English Paper

For your first essay, you will select a single sentence or passage of your choosing from any of the
literary works we have read for class thus far and conduct a close-reading analysis of this piece of
text. In this essay, and all of the essays you will write for this class, you will develop your literary
analysis and close-reading skills. Reading closely means developing a deep understanding and a
precise interpretation of a literary passage. This type of analysis moves beyond mere summary and is
based first and foremost on the words themselves. Further, a close reading considers the themes and
ideas evoked and/or implied by the passage in relation to larger themes of the literary work.
Conducting a close reading is very much an inductive exercise. You should spend time exploring
your piece of text on a micro level and use your observations to construct a claim. Your claim will
drive your essay and should pertain to both your chosen sentence(s) or passage as well as the larger
work of literature. In the body of your essay you will support and prove your claim by analyzing
various parts of your chosen sentence(s) or passage. In order to thoughtfully and thoroughly attend
to this assignment, the target word count for this assignment is 750-1000 words (approximately 3-4
pages).
General guidelines and expectations:
Your writing will be graded for both content and style, and thus, should be concise and thoughtful,
and grammatically, mechanically, and syntactically elegant. Your essay must be typed, in Times New
Roman font, 12-point size with numbered pages. At the top of the first page, include your name, the
due date, the course name and section, and my name in four consecutive, single-spaced lines; the
remainder of the essay should be double-spaced. After your last paragraph please include your essay
word count. For an example of the expected essay format, please see the syllabus. Additionally,
papers and citations should always follow MLA format. For assistance, please consult The Bedford
Handbook, the Online Writing Lab (OWL) at Purdue, or any one of the dozens of other available
online resources.