Interpretation and Reflection

Literary Interpretation and Reflection

This assignment is divided into two parts: a literary interpretation and a reflective essay.

(1) The literary interpretation is an opportunity to practice analyzing a work of literature using some of the readings and strategies we’ve discussed this semester. Your analysis should be 5 pages long, and it should draw upon appropriate and relevant literary theory that we’ve encountered in the class.

As a number of our readings have validated alternatives to the traditional argumentative essay, you may experiment with the form of your interpretation. I do ask that the end product be well-crafted, coherent, and shaped by, if not a thesis or “controlling idea,” then at least a guiding idea that in some way produces what Scholes calls a “text upon text,” and strives for that even more elusive goal, a “text against text.”

Whatever form your interpretation takes, be sure to draw upon literary concepts and terms that are relevant to the genre of the work you select. Also be aware of the MLA guidelines for citing sources as you apply specific scholar’s ideas.

(2) The reflection component of this assignment is a 2-3 page response on the work you did for your literary interpretation. Some questions you might consider (but are not obligated to consider) may go along these lines: What was the experience like? What problems did you encounter in analyzing your text and how did you solve them? What theories, processes, terms, or concepts did you use? Where did they especially help or hinder you? If you pursued a nontraditional form, what motivated you, and how did this new form liberate or constrain you? What would you have done differently?

Remember that the text you choose for this assignment is the same text you will be “teaching” for your presentation in the last three weeks of class. I have already sent out a list of the text selections, and I will post this list as well to the class blog. If you are inspired to change your selection, please check with me; I do not foresee any problems with last-minute changes, as long as the text is a short work, easily available in some format for all to read later in the semester, and has not been selected by any other student.

The complete assignment is due in class on Wednesday, March 26.