Assignment: Literary Analysis

Novel Paper

Your assignment for this paper is to write an analysis the novel you chose to read.

While reading the novel, I would suggest that you take notes, noting anything that strikes you as
particularly interesting or moving or any repeated patterns, ideas, or symbols that you see. When you
finish reading, you must decide what you want to argue about the novel and sum it up in a possible
thesis statement. As with the short story paper, the thesis statement for your novel paper should be an
argument about what the book means (the theme) or how the book works (how the novel creates a
particular effect). You will have an opportunity to turn the thesis in to me for feedback before
writing the entire paper.

Once you have written the thesis, you should decide how you will support and develop the thesis.
These ideas will become your topic sentences. Although I will not ask you to send me your topic
sentences, if you would like to send them to me via email for feedback, you are welcome to do so.

The final paper should have the following:

• An introduction which includes the author, the title (titles of books are underlined), a lead-in, and
the thesis statement (usually the last sentence in the introduction).
• 2-4 body paragraphs, each of which should have a topic sentence (usually the first sentence in
the paragraph) which supports the thesis and is in turn supported by details from the story, and
each of which is at least five sentences long;
• A conclusion which restates the main point and talks about its significance.

The final paper should also be typed or computer-generated, double-spaced, and in size 12 font. Be
sure to analyze the novel; do NOT just summarize what happens in the book. Remember the caution
from the syllabus and online instructions: Just as plagiarism is strictly prohibited in a traditional class,
plagiarism is also considered academic dishonesty and will be severely penalized in this course. In an
online environment, even more responsibility lies on the student to exhibit ethical decision making
when completing assignments. Plagiarized assignments will result in a grade of zero. Plagiarism
includes claiming someone else's paper as one's own, using someone else's unique ideas without
giving credit to the source, and borrowing wording from someone else without giving credit to the
source.
Please do NOT consult other, outside sources. This is to be YOUR analysis of the novel, not a
report on another person’s analysis. Outside sources are neither needed nor desirable for this
assignment. Send the paper to me via the Digital Dropbox by midnight on Sunday, December 13th.