The Theme of Change in “The Scouring of the Shire” and “Tintern Abbey” The purpose of the midterm paper is for you to demonstrate the skills
English 1150: Literature & The Environment
Midterm Paper Assignment Sheet/Instructions
The Theme of Change in “The Scouring of the Shire” and “Tintern Abbey”
The purpose of the midterm paper is for you to demonstrate the skills we have been honing this
semester:
reading and responding to the texts we’ve read in the first half of this semester;
analyzing, interpreting, and comparing and contrasting texts; and
applying literary criticism concepts and reasoning to texts through insightful
analysis.
To write a successful essay, you must follow these steps:
(1) closely and critically examine either Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring OR two-three
poems/essays from first half of the semester (Weeks 1-8).
(2) select an interpretive approach from which to analyze the selected texts, with a
particular focus on how the work(s) fits in with the environmental themes of the course.
(3) formulate a thesis about your choses text(s)—how they can be interpreted
similarly/divergently using your approach; and…
(4) try write at least two drafts of a coherent, reflective, critical essay. While I do not
mandate peer review in my literature classes, I do encourage you to give each other
feedback.
The midterm paper must include the following parts:
- A paragraph or two of INTRODUCTION to the topic. The intro will have three parts:
Context for what you are writing about
A clear thesis
An engaging opening
You will first get the readers’ attention with an interesting opening. Then you will inform
your readers of the topic you are going to focus on, i.e., which texts will you be writing about
and which approach you will be using to interpret those text(s). The introduction might also
include any background information helpful to your readers: Very brief summaries of the
text(s) (focusing especially on the aspects of the texts relevant to your analysis- don’t simply
regurgitate the plot), definitions of terms or ideas that might be confusing for your readers (in
terms of your approach), contexts (brief biographical information about the author or
information on the times in which the texts were produced). Finally, your introduction
MUST include the thesis of your paper—that is, what will your paper be positing about the
two texts as you look at them from your chosen critical approach?
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