You are to select ONE theme (love, spitefulness, egotism, romanticism, existentialism, nihilism, cynicism, irony, friendship, alienation, revenge, reconciliation, character psychology, emotional and/or mental instability, rationalism, desperation, poverty, depression, religious sense, etc.) that recurs throughout Notes from Underground and analyze the text through the lens of that theme. You must select one or two passages where the theme is most predominant and perform a close reading. That is, carefully examine the tone, diction, rhetoric, logic, meaning, and significance of the words in the passage(s) that you select to be most revealing about that particular recurrent theme. Attempt to interpret and evaluate the story in order to show the reader the connection between the theme you selected and the story itself (plot, character, setting, climax, conclusion, social conditionsany of these can be touched upon).
You should NOT summarize the story and retell it in your own words. You should assume that the reader has already read the story and expects further elucidation from you through your critique, analysis, and evaluation.
Your critical analysis essay should have an original title of your own that reflects your own writing.
You can use only the text of Notes from Underground and one or two critical selections from outside sources that are reliable. Make sure you quote appropriately (in MLA format) and give credit to those critics whose ideas you might decide to use for your own essay.
GRADING CRITERIA
A strong essay will
Contain an interesting title that reflects your own writing in a critical literary analysis essay.
Contain a critical analysis of the text while establishing a clear connection between the theme and the story.
Contain a clear thesis or claim that you are to make about the theme and the story.
Contain clear, well-supported arguments that use textual evidence for the claims that you make throughout your essay.
Include an engaging and thoughtful introduction and conclusion.
Progress logically and smoothly with appropriate transitions indicating connections between ideas.
Make appropriate use of sentence structure, word choice, grammar, spelling, and punctuation that enables rather than hinders clear and effective communication.
Document and integrate source material correctly and effectively. (MLA Format!)
Meet the minimum page requirement of 4-5 double-spaced
ESSAY FORMAT: double-spaced, 12-point Times New Roman font, standard 1-inch margins; your name, instructors name, the class (English 1100C), and the date should appear in the upper left corner of the first page; pages should be numbered.
For this you can just put Instructors Name, Class and I will edit it after being finished.
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