Purpose
Essay 4 requires you to choose a facet of our novel, Nineteen Eighty-Four, and analyze it to come to a definite conclusion about one its more complex aspects. Your earlier essays should have prepared you to analyze information, make definite claims, offer support for your statements and to connect to readers through specifics and detail.
Task
Find some aspect of Nineteen Eighty-Four that surprises, intrigues, or puzzles you. It may be a point you want to think about, a statement with which you strongly agree or disagree, a question you have about an event or character in the novel, or perhaps a theme (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site., symbol (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site., or motif (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. that seems to be pervasive. You will need to consider this issue and decide what you think about it, coming to some definite conclusion as to how it ought to be interpreted—how we should “read” it and understand it in the novel. Your assertion should help the reader more fully comprehend or appreciate that aspect of the book. Your paper should support your assertion with examples from the text and the analysis of others. Imagine that you are a teacher, showing the reader something she had not considered before and which adds depth or interest to her understanding.
You should probably one of topics listed on the 1984 Analysis Topics, but you are not absolutely limited to them. If you choose something not on the list, be certain to check with the instructor to confirm that it is appropriate. You will absolutely want to consult the Analyzing Literature Links to see the kinds of things your paper should do. There is an argumentative aspect to the paper: you are trying to convince your audience that your take on the element you are analyzing is a worthwhile and valid one. You will need to make a specific claim about the work and find examples in the text that support that claim; you then need to analyze and explain how those examples support your position: simply pointing them out is not sufficient. You may want to consider alternative readings and state why your understanding is more interesting or useful than others. Your outside sources should serve to bolster your claims or as counterpoints to disprove the claims of others.
You are required to use at least two (2) outside sources for this paper. These may be from literary journals, online services and databases, or books which analyze the novel (or your chosen issue). Most likely, these sources will be in the form of critical reviews or analyses of Nineteen Eighty-Four, though you may also use works about the elements you are analyzing. (For instance, if you were analyzing the psychology of a character, you could use a work on psychology as a source; if you are discussing history, works on history are appropriate.) Though you may consult dictionaries, encyclopedias (including online encyclopedias, such as Wikipedia), study guides (such as Spark Notes, Cliff Notes, MasterPlots, Shmoop, or Magill on Literature), and general interest web sites (such as About.com, eHow, Yahoo Answers, Ask.com, etc.), these do not count as scholarly sources. You may use more than two sources if you wish. The EBSCO Literary Reference Center Plus database may prove useful, as may Google Scholar (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site..
Evaluation
Papers will be primarily graded based upon the Assessments Standards. Specific claims, critical judgment, and credible support for your stance are key to your success. Your ability to use MLA formatting and citations is crucial.
Format
The final copy of your paper should be at least FIVE full pages long (not including the Works Cited page). The finished draft should be typed (double spaced) in MLA format. You will post your rough drafts on the discussion boards within your groups; you final draft will be posted to this folder as an attachment in .doc or .docx format.
