The Assignment:
Develop your essays (Literary Analysis Essay) into a full research essay. You will find at least four scholarly sources from the TCC Library, which can include scholarly journal articles, e-books, and/or Ph.D. dissertations on your essay topic, and develop the points you have already made in your paper with added evidence from this research. These must be quality film or literary criticism sources—seek sources that discuss the specific text(s) you have chosen for your essay.
Synthesize your sources’ ideas with your own- imagine that you are having a conversation with the sources you have used. Remember that every source used must be cited in your essay using in-text citations, and must be included in your Works Cited page.
Step 1: Begin scholarly research and compile your sources. You have already practiced finding scholarly articles at the TCC Library and should be especially proficient with using the JSTOR database by now. Remember to choose only sources relevant to your film or literary argument.
Step 3: Build your research outline to determine how you organize your essay with this additional
research. You do not need to turn your outline in; this is for your use only.
Step 4: Complete your rough draft.
Your essay should:
Demonstrate critical thinking and critical analysis of the text
Be organized around a very specific thesis statement- please place thesis at the end of your intro paragraph
Be logically structured
Address very specific passages and develop key points by citing specific textual evidence(include in text citations)
Avoid unnecessary plot summary!!! Focus on analysis
Include quality film or literary research (four scholarly sources from the TCC Library), but the essay should not allow research to take over the paper. Make sure your analysis leads the way. Sources should be used only to support your ideas, not the other way around. Remember that as a rule of thumb, no more than 25% of your essay should be source-derived.
Do NOT use study help websites such as GradeSaver, SparkNotes, Course Hero, UK Essays, etc. or Wikipedia. Using this type of source will lead to a zero essay score. If you are in doubt about the source, you probably shouldn’t use it.
Be at least 1250 – 1500 words (it’s okay to go a little over), 12 pt font in the MLA format, as well as a Works Cited page (which is not considered part of the word count)
Demonstrate evidence of careful proofreading
Use third person point of view (no “you, your, I, me, my, we, our)
Discuss film and literature using present verb tense
Avoid plagiarism. I am expecting ALL source-derived information, including paraphrases, summaries, and direct quotes to be cited with in-text citations and appear on your Works Cited page. If the source is on the Works Cited page, it must be cited in the text- no exceptions. Failing to use in-text citations is considered plagiarism, even if you include a Works Cited. Plagiarized essays will score zero.
