Sarah Orne Jewett's
The Country of the Pointed Firs
Supplementary Writing Projects
Index
Notes & Queries
Letters
Periodical Publications
Analysis
Comparison, Contrast, and Critical Analysis
Sometimes the most helpful articles come as tid-bits that can completely change our view of a work.
PRE-WORK:
Read a few articles from American Notes & Queries. How long are they? Why type of information do the authors include? What did you learn from these articles?
WRITE YOUR OWN N & Q
Using the Notes & Queries as models, re-read the novella and write a 2-3 page, carefully focused Notes & Queries of your own. Analyze a reference, a symbol etc. so that your readers learn something they would not have understood or would have missed without your article.
Research your topic as necessary.
ANALYZE (don't summarize).
Helpful Resources: Meyer Thinking and Writing About Literature, pp. 23 - 33.
Wouldn't you love to read your sibling's diary or the love letters your parents exchanged? Humans love to be voyeurs. But, what deeper meanings do we miss out on by being outsiders looking in? Here's your chance to find out.
PRE-WORK:
Look at a set of letters in the Norton Anthology. What type of information does the editor explain? How does this increase your understanding of the letter? What else would you have liked the editor to tell you?
EDIT YOUR OWN
Transcribe (decipher, type) a letter by Jewett
Footnote references that you think will increase understanding, such as:
Write a 1 page (double-spaced) essay that puts this letter in context of the author's life. As a detective, what mysteries have you solved? How do you understand the author and recipient better as a result of your detective work?
As we read from nicely printed, pocket-sized, paper-back collected and anthologies, keep in mind that Jewett's original readers encountered her short stories in different forms. This assignment is designed to help you reconstruct the original reader's experience.
Pre-thinking:
What goes through your mind when you pick up your favorite magazine?
What makes it your "favorite" magazine? Why did you buy it, subscribe to it, or borrow it?
What do you look at first? Why?
How do the ads add to or interfere with your reading experience? Why?
How do you decide on which articles to read? Why?
Requirements:
Find an original periodical in which Jewett was published. You can find the magazines either in the Rare Book Room or on microfilm.
Write a 2-3 page article in which you ANALYZE the periodical to determine why you think the editor thought Jewett's work was appropriate for this periodical.
Some questions that may help you arrive at an interesting analysis:
Who is the audience for this periodical?
Look at the ads. What is advertised? How do these "things" appeal to the audience?
Look at illustrations, if any. What are they like? How do they contribute to the periodical etc.?
What are the periodical's other special features?
Who else is published in this magazine? Who are these people?
What types of other articles appear? Fiction? Non fiction? What might this indicate?
What is the difference in reading a story in one of these magazines as opposed to reading it our collected edition?
Length: 3-4 double-spaced pages
Audience: readers of literary anthologies (college students/professors who want insight, not plot summaries!)
Outside sources: none
Helpful Resources: Meyer pp. 23 - 33 and class handouts
Imagine that you are an assistant editor contributing to a literature anthology that contains primary sources followed by critical articles. Reread one of Jewett's works assigned thus far and write a 3-4 page, carefully focused "critical appraisal" that will follow the work in the anthology. This "critical appraisal" should provide the reader with an analysis and interpretation s/he might not glean from a first or second reading.
Focus your analysis on no more than two of the following narrative techniques: point-of-view, character, symbolism, theme, or setting. ARGUE how the author manipulates the technique(s) to make a single point. First demonstrate how the author manipulates these techniques. ANALYZE: ask "why?" and "so what?"
For example, "How and why does Faulkner use setting to shed insight on Emily's character in A Rose For Emily?
Comparison, Contrast, and Critical Analysis
Length: 4-6 double-spaced pages.
Audience: readers who may be unfamiliar with the theoretical approach, but who have read the short story/novel and want new insights (no plot summaries!).
Outside sources: 4 or more (at least 2 for each work).
Helpful Resource: Meyer Thinking and Writing about Literature, 33 - 44 & 94-137.
This assignment builds on the last project in which you focused on writing an analysis. Write a 4-5 page original comparison and contrast that analyzes how two authors tackle the same theme through ONE of the following critical lenses: history, culture, psychology, gender, class, religion, or race. Suggest how reading the story through this critical lens adds to our understanding of the texts. You may want to support your argument with discussions of a narrative technique.
You must read at least two scholarly articles about each work that relates to your chosen critical approach. Feel free to disagree with your critic's analysis. Check the Reserve list for articles, or see me.
adapted from Journeys of (Self) Discovery
