Social Issues in Literature Essay Assignment
Assignment
Demonstrate how a poem or short story is specifically connected to a contemporary social/political issue (it can be a domestic or foreign issue) (racism, gender roles, poverty, addiction, bullying, etc.).
Assignment Requirements
- Length: 5-6 pages (not including Works Cited)
- Sources: FIVE total—the poem you are discussing and at least four secondary sources that come from an HGTC library database or are published books
- Each secondary source must be a published book or be found in an HGTC library database—you may use all books, all articles, all e-books, or a mix of these types of sources. See your LibGuide (link on D2L) for databases and information on searching.
- You may have more than four secondary sources as long as they meet these requirements.
- You may not use your course textbook or a dictionary as one of the required secondary sources; however, these may be used as additional sources if you’d like.[unique_solution]
- You must quote from the literary work AND each secondary source at least once in your essay (with a parenthetical citation in MLA format—remember, poetry is cited by line numbers; secondary sources are cited by page numbers generally.)
- You must include a Works Cited page with the citation for the literary work and for each secondary source provided in MLA format—consult your textbook for details.
Tasks/Steps in Completing Essay
- Select ONE poem or short story from our textbook in which you can identify a social/political issue (suicide, racism, gender roles, social class, etc.) that you find interesting (and want to research further). If you find a poem that is not in our textbook, email it to me for approval prior to writing the essay.
Below is a list of possible ideas, not limitations. Again, feel free to select your own poem.
- “Richard Cory” by Edwin Arlington Robinson
- “The Value of Education” by Mark Halliday
- “Out, Out—” by Robert Frost
- “My Papa’s Waltz” by Theodore Roethke
- “Women Should Be Pedestals” by May Swendon
- “Marks” by Linda Pastan
- “Barbie Doll” by Marge Piercy
- “Where I’m Calling From” by Raymond Carver
- “Domestic Violence” by Eavan Boland
- “Big Blonde” by Dorothy Parker
- “Your House” by Willow Hadley
- Research the social issue and/or the poem/short story—the goal is to make connections between the literary work and the contemporary social issue you have identified in the work. While there may be some relevant historical information to consider, your focus should be on what the literary work can teach us about the social issue overall (and how it is accurate in terms of what we know about the topic—research will help with this).
- Your thesis should mention the literary work and social issue’s significance.
Please note that your secondary sources may discuss the literary work itself or just the social issue you are discussing. Don’t aim to find sources that specifically discuss your topic (e.g. “education in “The Value of Education”) because you’re unlikely to locate enough sources for your essay (if any at all). Your job is to make the connections between the literary work and social issue, so sources that discuss either aspect are perfectly acceptable.
- Once you’ve considered all the connections between the literary work and the social issue you’ve selected, write a well-developed academic essay that demonstrates how the poem reveals information about the real-life contemporary issue.
The rubric your essay will be graded by is available in D2L; in fact, there are a variety of helpful resources and supplemental materials available on D2L to help you construct your essay— please take advantage of them.