Identify the title, author, genre, along with an overview of the plot/conflict/locale, setting, style of the author,
Library Project/Independent Reading Assignment
Due by Class Time, December 6, 2018
100 points
Plagiarists will fail the course (review your syllabus)
1. Meet in the library, October 23; choose a book.
2. Choose a novel or a book-length collection, presented by the librarians Oct. 23, and/or from the bibliography posted on Blackboard (most of these are novels, but some are story collections or collections of poetry. The library has a limited number of titles, so these are available on a first-come-first-serve basis. You may also check out the titles from other libraries or purchase the books for your own collection.
3. PLEASE UNDERSTAND, YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR OBTAINING A COPY IN TIME TO COMPLETE THE PROJECT.
4. After choosing a title, verify that selection with email or in person before beginning the project. Please choose a title that you have not previously read.
5. Read the book closely, taking notes on the key literary elements (as noted in class this semester). Read BEFORE answering the following questions.
6. Prompt: The following responses are due. Follow the prompt closely, and make sure your paper is clearly organized according to the following sections:
1) Summary: Identify the title, author, genre, along with an overview of the plot/conflict/locale, setting, style of the author, etc. (1 paragraph)
2) Personal Response: in one paragraph, explain your emotional and academic responses to the book.
3) Style and Literary Devices/Conventions: In 1-2 paragraphs, explain the style and note the techniques the author uses. How does he/she present the book? What types of literary conventions or rhetorical strategies and/or literary devices does the author use? To what effect?
4) Social Application: what makes the literature American? Why should Americans care about this book? (one paragraph).
5) Critical Response: Identify two critical/interpretive sources from the library. Make sure these are ebscohost library sources, and/or reference books and/or books from the shelf (NOT Sparks Notes summaries, etc.). Summarize the main idea of each secondary source about the book. Explain how the source contributes to your understanding of the book and its issues. Also provide complete documentation of the sources (3-6 paragraphs).
6) Close Reading: Quote three significant passages from the book (perhaps somewhere at the beginning, middle and end of the book, or at least at significant plot moments). Explain what is occurring in these passages. Discuss the power and/or significance of the language/scene, etc. of these passages. Refer specifically to the immediate context, then make a connection to the entire book as a whole. (3-6 paragraphs).
7) Identify three significant themes the book offers, and write a short commentary on each theme (1-3 paragraphs).
8) Finally, one paragraph that connects your book to at least three other pieces of literature studied during the semester. A sentence or two explaining how they connect.
