Length: 5 pages (not including Works Cited)

Format: All drafts must be typed according to MLA style guidelines (12-point Times New Roman font, double spaced, 1″ margins, with proper header). Include a works cited page listing entries for your primary text(s) and all secondary sources consulted (not included in page count).

You are to write a critical analysis about one of the texts from the syllabus this semester. Select one particular theme from a story or poem to investigate.

Regardless of which theme you select, you will be expected to present an analysis of the text. Thus, you should have an overarching claim or argument about the text which you will present in your thesis statement and prove through evidence (including short quotes) from the text itself. Support your claim in a well-organized, focused essay. Be sure to cite sources appropriately in-text.

You must use three (3) appropriate, academic secondary sources. (This does not include the story or poem you are writing about, which is your primary source.) Be sure to integrate and cite them appropriately and be sure your claim is your own, not borrowed from a source. Your essay should present your own understanding of the poem or story, using other sources to support your ideas. Your paper should somehow convince me that you have read the story or poem carefully.