English
260
Introduction
to Literary Studies
Dr.
Morillo
Close-Reading
Fiction: Paper Assignment
5
full pages-first page
is a copy of your chosen passage, pages 2-5 are your interpretation
Due
Monday, February 13, printed out on
paper, in class
For this paper you will be choosing one
paragraph of The Turn of the Screw to interpret.
Select
any passage you feel has special significance for what is within the
passage
itself and is pertinent to something
important for understanding the whole story. To
guide your choice, imagine having to teach the novel
with just
that one paragraph of it. Which passage might give your reader a strong
example
of what makes that novel interesting? complex?
weird? successful
writing? flawed writing?
To guide your close-reading method, imagine reading this prose
selection with
the care often reserved for reading lyric poetry. You will of
course be
interpreting the passage in light of your knowledge of the whole text,
from
which it is excerpted, but you will be expected to focus as
particularly and
carefully as possible on the specific words in the passage you
pick. You
may look for significant elements of themes, plot, character, prose
style, or
combinations thereof. You will need to avoid merely summarizing
or
paraphrasing the passage. Pick something that intrigues and needs to be
explained so you avoid just stating the obvious.
When you have chosen and read your passage carefully, construct a
well-formed
argument, with a clear main point, about the passage. It may well be
that the
original, chronological order of your passage is not the best order for
your
argument about it. Give your paper a title reflecting what your
argument is
about. What to argue about, and how to
arrange your
evidence and explanation of it, however, is up to you. Give
yourself time
to draft and then revise the paper.
Feel free to discuss any proposed passage with me in person or via
email.