Writing about Lit - Essay Assignments and Samples

Anoka Ramsey Community College -- Coon Rapids Campus

Prof. Scott R. Stankey

Writing About Literature -- Essay Assignments and Sample Papers

Bibliographical Essays:

English 2235 -- Spring 2003 -- Initial Assignment -- Review of Critical Articles

English 2235 -- Spring 2003 -- More Suggestions for the Paper

English 2235 -- Spring 2003 -- Research Strategies

English 2230 -- Fall 2003

English 2235 -- Spring 2006

English 2235 -- Spring 2008 -- Essay #2 -- Option A

English 1121 -- Spring 2011 (on August Wilson's Ma Rainey's Black Bottom)

English 2230 -- Fall 2011

Sample Papers:

This first sample paper is one that I wrote in my World Literature I survey course (Eng. 421) in the Fall of 1990. We had just finished reading Virgil’s Aeneid, I had particularly liked Book Five, and I wanted to examine it in more depth; in addition, I noticed similarities between this part of the Aeneid and similar sections in Homer’s The Iliad and The Odyssey. After doing a search for books and/or articles about the Aeneid in general and Book Five in particular, I found the article, “Was Book Five Once in a Different Place in the Aeneid?” in the scholarly journal, American Journal of Philology.

Sample from a World Literature Course -- Virgil

This second sample paper is one that I wrote in my Literary Research and Writing course (Eng. 275) in the Fall of 1991. I had studied Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales in my British Literature survey course (Eng. 320) earlier in the same term, I had particularly enjoyed “The Miller’s Tale” -- its story, its form, and its humor -- and I wanted to explore the genre of the fabliau further. After doing a search for books and/or articles about fabliau in general and Chaucer’s fabliau in particular, I found the article, “The English Fabliau Tradition and Chaucer’s ‘Miller’s Tale,’” in the scholarly journal, Modern Philology.

Sample from a British Literature Course -- Chaucer

After studying these first two sample papers, you will notice that the summary section in the Brit. Lit. paper is more thorough than the summary in the World Lit. paper; since I want your summary to have some substance to it, follow the Brit. Lit. example. As for the analysis sections, you will notice that each paper takes a different approach: the Brit. Lit. paper takes an “evaluation” approach while the World Lit. paper takes a more “response” approach -- this is because these two assignments were quite different, given by different professors in different courses. The approach you take in your own analysis section is up to you (and you might even combine both “evaluation” and “response” in your analysis), but be sure your analysis section contains your ideas about the article book chapter and does not simply re-summarize it. But follow the World Lit. paper in terms of length for the analysis section; I want your analysis section to be as long, or even a bit longer, than your summary section.

This third sample paper was written by a student in my English 2230: American Literature to 1865 course in the Fall of 2003. Her assignment was exactly the same as the one you have now: she had to do research to find her article, and her length requirement was 3-5 pages. She chose to write about Frederick Douglass' Narrative.

Sample from an American Literature Course -- Frederick Douglass

This fourth sample paper was written by another student in my English 2230: American Literature to 1865 course in the Fall of 2003. Her assignment was exactly the same as the one you have now: she had to do research to find her article, and her length requirement was 3-5 pages. She chose to write about Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter.

Sample from an American Literature Course -- Nathaniel Hawthorne

Comparison-Contrast Essays:

English 2235 -- Spring 2011 -- Essay #1 -- Option B

English 1121 -- Fall 2002 -- (comparing the book to the movie, Awakenings)

English 1121 -- Fall 2003 -- (comparing one writer's nonfiction essay and short story, A Writer's Presence)

English 2202 -- Summer 2005 -- (genres and themes -- nature, love, death)

English 2202 -- Summer 2006 -- (dramatic poetry or poetic drama)

English 2230 -- Fall 2007 -- (comparing Arthur Miller's The Crucible to our Puritan Writers)

English 2235 -- Spring 2008 -- Essay #1 (comparing plays by August Wilson and Neil Simon)

English 2230 -- Fall 2011 -- Essay #2 (comparing an unassigned writer to an assigned writer)

Essays on Unassigned Writers (summary, analysis, response, synthesis, evaluation):

English 2230 -- Fall 2004

English 2235 -- Spring 2005

English 2204 -- Summer 2007 -- Essay #1

English 2230 -- Fall 2007 -- Essay #1

English 2204 -- Summer 2008 -- Essay #1

English 2230 -- Fall 2010

Sample Papers:

Royall Tyler

Judith Sargent Murray

James Grainger

Shirley Jackson

Chinua Achebe

Essays Tracing a Theme:

English 2230 -- Fall 2001 (general course themes)

English 2230 -- Fall 2005 (specific course themes)

English 2230 -- Fall 2006 (themes related to Jane Hamilton's novel)

English 1121 -- Spring 2010 -- Essay #2 -- Option B (themes in Fiction on a Stick)

English 2215 -- Spring 2011 (groups/clusters of topics/themes found throughout the course readings)

Sample Papers:

Native Americans in American Literature

Beyond the Grave (the theme of death)

Tracing the Common Themes of Women Authors

An Option for Revising an Already Graded Essay:

English 22335 -- Spring 2008 -- Essay #2 -- Option B

Creative Re-Writes:

English 2204 -- Summer 2007 -- Essay #2

English 2204 -- Summer 2008 -- Essay #2

Sample Papers:

Samples for Summer 2007

Samples for Summer 2008

Samples from Summer 2007 Students

Remixes:

English 2230 -- Fall 2010 -- Essay #1 -- Option B (contemporary remix)

Remix Resources

Mixtapes:

English 2215 -- Spring 2010 (take-home exam, poetry)

English 2204 -- Summer 2010 (take-home exam, Flash Fiction Forward)

Self-Assessments:

English 2204 -- Summer 2009 (midterm, early)

English 2204 -- Summer 2009 (midterm, late)

A Personal Response to a Literary Work:

English 2235 -- Spring 2001 -- Essay #2 -- Option B (personal preferences)

English 0950 -- Fall 2004 -- Anthony Bukoski's Time Between Trains

English 0950 -- Spring 2005 -- Sheila O'Connor's Where No Gods Came

English 1121 -- Spring 2008 -- August Wilson's The Piano Lesson (three choices, choices 2-3)

English 0950 -- Spring 2009 -- Sandra Benitez's The Weight of All Things

English 2230 -- Fall 2010 -- Essay #1 -- Option A

Close Reading / Analysis Essays:

English 102 -- Fall 1993 (Jon Hassler's Staggerford)

English 204 -- Spring 1996

English 221 -- Winter 1997

English 2235 -- Spring 2000

English 2230 -- Fall 2000 (one assignment sheet for two separate essays)

English 2235 -- Spring 2001 -- Essay #1 (two options; option A)

English 2235 -- Spring 2001 -- Essay #2 (two options; option A)

English 2202 -- Summer 2001 -- Essay #1 (poetry)

English 2202 -- Summer 2001 -- Essay #2 (short fiction and commentaries)

English 1121 -- Spring 2003 -- Essay #4 (Jon Hassler's The Love Hunter)

English 2230 -- Fall 2009 (August Wilson's Radio Golf, essay with choices)

English 1121 -- Fall 2009 (Adrian Tomine's Shortcomings)

English 1121 -- Spring 2010 (Adrian Tomine's Shortcomings)

Short Response Papers / Journals:

English 204 -- Spring 1996

English 206 -- Fall 1997 -- Short Stories

English 206 -- Fall 1997 -- Novels

English 221 -- Winter 1998 -- General Information

English 221 -- Winter 1998 -- #1

English 221 -- Winter 1998 -- #2

English 206 -- Spring 1998

English 2230 -- Fall 1998 (draft)

English 2230 -- Fall 1998 (final)

English 2230 -- Fall 1999

English 2202 -- Summer 2002

English 2230 -- Fall 2003 -- Short Paper A (two choices: historical background or unassigned writer)

English 2230 -- Fall 2003 -- Short Paper B (two choices: historical background or unassigned writer)

English 2235 -- Spring 2004 -- Volume C (two choices: historical background or unassigned writer)

English 2235 -- Spring 2004 -- Volume D (two choices: historical background or unassigned writer)

English 2235 -- Spring 2004 -- Volume E (three choices: historical background or unassigned writer or ARCC Theatre presentation)

English 2202 -- Summer 2004

Sample Papers:

Poetry Paper -- Sample 1

Poetry Paper -- Sample 2

Poetry Paper -- Sample 3

Poetry Paper -- Sample 4

Poetry Paper -- Sample 5

Fiction Paper -- Sample 1 (two short stories)

Fiction Paper -- Sample 2 (novel)