The Necklace by Guy de Maupassant or The Lottery by Shirley Jackson

Select a work from our course readings this semester. Read it thoroughly. Then, either online through Google or Google Scholar, in the physical library, do research to find an article that analyzes the work you chose. Do not choose a Sparksnotes/Shmoop/etc. type of website or article. Yes, those are geared towards students, but I want you to find an authors individual analysis, not an explanation of what youre expected to know for an English class. This may take some digging. You may end up finding a book chapter, a journal article, or a thoughtful blog post to discuss. If you are at a complete loss, please tell me well before the due date. I may be able to help point you in the right direction.

After selecting your article, read and annotate it. You should understand the authors main points about the text.

Now youre ready to begin drafting. The paper should contain the following components:

An introduction, summary, and explanation of the work you chose from our text
Your analysis of the work you chose from our course Does the author use literary devices, like foreshadowing or metaphor? How and where? You might discuss the setting or the characters, or whether or not the text is mimetic or didactic. Is there any historical significance to the text? Was there an event going on that impacted the text or the author in some way? Etc.
An introduction, summary, and an explanation of the article you found
Connect the article to the text and give your opinion on its validity. Is the author completely off the mark or accurate in their analysis? Why or why not?

This essay should be 6-8 pages overall including your Works Cited page. Your assignment should be in MLA format, double-spaced, and in 12 point Times New Roman font.

Whenever you quote, paraphrase, or summarize, you will use in-text citations to indicate the source. Additionally, I expect you to include a Works Cited page at the end of the essay where you will cite the work from our course as well as the article you locate, whether you found it online or elsewhere.

You can choose The Lottery or The Necklace for the course reading for this paper.