GENDER ROLES
See attachment for directions and please adhere to every last detail included within these instructions.
I need this paper by 4:00 PM, Eastern Daylight Time (EDT), on Saturday, July 28th, 2012; thank you!
The required paper for this course, on F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Beautiful and Damned will present a close, critical reading of the selected text. In order to present a successful analysis, you must adhere to the following standards:
Your paper must present a narrowly and concretely framed topic idea (the thesis) –MAKE IT (and obviously the entire paper itself) EITHER CENTRAL TO ANTHONY AND GLORIA “REVERSED/CONTRARY” GENDER ROLES or GLORIA’S DEVELOPMENT AS A FLAPPER-LIKE CHARACTER, whichever you feel more comfortable with, of the two! The thesis may present either an expository or persuasive emphasis. Remember, though that given the page limit, you need to frame your response very specifically. Trying to do or cover too much, will detract from the overall presentation. To prevent being so side-tracked, DO NOT ALLUDE TO BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION, REGARDLESS OF HOW RELEVANT IT MAY SEEM! REFRAIN FROM USING AND/OR RELYING ON PLOT SUMMARY TOO!
Once you have determined your topic (of the two suggested above); go back to the text to make sure you understand not only the basic situation – plot, characters, setting, etc. – but also that you know what to select from the text to develop the thesis. Simply retelling the story or describing who the characters are is not an analysis. To analyze means to look closely, to respond to the ideas and situations of the text and engage with them to learn something new from it. You will be expected to make reference to the particular text used for the paper, but you must make certain that the scenes or events you choose clarify or establish the idea(s) you are examining. Using the text this way is not just providing plot summary. In a short paper the number of textual references should be limited.
Simply making an assertion or comment about the text and then quoting from the work does not present a complete analysis. Remember, you are the one who has decided that the reference to the text helps clarify or support the thesis. Therefore, you have to provide the reader with full explanation/discussion of those connections; the reader cannot. It is unprofessional for the writer to expect the reader to fill in the gaps in a paper’s discussion. This does not mean that you have to provide thousands of words: saying too much is as bad as saying too little.
You are required to present the paper according to the standard academic formats. This means using the third person and present tense. It demands that you pay attention to proper grammar, spelling, and mechanics. Do not rely totally on spell or grammar checks; they will not catch over 85% of errors. Always go over the papers visually, before turning them in. Also remember to include page numbers, even on the first and works cited pages. You want to present your ideas in a focused, but relaxed style. There is no need for excessive erudition; your language should be cogent and concise, but maintain academic formality.
You will be required to do some limited research for the paper; the number of sources will be limited to no more than three, plus the novel itself. This means that you must be selective in the material you choose to support your thesis. DO NOT USE GENERAL ENCYLOPEDIAS, WIKIPEDIA, OR GENERAL BIOGRAPHICAL, TEACHER/CLASS INTERNET SITES, or DISCLAIMER SITES. You want to look for solid scholarly material; this will include book length studies, suitable academic journals, and carefully evaluated internet sites. Obviously, you should select material that best fits your analytical position. There are standard ways to incorporate secondary material into your paper. The two most common are, one, to use a critic to establish a response that you will either argue for or against; two, to use the criticism to support your own particular critical response, which as said before, may present an expository or persuasive response. Whichever approach you take, be careful to read the chosen material carefully, making sure you understand what the critics’ position are, what their evidence is, and how they will make their case.
Whenever you use secondary material, you must make certain you properly identify such material in your essay. You will be required to use MLA formats for in-text citations and the works cited page. The main text must also be included on the works cited page, but does not count as part of the required secondary sources. Failure to cite any source material – whatever form it appears in your paper (i.e. paraphrasing, quoting, summation, extraneous borrowing of ideas, etc.) – is plagiarism. Remember, that direct quotation is only one of the ways that critical material can be integrated into a paper; anytime you summarize or paraphrase you are using a source. Since the information comes from the material, it must also be cited.
Anyone guilty of plagiarism will receive a 0 on the paper; continued plagiarism will result in failing the course and being subject to the appropriate disciplinary action. SO PLEASE MAKE THIS AN ORIGINAL PAPER; THANK YOU!!!!
The papers must include:
A thesis statement that indicates your focus and intent for the analysis
An introduction that does two things; identifies the specific text(s) being discussed and [implicitly] provides the reason for the analytical approach
A body that organizes the discussion smoothly and logically, avoiding abrupt shifts of focus
The discussion of the issues presented in the body is complete, providing sufficient explanation, analysis, argument to support the thesis.
Careful selection and incorporation of secondary material to illustrate/support analysis
Proper citation using MLA format
Avoidance of plot summary and excessive quoting (for a 4-5 page paper, no more than one relatively short block quote, for a 6 page paper, no more than 2), paraphrasing, or summarizing
Use of third person, present tense
Careful proofing of paper before being turned in to avoid too many grammatical, mechanical, spelling, and other such errors. Too many can detract from a smooth reading of the essay and negatively impact its grade. I PREFER THAT YOU MEET THE FULL LENGTH 6 PAGE MAXIMUM, IF AT ALL POSSIBLE . 😉
Page numbers; remember the 4-6 pages refers to the text of the essay; the works cited page is not included, but it is part of the essay and must be numbered.
PAPER FRAMEWORKS
You are to frame this paper around ONE of the following broad assertions about the period “(The Jazz Age and/or The Modern Age).” You may specifically address the idea/issue raised by the quotation or refocus the emphasis of the assertion, depending on your interpretation. Whatever approach you take, you must select a text from the class (The Beautiful and Damned) that will help you develop and illustrate your analysis. Remember that the writers studied (F. Scott Fitzgerald) should not be seen as directly responding to these statements through their work. [After all these authors died well before the critics articulated these concepts]. Remember, too, that the critics may not have had these specific authors or works in mind, as they developed their analyses. What these quotations offer are points to entry in engaging with the work, a way of considering the implications and impacts of them.
(1). Michael Bell in an essay titled “The Metaphysics of Modernism,” states, that modernism is “concerned with the question of how to live within a new context of thought, or a new world view” (10). [This essay can be found in The Cambridge Companion to Modernism].
(2). In Structures of the Jazz Age: Mass Culture, Progressive Education, and Racial Disclosures in American Modernism Chip Rhodes concludes his introduction by stating “it is the argument of this study that twenties literature draws its strength and vitality not from its flight from history, but from its complex, multi-leveled engagement with history.” (17).
(3). Suzanne Clark, in Sentimental Modernism: Women Writers and the Revolution of the Word, opens her study of the period with this statement: “Modernism inaugurated a reversal of values which emphasized erotic desire, not love; anarchic rupture and innovation rather than the conventional appeals of sentimental language” (1).
I’D LOVE IT IF YOU COULD SOMEHOW INCORPORATE THE SECOND ONE INTO THE PAPER!
WHILE IF ANY OF THESE IS USED, IN ANY FORM WHATSOEVER, IT MUST BE CITED, THOUGH IT’S NOT TO BE INCLUDED IN THE MAX/MIN OF THREE SECONDARY SOURCES.
