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Scholarly Analysis Paper Handout

The class site has exceeded it’s upload capabilities, but pasted below is more information on a scholarly analysis paper.  Please read and come to class on Monday with questions.   Note:  If you have an idea for a paper, it might be easier to figure out questions if you start mapping your idea along with the requirements listed on the handout.

 

Scholarly Analysis Paper

Scholarly Analysis: A scholarly analysis paper takes the sustained reading of a close reading paper and opens your singular reading of that text up to a larger dialogue with another scholar. In this paper your thesis while it may originate more from your reading of the text will in some way engage what another scholar has said about this text.   Indeed your thesis may originate as a response to what a scholar has said about the text, in which case you may use a close based reading of the text to respond to the scholar’s argument.

Overview & Objectives:  One of the goals for the course is for students to strengthen their ability to engage with the work of other critics and writers, using and citing such sources effectively.  This third paper is an opportunity for students to practice engaging literary scholarship and putting their own ideas about a text in conversation with other scholars.

I am particularly interested in your ability to join a scholarly conversation in written form.  Joining a scholarly conversation means that you 1) acknowledge another scholar’s argument and how they made it 2) you share (by reading and studying) one of the primary literary text’s the scholar was focusing on and 3) using your own reading of the primary literary text, you engage the scholar’s original argument.  It is in many ways just like having a dialogue in person except that because you are engaging someone’s written text the claims made are more complex or more thoroughly supported than sometimes we are able to do in a quicker real time conversation.   You should make your own response thoughtful and thorough as well.

Building on past assignments: Like your other papers, this paper is still at heart a close reading based paper.   The difference is that where in the history paper, you found some outside history to expand your perspective and how you could interpret the literary text, in this assignment you will find some other (scholarly) conversation about this text that will expand your perspective and how you interpret the text.

What you need before you write:

  1. Literary text from the syllabus
  2. Some idea (whether it’s a small section or scene or a small recurring element or a major theme you see emerging in a particular way in one aspect of the text) of what you ultimately want to focus on in the text.
  3. Two “peer reviewed” scholarly articles addressing that literary text

What your paper should include:

  1. A clear and cogent thesis (argument) that stems from a close-reading based engagement with the text and a critical but respectful engagement of at least one of the scholarly text you read.
  2. A clear summary of the article(s) you are using. Your summary should let me know the author’s central topic, main thesis (argument), and the major way they support that argument
  3. You should clearly identify the specific aspect of the scholarly argument that your thesis and paper are engaging.
  4. Accurate and clean citations for the scholarly article you use.
  5. Your bibliography should include both of the scholarly texts you read, even if your paper only really engages the arguments one text.

Engaging Scholarship

  1. There are many ways to engage a scholarly argument.
  2. You may confirm all or some part of the argument by offering another point that strengthens or adds depth to the argument.
  3. You may highlight a small hole (or maybe even a major fissure) in the argument. (If you identify a problem, you must spell out the implications of such a problem).
  4. You may point out how one part of their argument actually connects to another part of their argument if they consider aspect Z in the story.
  5. Even when you want to challenge a part of the argument or add to it, you should be respectful of what the scholar is doing and acknowledge the validity of the points.
  6. Even when you want to confirm and agree with where the scholar is going, you should acknowledge the argument’s scope and the limitations of its and your potential claims.

Engaging Scholarship Don’ts

  1. Don’t simply quote a fact that the scholar uses. For instance in the Sanjay Sircar argument it would not be enough to use the essay to cite the fact that Bannerman was Scottish or that the story had many different reprints.  You need to make sure you are engaging the scholar on the idea (not just the material) they are presenting.
  2. Don’t try to say the whole essay is wrong, evil, sexist, racist, or stupid. Even if you think so. Even if you’re right. You need to be more specific. You simply do not have time/space to demolish a whole article (itself easily 15-35 pages).   Neither do you have time to take on the whole literary text. Your argument then needs to be about a specific part of the literary text and about a specific part of the scholarly text. Even if you believe you argument extends to other or all of the texts, your paper for this assignment needs to focus in on a specific aspect.   You might develop the argument more in your Choose-A-Book project if you wish.

Paper Format

  1. 5-7 pages
  2. double spaced
  3. 12 point size
  4. Times New Roman font
  5. 1-inch margins
  6. page numbers
  7. MLA inline citation and work cited page