Final Project Final projects may take one of two shapes.

It may be either a literary analysis of 2400-3000 words, or it may be a literary analysis of 1500 words coupled with a creative analysis. You must meet with me to gain approval for your final project. Requirements Times New Roman 12 pt. font, 1 margins all around MLA format (work titles should be italicized, quotations should have page attributions, etc.) Addresses a prompt for a work you did not use for Response #1, #2, or the Midterm Paper Considers specific scenes or characters in the work Outside researchyou must cite at least two sources for Option 1, and four sources for Option 2, aside from the text (including, but not limited to: historical accounts, literary analyses, interviews with authors, etc.) Option 1 In 2400-3000 words, your essay should explore one of the works we covered over the semester in significant depth. You should write a sustained analysis of one thematic area of the text in question, using class notes, journals, historical material, and outside research to argue for the validity of an interpretation of the text. See the next page for texts and broad thematic areas. You must compose your own thesis, although you may want to look back on previous prompts to help you get started. Option 2 In 1500 words, your essay should explore one of the works we covered over the semester in significant depth. Using the prompts listed on the next few pages, you should write a sustained analysis of one thematic area of the text in question, using class notes, journals, historical material, and outside research to argue for the validity of an interpretation of the text. See the next page for texts and broad thematic areas. You must compose your own thesis, although you may want to look back on previous prompts to help you get started. In addition, you should also propose a creative analysis. This creative analysis may take any number of forms, but should do three things: 1. Engage in a meaningful way with a specific text covered this term. This engagement may be in terms of style and/or content. 2. Reflect on a major thematic element covered in the class, and add to it in a clear, interesting way. 3. Must be the equivalent of the work you would put into a 1000-1500 word essay. To get an idea of what shape this may take (and to know what has received a good grade in the past), students have: composed GIS maps of Gotham and redistributed taxes in order to make Batmans job easier written sustained comics or creative non-fiction that responds to a particular text created involved pieces of visual or performance art (i.e. paintings, sculptures, ballet, etc.) that responded to themes or specific texts scripted and recorded radio programs that recount, analyze, or add to a text adapt novels (or scenes from novels) into short films Creative analysis projects that are lazy and result in bad grades: posters, collages, summaries, creative work with no direct, clear relevance to the class, all things obviously done at the last minute.

Texts No Country for Old Men, Cormac McCarthy Bayou, Jeremy Love The Plot Against America, Philip Roth Pride of Baghdad, Brian K. Vaughn and Niko Henrichon The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, Junot Daz The Dew Breaker, Edwidge Danticat The Interpreter of Maladies, Jhumpa Lahiri World War Z, Max Brooks The Best American Non-Required Reading 2012, ed. Dave Eggers

Thematic Areas Physical violence Psychological violence Sexual violence War Identity National Borders Love Family and Heritage Tradition Gendermasculinity and femininity Race and Ethnicity Religion and Myth History Traumaindividual/historical/intergenerational How Truth is made (and questioned) And of course, the ethics of all of the above when the areas collide