Literary Research Paper (The Lottery by Shirley Jackson)

Description

Please write in easy English. I attached the pdf file for The Lottery full text. This last, 5-to-6-page (double-spaced) essay will be centered on your own interpretive claim regarding a work or works assigned during this semester but will require you to inform your discussion of this text, or texts, with relevant research (at least three secondary sources, two of which must be found in the library or through its databases, plus your primary work(s)). You may consider a single text or make connections between texts and across periods and genres. However, remember that you should not sacrifice depth for breadth and that you should move beyond simply pointing out commonalities. The focus of your thesis and the bulk of your analysis of primary works will come from you, but you must also demonstrate that you have engaged with other critics’ ideas regarding the piece, or pieces, you have chosen. Your essay will be structured around your main points, but occasionally weaving in and/or acknowledging related research of others will only enhance your own work and show that you have become familiar with the field of literary scholarship as it relates to your particular subject. You will be writing in the manner of the sort of critical essays you might find via the library database; notice that these writers attempt to prove their own interpretations, sometimes pointing out where others have succeeded or fallen short or providing some critical background information, primarily through careful analysis of primary sources and contexts. Consulting Chapter 8 in our class anthology for suggestions regarding literary research and a model student paper should prove helpful as you begin this process. Remember, all sources, primary AND secondary, should be cited fully according to MLA guidelines both within the essay and in a works cited page, which does not count toward your total page requirement.