ENGL 2130 American Literature

ENGL 2130 American Literature
Dr. Susan Muchshima Moynihan
Fall 2021 Annotated Edition Assignment
DUE DATE: Monday, November 22, 2021
This assignment requires you to choose one of three texts:
n Ernest Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises
n Julie Otsuka’s When the Emperor Was Divine
n Junot Diaz’s The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
Your task is to choose a specified section of your text (such as a chapter) and then create
footnotes for that chapter/section in order to give the reader a fuller understanding of that text
based on research.
Your annotated edition should be 5-6 pages long, double-spaced, not including your Works
Cited list. You must write a 2-page introduction and 3-4 pages of footnotes (a minimum of 3
full pages of footnotes). Those 3-4 pages of footnotes must offer a minimum of 4 different
footnotes. The footnotes can vary in length (some short footnotes, some longer ones); therefore,
you may have many more than 4 footnotes as you fill the minimum of 3 full pages.
Introduction (2 pages):
n Introduce your chosen book and specify which chapter/section you have chosen to footnote.
n Provide an overview of the kind of research (historical information, literary scholarship,
legal information, biographical information, psychological studies, etc.) you have provided
for your chosen chapter/section. You could offer a mix of different kinds of research.
n Explain why you think the context you have provided through your footnotes is important
for a greater understanding of the text. The information should have significance and should
be related to the meaning and purpose of the book.
Footnotes (3-4 pages):
n For each footnote, first clarify which passage is being footnoted by indicating the page
number and quoting the sentence that should have the footnote. If it is a long passage, you
can offer the page number with just the beginning of the quoted passage.
n In working to give a greater understanding of your chosen literary text, the footnotes should
be research-based and can offer different kinds of information: literary analysis, historical
information, social history on a particular group of people, legal history, economic context,
linguistic information, etc.
n Any use of a source must be documented using MLA citation format.
Works Cited List:
n Your Works Cited list should include your chosen literary text (Hemingway, Otsuka, or
Diaz) and any research sources you used for your footnotes.
n Use at least 2 scholarly/peer-reviewed sources among your sources in total.
n Your Works Cited list should be presented in MLA citation format.
Please see me if you need assistance with this assignment. I would be happy to help.