Research/Context & Close Reading Papers

For your last two summary and close reading papers, we will incorporate outside texts both historical (for Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice) and critical (for Salih’s Season of Migration to the North).

Merchant of Venice paper: For this assignment, you will select one or two related primary readings from one section of the Texts and Contexts section. (Note: This is distinct from the introduction to the section).

· Summary: You will summarize in roughly 300-500 words the one or two contextual/historical readings you have selected. These are all written in the Renaissance or before and can be confusing. You will need to present the core ideas of these pieces to your audience as clearly as possible.

· Thesis: As with the other papers, this paper needs a clear, argumentative, and underlined thesis statement. Your thesis (and reading overall) should avoid noting that the play merely “reveals” or “equates to” the historical piece or vice versa. It should still offer a “reading” of the play, now drawing on additional contextual readings. The influence on these readings should be explicit in the thesis.

· Close Reading: Then, you will offer your own close reading of the play that relies on the contextual articles you have summarized. This will require you to close read (i.e. cite and analyze) both the play and the contextual reading(s). This section should be between 600 and 1000 words.

Season of Migration to the North paper: Using the MLA Bibliography, find a scholarly article written on this novel. In the first section of your paper, write a concise summary of this argument. In the second half of your paper, write a detailed close reading of your own that either supports or contests the article.

· Summary: In a 300-500 word summary, condense and highlight the most important elements of your critic's argument. This involves some difficult judgments, for you must decide on those points and present them to your audience as clearly as possible. It should be clear what the critic’s focus and argument is.

· Thesis: As with the other papers, this paper needs a clear, argumentative, and underlined thesis statement. This thesis should present your reading in the explicit context of the article. It should not only be clear what your argumentative reading is but also whether this paper supports or contests the article.

· Close Reading: In 600-1000 words, you will offer your own close reading of the novel that will support and reinforce (i.e. extend) the article you have summarized, or it should show how that the critic is wrong. Your close reading should obviously respond to the critic with clear transitions and links, but it should be your own close reading. Even in support, it should go beyond the article itself to reinforce the argument. In other words, it will not merely reiterate or repeat the same analysis of the same passages.

Also, be sure to include a photocopy of the article along with your paper.

FOR BOTH PAPERS:

Format: Your papers must be 1000-1500 words, in a plain 11-12 pt font with one inch margins all around. It must conform exactly to MLA style for format, in-text citation, and Works Cited page.

Final Due Dates: (see calendar for rough draft due dates)

Paper #4: 4/15

Paper #5: 4/29