MLA Essay Assignement

Directions: First read, Flannery O’Connor, “A Good Man is Hard to Find” and Hemmingways “A Clean, Well Lighted Place”. You will only write your essay on one of the two texts. Then, using the uploaded files on eLearn, read the assigned article related to your chosen piece. Only look at the critical article once you’ve finished reading the texts in full. For your online discussion post on our eLearn course discussion board, address the following questions in a thoughtful response (Discussion #4). Number your responses in four parts, as with the questions below. Question #1 should be what you spend the most time on. I’m less concerned with length for discussion post than I am with substance; but if you want an estimated length, a 750 word response would be good.

• 1) Summarize, but also engage with, the argument in question. Present his or her argumentative stance fairly while also evaluating the merit of the argument being offered. Emphasize at least a section or two of the article. Does the author make a credible case? Why or why not?

• 2) Though you are not expected to be an “expert” in the field of Southern literary scholarship, how might the article in question add, or contribute, to such scholarship or to American literary scholarship in general?

• 3) How does the critic approach the author and text in question? In other words, does the critic offer a particular type of approach (biographical, historical, psychological) towards O’Connor or Hemmingway? Try to address this question of orientation/methodology in both your oral discussion leader questions and your accompanying essay.

• 4) Ask a thoughtful question or interact with your online classmates in some way; this requirement should be connected to the critical article you found. Note: Your discussion post questions should not mainly be a biography of the author or summary of the work. You need to be working at a higher level and be analyzing the piece in relation to the critical article that you’ve found.

The majority of your discussion leader questions should be based upon the critical article that you’ve found, not mere summary of the novel. For your essay Continue with point #1 under discussion leader questions; that is, summarize and engage with/speak back to the article in question. The reader needs to hear your authorial voice in your essay, not just a straightforward summary of the article in question. Feel free to use the first person in your essay.