Dr Philip Holden (email: ellhpj@nus.edu.sg)

Assignment 1

Suggested Length: 1250 words (i.e. about five pages of double-spaced writing)

Due: Monday, Week 5 (February 11), 10.00 p.m. into your tutor's IVLE workbin. Note that this is immediately after Chinese New Year: if you celebrate CNY and know you'll be busy get the essay done ahead of time.

1. Write a short essay in which you use narratological theory to analyse any one of the short stories in Interpreter of Maladies which has not formed the basis of extensive discussion in lectures or tutorials.

Some Suggestions.

• Make sure that your essay has a clear thesis stated early on.
• Give some thought to the overall effect of the story on the reader: this will form a key element of your thesis, and you will use narratological theory to explain how the story creates its effect.
• Makes sure that you clarify and define the narratological terminology you'll use--this might be usefully done early in the essay, after your introduction.
• Avoid secondary sources beyond Peter Barry's chapter--either acknowledged or unacknowledged. Your ability to close read a text through a theoretical model is being tested here.
• Remember that in so short an essay you will not have time to cover all narratological bases--the best essays will probably use a few significant narratological terms with good understanding and apply them in detailed readings of the text. Avoid the "checklist" approach where you cover every single term superficially. The best approach is probably to select one of the following three conceptual frameworks:
  • Aristotle
  • Propp
  • Genette
• Remember that different readers may have different narratological interpretations: the trick is to justify the effect you claim through quotation and analysis.

Assessment criteria

1. Ability to use critical concepts and vocabulary introduced in readings, lecture and tutorial.

2. Ability to observe elements of the texts carefully and draw conclusions from them.

3. A strong thesis, and a clear argumentative structure.

4. Smooth and integrated use of well-chosen quotation.

5. Use of proper scholastic conventions: title, MLA style, with in text citations, presence of a "Works Cited" list listing at least the literary work itself. For a detailed account of MLA style see:

• NUS Library Website
• Purdue University Online Writing Lab Guide to MLA Style

6. Conciseness. Marks may be deducted from essays that are seriously over-length.

Last updated: 6 November, 2007