represent the arguments of the thinkers you cite. It is also not enough to simply agree or disagree with these arguments–you must articulate how and why you do so.
Citation
You will need to cite sources throughout your essay whenever you make a claim that resembles, complements, or contradicts the claim of another source; rely on information or concepts from a source; or paraphrase, quote, or summarize anything in a source.
Grading
The difference between an “A” and a “B” paper likely hinges on the sophistication and originality of the essay’s close reading, analysis, and argumentation and your ability to incorporate and respond to outside sources. An “A” paper develops an insightful, sophisticated analysis of the text and clarifies how your claim extends/refutes your sources’ arguments and contributes an original insight into the text. A “B” paper may offer a less sophisticated/more predictable analysis, with similar ideas to those found in your sources. A “C” paper may not incorporate the appropriate sources or may simply reiterate their ideas without offering an original or adequate analysis of the text.
Assignment Details
Your essay should include:
an MLA-style header (name, teacher, class, date) and page numbers with last name in the upper right-hand corner
a title, introduction, body, and conclusion
at least three secondary sources well integrated and analyzed
at least two of which need to be scholarly sources
a complex, nuanced thesis that includes a “so what?” and articulates your position in a broaderconversation
a clear and thorough analysis of the text and your sources to support your thesis – close reading!
evidence that is carefully unpacked, incorporated, and cited correctly (MLA, APA – whichever you choose, be consistent)
a correctly formatted works cited page
correct formatting: Times New Roman, 12 pt. font, double spaced, 1” margins, 5-6 pages
