Literary Analysis on the Giver

Outline for Literary Analysis Paper for English 230 I. Introduction: a. Brief intro to each work—title, author’s full name, and short summary of each b. Topic (relationship with father, violence, colonialism, loss of culture and identity, personal development, role of missionaries, death of innocent, child soldiers, justice, second chances, role of women, voice, native traditions, historical accuracy) c. End with a clearly worded thesis that compares how each of the two works treats the topic. You need to focus your paper as much as possible around this one central thesis. II. Body: a. Use evidence from the novels to support your thesis. You need to present at least three comparative points. b. Use quotes or facts from credible outside sources (not sparknotes, gradesaver, cliffnotes, shmoop, etc. ) to inform your paper. i. Begin with a topic sentence that introduces the comparative point. ii. Incorporate quotations/specific details from each work. If you use quotes from the novel first and then from the other work for the first comparative point, continue to use that same pattern throughout your paper. iii. Include facts or details from sources that relate to the point you are making in the paragraph. Be sure to give the source credit. Follow MLA guidelines. iv. Tie the significance of each quote/paraphrase to your thesis. You can’t just quote from the source and expect the reader to understand why you have quoted that sentence or passage. You have to explain what makes it appropriate and how it fits in your analysis. v. Use a transition to move from talking about one work to the other. III. Conclusion: a. Explain how reading the two works together helps you better understand the topic. . What do you know now that you did not know before? ii. What are you still unclear about? List of Possible Topics for Comparing Flight to Things Fall Apart Tragic heroes Violence Colonialism Masculinity Loss of culture and identity Personal development Role of missionaries Father-son relationship Religion Native traditions Death of innocent Death of innocence Child soldiers War Justice Guilt and forgiveness Second chances Role of women Narrative voice Historical accuracy Revising History Language Choices Importance of the titles The endings Drunken natives NOTES ON QUOTING ? Put the author’s last name and page number or line number in parenthesis after each quote. ? You don’t need to always quote directly; you can paraphrase (put in your own words) the details of a specific scene; however, you will still provide a parenthetical citation. ? If you quote more than three typed lines, you need to indent your quote and you do not need quotation marks unless a character is speaking. ? Write in present tense. For example, Art tells Hank, â€Å"In order to fight evil, sometimes we have to do evil things† (Alexie 56). ? Use variety of present tense verbs when you quote from the literature—acknowledges, agrees, argues, asks, asserts, believes, claims, comments, contends, declares, denies, emphasizes, realizes, notes, insists, etc. REFERRING TO AUTHORS AND TITLES ? The first time you make reference to authors, refer to them by their first and last names: Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart is about a man who strug gles against the changes in his community. ? In subsequent references, use last names only: Even though Achebe’s novel is about a particular political and historical moment, it’s themes are timeless and universal. As a rule, do not use titles such as Mr. or Ms. or Dr. ? Titles of articles, short poems, and short stories are put in quotation marks and the titles novels, long poems, plays, magazines, journals, or newspapers are italicized. ? When introducing quotations from a literary work, make sure that you don’t confuse the work’s author with the narrator of the story, the speaker of a poem, or a character in a play. Instead of naming the author, you can refer to the narrator or speaker—or to the work itself. NAMES IN PARENTHETICAL CITATION You need to use the author’s last name in the parenthetical citation to make it clear which work each quote came from. The first time you quote from a work, use the author’s last name. If your next quote is from the same work, you do not need to use the author’s last name in parentheses, just the page number. But then when you quote from another work, you need to put that author’s last name in parentheses to make it clear that this quote came from a different work. Recommended Resources 1. Books from our library. I put the following selection of books on Reserve at the Sims Memorial Library; the reserve room is on the first floor of the library: Lies My Teacher Told Me : Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong Native Universe : Voices Of Indian America Understanding Sherman Alexie ? When Brer Rabbit Meets Coyote : African-Native American literature 2. The online database Literature Resource Center. To access, log onto Southeastern’s web site and click on Library. Then click â€Å"Find Articles. † Under Databases by Title, click on L-M and then Literature Resource Center. ? Search by author’s last name. Type in Achebe or Alexie. ? Look under the â€Å"Topic and Work Overview† for general information on the works. ? Look at the list on the left for specific topics. 3. Sherman Alexie’s website http://www. fallsapart. com/index. html. (Hey, look. Alexie’s website is titled â€Å"falls apart. †) If you click on academic center, you will find a long list of analysis and criticism available online. 4. Interview with Achebe on Youtube: Part 1 http://www. youtube. com/watch? v=iCic_RoPhoM Part 2 http://www. youtube. com/watch? v=fl9lE5yN1qY Part 3 http://www. youtube. com/watch? v=QFvPK5Txxd4