ENGL 301 (Section 006, Schedule #26694)
Virginia Commonwealth University
Fall 2012
M 1-1:50pm :: Hibbs 329
Prof. David Golumbia
Office: 324D Hibbs Hall
Fall 2012 Office Hours: W 11:30-1pm, 2-3pm

English Studies: Reading Literature:
Story Today

Fourth Short Paper Assignment

The assignment is to write a short analytical essay of at least 1000 words on one of the topics listed below. The assignment is due via email or on paper to me by the end of the final exam period for the class: 3:50pm on Friday, Dec 14. My expectation is that you will email the paper to me at dgolumbia@vcu.edu, but you may also submit a paper copy of the essay to my mailbox in the English Department office in Hibbs Hall, or under the door of my office, 324D Hibbs. Hall.

The essay should be 4 to 5 pages in length, but please use your word processor to count the number of words. An English paper should include quotations from the work you are analyzing, and short quotations DO count toward the total word count for the essay. Long quotations (of 50 or more words) should not generally be counted toward the 1000 word total for the assignment.

This is not a research paper, and you are not expected to consult outside sources except for the primary book or piece of media you choose to interpret. Any sources, including that primary source, should be properly cited in your paper, using any acceptable bibliographic citation format. One very simple format is to use a list of Works Cited at the end of the paper, and indicate by author, work and page number in parentheses the exact quotations within the paper itself. For example, you might make an observation about Titus saying "the moon turned out to completely suck" (Anderson, Feed, 3). Then at the end of your paper put your bibliography:

Works Cited

Anderson, M.T. Feed. Cambridge, MA: Candlewick Press, 2002.

Other standard forms of citation (such as footnotes) are also acceptable, but failing to properly indicate sources technically constitutes plagiarism.

Speaking of plagiarism, all work for this assignment and the rest of this course is expected to be your own, and should not include elements from other sources (such as online commentaries on the works you write about), unless you also put them in quotation marks and clearly indicate your sources as described above.

Your essay should address one of the following questions. In general, you should work to develop your own argument, one independent of specific points or analyses raised during class discussion. It's OK and probably unavoidable to reflect some of what we talk about in class, but in general you should do your best to develop an independent topic that shows of your own reasoning.

  1. (Open topic): analyze any work of literature or aspect of a work of literature, asking what role story and narrative technique play. Check with me about the work of literature you choose before you begin writing.
  2. Compose a work of digital storytelling about a story of your own choosing. It may or may not be a story from your own life. You can choose to use the traditional tools of digital storytelling, or a mixture of any other tools you find appropriate or useful. Check with me before you begin working on this project.
  3. You may rewrite any of your first three papers (with the exception of papers that received a solid A), reflecting my comments and the results of our paper workshopping sessions. Check with me before you begin working on this project.
  4. Compare the way that literature is expressed orally in some of the Nuyorican Poets material with some of the written poetry we have read (Mullen, Silko, or Yamanaka). How does poetry work in similar and different ways depending on whether it is spoken or written? You should closely analyze actual poems in this assignment for their meaning, in addition to considering the formal aspects relating to oral vs written presentation.
  5. Closely analyze the narrative structure and meaning of Saturday Night at the Pahala Theatre. You may or may not choose to compare it with another work we have read this semester. Think about issues relating to narrative and story as well as questions of poetic form and meaning.
  6. Compare the overall structure and meaning of Saturday Night at the Pahala Theatre. with Rolling the R's, Sleeping With the Dictionary, or Storyteller.
  7. Compare the use of language in ttyl and Sleeping with the Dictionary.
  8. Use a specific work of written literature (NOT a video game) to explore the idea of "ludology" (games are a unique media form that is largely independent of story) vs "narratology" (story and narrative are the primary way games make sense to/function for us as players). As we've discussed in class, these perspectives are not really opposed, but in what specific ways would one approach or the other be especially useful for the work of literature you are analyzing.