Write a thesis-driven essay (approx. 1,000-1,200 words) that uses Cohen’s “Monster Culture” Download “Monster Culture”and/or Freud’s “The Uncanny” (Links to an external site.) as a theoretical basis for interpreting and analyzing one of the following novels:
Ira Levin, Rosemary’s Baby
Shirley Jackson, The Haunting of Hill House
Formatting & Logistics
Length: approx. 1,000-1,200 words
MLA Format (Links to an external site.)
1″ margins
Use double-spaced text throughout (incl. header and Works Cited)
First page only: include a heading (upper left), with your name, your professor’s title/name, course prefix/number, and the date
Include a title (centered, same size and style font as the rest of the document)
Insert a running header (top right margin), featuring your last name and the page number
Include an MLA-style Works Cited (Links to an external site.)
Use MLA in-text citations (Links to an external site.) for any quotations
Instructions
In contrast to your response papers, this assignment calls for you to write a formal essay featuring a sustained, cohesive textual analysis of an assigned primary text (i.e., Rosemary’s Baby or The Haunting of Hill House). That analysis should draw on the theoretical concepts of “Monster Culture” Download “Monster Culture”(Cohen) or “The Uncanny” (Links to an external site.) (Freud). With these parameters, almost any topic is acceptable. Broadly speaking, this type of essay seeks to answer the following questions: what meaning/effect does the literary text create, how does the text use particular literary devices to create that meaning/effect, and how do those devices operate in relation to the text’s broader themes?
In addressing this sort of question, your essay should consist of three basic parts:
An introduction, usually a single paragraph, identifies the text (i.e., author’s full name, title, year of publication), provides context, and culminates in an interpretive thesis statement (i.e., the claim you will support).
A multi-paragraph body elaborates and supports the thesis through analysis; each paragraph of the body includes a topic sentence, textual evidence, and an explanation of that evidence.
A conclusion offers a final perspective on the paper’s argument—not a mere restatement of the introduction.
Throughout, use the methods and vocabulary of literary analysis—particularly “close readings” of specific passages—while minimizing plot synopses and generalities. Your interpretation does not have to be definitive or “right,” but it does have to be based on evidence from the relevant primary and secondary texts.
Guidelines: interpretation and analysis
Make sure that your thesis is neither too narrow not too broad; restrict yourself to a single topic, rather than trying to do too much.
Include a formal introduction, featuring relevant details of the text (author’s full name, text title, publication year) and culminating with your specific, arguable thesis statement (i.e., the interpretive claim you will support in your essay).
Support your thesis statement (i.e., interpretive claim) with direct textual evidence (i.e., direct quotations, paraphrases, and summaries), properly cited.
Provide analysis that demonstrates how the textual evidence supports your interpretive claim.
Focus on interpretation and analysis, avoiding extended plot synopses, summaries, and generalities.
Consider text’s form (e.g., language and style), not just its content (e.g., plot and theme).
Include a formal conclusion.
You may incorporate language from your response papers; I will not treat such usage as plagiarism.
You are not expected to consult additional research (beyond the Cohen and/or Freud essays). However, you are free to draw on lectures and class discussions. If you use outside sources, you must cite them properly, or else you are committing plagiarism.
Guidelines: writing style
Adhere to the conventions of academic writing (e.g., use a formal style; avoid phrases such as “I think that…”).
Structure: each paragraph should begin with a topic sentence that develops your thesis statement, and the rest of the paragraph should support the claim of that topic sentence.
On quotations:
Include attributive tags.
Avoid dropped quotes (Links to an external site.).
Avoid unnecessarily lengthy quotations.
Clarify how each quotation supports your argument.
Avoid ending paragraphs with quotations.
Use the present tense when referring to a text (e.g., “Cohen argues that…”).
Eschew sweeping generalizations (e.g., “In today’s society…,” “Due to human nature…”).
Limit use of passive voice.
Do not overuse the verb “to be” (“is,” “are,” “was,” “were,” etc.); in fact, English has many verbs.
Do not abuse adverbs (e.g., “very”).
Do not use exclamation points, ever (unless in a quotation)!!!
Do not use “this” as an unsupported pronoun; “this” what?
Please, please, please learn the different uses of the word “however” (Links to an external site.) and how to punctuate each of them properly.
Do not underline or bold the title of your paper, put it quotation marks, enlarge the font, or skip extra lines.
Per MLA style, italicize the titles of books (including novels); place the titles of short works (e.g., essays) in double quotation marks.
Do not submit your first draft; carefully revise, proofread, and edit (ideally after a Writing Services (Links to an external site.) consultation).
