Criticism Essay
This literary criticism essay explores a common theme or motif in at least two works of literature. This essay explores its topic in greater depth than the previous short essays, and must use supporting sources. The criticism essay will be a more elaborate version of the short essays you’ve written in this course. In fact, you can use one of your short essays as a first draft. Choose at least two works of literature that we have studied in this course. Choose a common theme, topic, or motif in these two works. Your essay should explore the following:
(1) Similarities and differences between how these works treat your theme, topic, or motif.
(2) The significance of your theme, topic, or motif.
(3) The main point you want to make about the theme, topic, or motif—in other words, an argumentative thesis statement.
(4) Details from the literary works that support your thesis statement.
This essay should follow the basic introduction, body, conclusion structure learned in College Composition. Since this is a literary criticism essay, your analysis and argument should be rooted in a close reading of your literary sources. For this essay, you’ll also need to use supporting sources. In many cases, you’ll find that scholarly research has been done on your specific literary works. In other cases, you may look for research related to the genre, theme, or historical context of these works. You must have at least 5 sources. (This is a minimum number. There is no maximum number.) Your sources must include at least 2 works of literature that we have studied during this course. Your sources must also include at least 2 academic journal articles or academic nonfiction books. Your essay should be at least 1200 words long.
