ENGL 301 (Section 004, Schedule #12391)
Virginia Commonwealth University
Fall 2014
TR 12:30-1:45pm :: 440 Hibbs
Prof. David Golumbia
Office: 324D Hibbs Hall
Fall 2014 Office Hours: TR 2-3:30pm

Introduction to the English Major

PAPER ASSIGNMENT 3

Write a 5-6 page (1500 words) paper onthe following topic. Your paper should stick closely to the language of the work you are analyzing. The paper is due by email to dgolumbia@vcu.edu or on paper by class period on Thursday, November November 20.

• In class discussion of The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, we talked about whether the narrator, Yunior, was "redeemed" or not once the novel reaches its conclusion. The article we read by Elena Machado Sáez suggested strongly that Yunior is a "minor Trujillo"; other arguments suggest that he was at one time a very bad person, but that the book is in part a story of him making himself a (slightly) better person--"still an asshole," as Diaz said in an interview (about himself), but more aware of it. In your paper, argue either that Yunior is bad all the way to the end, or that he in some way or other redeems himself and becomes a better person. You may use the essays and interviews we read, or others (all properly cited of course), for additional support/background for your paper, but it is not required.
  

General paper instructions

The essay should be 5 to 6 pages in length, but please use your word processor to count the number of words; word count and not page length is the official metric for the assignment. 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 1500 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. Refer to assignment 1 for information on some correct ways to cite material for the paper.

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.

Last updated November 11, 2014.