ENC 1102.1729 Paper #3 Assignment

Nick Melczarek, instructor Department phone: 392-6650
Office: Turlington 4357 e-mail nickym@melczarek.net
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course listserve: FALL-1729-L@lists.ufl.edu
Contents (click to jump to the following sections)
Paper 3 Assignment (read all the way through -- new material and helpful tips throughout):
»» (feminist critique paper): Compose a 5-6 page feminist analysis from your choice of one of the following options (back to Contents)

  • Rationale:
    Basically, in 5-6 pages, analyze any aspect(s) of your chosen selection(s) through feminist critique. (You can, of course, employ a Marxist-Feminist critique, if that suits you. Much Marxist and feminist thought coincide, and often both appraoches consider the same kinds of material. At heart, Marxist and feminist approaches differ specifically in their primary foci: where Marxism concerns itself with socioeconomic class and relations to modes of production, feminism concerns itself mostly with social construction of gender and with images and treatment of women.) Use terms and concepts from the critical/theoretical material we've read in Houston's chapter when/where/if they apply.
    NOTE: if for Paper 2 you performed a Marxist-feminist critique, then you can still do one for Paper 3, BUT you must choose a DIFFERENT work of literature to write on.
    Remember the feminist concepts you have at your disposal: (The following Marxist theorists' concepts apply well to feminist critique as well; if you use them, spell out for your reader that you're using the Marxist material in a feminist frame.) Employ critical literary vocabulary (from the Terms site) when/where/if they apply.
    Remember that, like Marxist critique, feminist critique analyzes both (back to Contents)
    »»Topic help: to expedite formulating your thesis for Paper #3, you might consider any (or any combination of) ideas like these:
  • why some female characters follow or promote traditional gender roles, but other female characters refuse or resist those roles
  • what effect do gender expectations have on female characters? (do female characters "measure up" to traditional gender roles, and if not then what's the effect?)
  • relations between female characters -- do these characters establish relations to resist patriarchy? to encourage patriarchy? what kind of relationships do you see developing between female characters and why?
  • how does a patriarchal "base" influence women's friendships? does patriarchy hinder friendships between women? do women use their friendships with other women as a refuge?
  • (building from the previous topic) what about the specialness of women's friendships? how do such friendships differ from those between the males in oour texts?
  • do race and class affect female characters differently than male characters -- does patriarchy overlook/outweigh race and class?
  • what particular elements of patriarchy (or of patriarchy in cahoots with capitalism and/or racism) do/does your chosen work(s) drag out of the "political unconscious" and put on the page?
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    »»Caveats/cautions:
    -- Again, this is not an exercise to see how many terms you can cram in your paper, nor will you receive extra credit for doing so. Use the literary and/or critical terms and concepts at your disposal only when/if they help you explain your ideas.
    -- By "5-6 pages" I mean 5-6 pages; 4 pages plus two lines on page 5 doesn't count! (Nor does enlarging the font size, nor enlarging the margins.) This is not an invitation to pad you paper with needless material; rather, this is an opportunity for you to fully explain your ideas and illustrate those ideas with examples from the original texts. If you're padding, waffling, or tangenting, I'll know it -- and it'll count against you.
  • STRONGLY ADVISED: reread your final drafts of Paper #s 1&2 to see what writing elements you need to work on for Paper #3 (e.g. basic proofreading, stronger verbs, clarity, adequate quotation, adequate explanation, limiting paragraphs to one topic, etc.)
  • Thesis note: Be sure that you state clearly and directly your thesis -- i.e. the point of your paper, which is what you consider is/are the ultimate effect(s)/outcome(s) of the elements you analyze in your paper. As such, try not to phrase your thesis as "In this paper I will show that ..." -- your reader already works from the assumption that you're going to show her something. Instead, in your introduction simply present your paper's thesis, indicate what pieces of literature you're going to discuss, whom they're written by; indicate also that you're performing a feminist analysis; and indicate what concepts (and if possible, from whom) you use in your paper.
  • Need a little help with your thesis? Before you start writing, have a look at "timesaver #3 (a)," "timesaver #3(b) and "timesaver #4" on the writing tips site -- these items will help you AND save you oodles of time!!!

    Be sure to consult the writing tips site!
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    »» What I'll look for in this paper:

    Content-wise:

    Writing mechanics:

    (back to Contents)
    »» DUE DATES AND ACTIVITY DATES: (see regular schedule site as well for corrolary assignments) (back to Contents)
    »» Troubleshooting & therapy: If you have questions about the assignment or your paper that we don't address in class or during conference times, (back to Contents)

    Ciao, Nick