LSO217 – Research Essay
For this research essay, you can either analyze two stories (at least one story must be from our course), or you can research critical secondary source(s) to write a research essay on one story.
Suggestions:
1. American short stories are as varied and
oad as the make-up of American culture. Choose a topic or theme that you are interested in exploring. Choose two stories to analyze and argue for the idea you think is being explored and examine how it is explored in your chosen stories. For instance, you may want to discuss the way in which American character is developed in a couple of stories. What are the similarities and/or differences? Do the differences have anything to do with the context out of which the story was written? Do these differences and similarities reflect the authors’ experiences, history, or setting? If so, how so?
2. Take the above essay topic description and add consideration of Canadian, British, or Postcolonial short fiction from other countries. Your essay may use several stories to develop understanding of national literatures and cultures.
3. You could also use cohesive topics to integrate national literatures using a few short stories (ie. modern fictions, postcolonial fictions, experimental fictions, settings, identities, characters, na
atives, themes, symbolizations across nations).
4. You may also choose to use background research on authors or contexts to bolster your essay’s analysis of one story.
5. Feel free to invent your own topic. If you do so, please check it with me by November 19th.
Always remember that your thesis argument must direct the essay’s analytical discussion. Do not use headings. Please document your essay using APA or MLA style. In-text citations AND References or Works Cited are required for academic integrity.
Length: 1,000 words or longer