Questions and Topics We Can Help You To Answer:
Paper Instructions:

Instructions

Familiarize yourself with different Critical Approaches to literature.  For this essay, you must choose one critical approach and apply it to one of the assigned pieces of short fiction--either a short story or a one-act play.

Critical Approaches:

Psychoanalytic Criticism
Critical Race Theory
Feminist Criticism
Marxist Criticism
You need to have a firm understanding of the critical approach you choose.  Each of the links above provides information and guide questions to help you develop a thesis.  Please communicate with me early if you are having difficulty understanding critical approaches, and we can discuss!

If I were to write this essay on the movie Lion King, the first thing I would do is consider a critical approach that I have a firm understanding of.  I could consider Feminist Criticism and questions regarding the female characters in the movie.  Because the movie features very few female characters, a working thesis for this essay could be: In The Lion King, female characters are virtually nonexistent, which contributes patriarchal norms.  I could also consider Marxist Criticism and questions regarding the social classes in the movie.  Because the movie features a royal family, a working thesis for this essay could be: In The Lion King, plot revolves around characters with the highest social standing, confirming that anyone not in the same class is inferior.

In addition, you will need to conduct scholarly research.  You must use the Golden West College Library Databases to find scholarly articles on literature that you can use to support your claims.  The articles do not have to be on the specific work that you are writing on, but it should correspond with the critical approach you choose.  For example, if I were writing a Feminist Criticism of The Lion King, I wouldn't have to search solely for "feminism and Lion King."  I could search for "feminism" and any other work that had few female characters like Hamlet.  I could then apply the ideas from that article to the work that I am writing on.

All research must be done on the Golden West College Library Databases.  I recommend Literature Resource Center and Project Muse.

This essay is an academic analysis of a text.  THIS ESSAY IS NOT A SUMMARY ASSIGNMENT.  The majority of your essay will be your critical analysis of the text.  While some summary is necessary to give context, assume that your reader (me) has read the work (I have).

Requirements

Essay must focus on one short story or one-act play.
Essay must be composed in the third person.
Essay must include a definitive thesis statement.
Essay must be in MLA format.
Essay must include 2–4 appropriate scholarly sources from the GWC Library Databases.
Essay must introduce, integrate, and explain relevant quotes with proper MLA style in-text citations.
Essay must include a MLA style works cited.
Essay must have a minimum 1,500 words; word count includes everything after the title until the work cited.