Key text paper write 3 5 pages in this paper (at a minimu

1. Key Text Paper
Write 3-5 pages in this paper (at a minimum, at least the
equivalent of 3 full pages of
double-spaced, 12-point text not counting the header on page 1
or 750-1250 words).
Use a standard MLA header and number your pages.
Purpose: Argue for and support an interpretation of one of our
course key texts using
an underlying literary critical approach.
Method:
1. Read the entire text carefully and flag and/or annotate
important passages.
Consider turning in a “hotspots” annotation of the text for
extra-credit.
2. Choose one of the suggested critical approaches to the key
text you have
selected. Consider carefully the typical questions a reader
would use to
approach a text from this particular critical perspective.
(Follow the links in the
table below to the Purdue OWL’s pages on each critical
approach where you will

2. find a bulleted list of critical questions.) If you are not familiar
with literary
criticism, or have another idea for a critical approach to the
paper, make an
appointment to discuss your idea before you begin to write.
KEY TEXT CRITICAL APPROACHES
ost-Colonial (link)
THE RIME OF THE ANCIENT
MARINER
Short story from class by Poe,
Hawthorne, or Melville

3. any of the above that seems well-suited,
depending on the particular story
3. Research and skim at least three scholarly articles, book
chapters, or reference
articles (located Google Scholar or SNU Library databases or
holdings) that
relate to your text and critical approach. Non-academic Internet
sources will not
count as research, though you may find them helpful to inform
your thinking.
4. Focus on a specific thesis that states an interpretation of the
text informed by
your critical approach. Your interpretation should provide a
convincing reading of
the text viewed through the critical lens you have chosen.
https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/subject_specific_writing/writing_in_
literature/literary_theory_and_schools_of_criticism/formalism.h
tml
https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/subject_specific_writing/writing_in_
literature/literary_theory_and_schools_of_criticism/new_histori
cism_cultural_studies.html
https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/subject_specific_writing/writing_in_
literature/literary_theory_and_schools_of_criticism/feminist_cri
ticism.html
https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/subject_specific_writing/writing_in_
literature/literary_theory_and_schools_of_criticism/marxist_crit
icism.html
https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/subject_specific_writing/writing_in_
literature/literary_theory_and_schools_of_criticism/post_colo ni
al_criticism.html

4. https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/subject_specific_writing/writing_in_
literature/literary_theory_and_schools_of_criticism/psychoanaly
tic_criticism.html
https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/subject_specific_writing/writing_in_
literature/literary_theory_and_schools_of_criticism/ecocriticism
.html
https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/subject_specific_writing/writing_in_
literature/literary_theory_and_schools_of_criticism/postmodern
_criticism.html
5. Identify key points that support your thesis. These should be
points from your
own thinking and reading about the text that will develop your
argument.
6. Pinpoint key elements of the text that provide evidence for
your key points and
analysis of the text that supports your thesis. You will need to
be able to support
your evidence and analysis with specific examples from the text
(cite by section,
line, or page number).
7. Organize your paper to lead the reader through the key points
supporting your
thesis. Consider the most appropriate order for sequencing these
key points.
8. Discuss each key point in detail, illustrating each key point

5. with specific examples
from the text and context in which it was written (as appropriate
to your critical
approach). Be specific in your illustrations, which may i nclude
quotes, bits of
dialogue, descriptions of key scenes or character interactions,
examples of
narrative strategy and the narrator’s voice, etc. Use appropriate
terminology for
the genre of the text and the type of criticism you have chosen.
9. Begin and end effectively. Your introduction should state or
clearly suggest your
thesis. Do not simply restate your ideas from the introduction in
the conclusion,
where you should indicate something about the implications or
importance of
your thesis.
10. Follow typical academic writing rules and standards.
11. Use MLA style and documentation guidelines. Be sure to
quote and cite when
you integrate material from sources. Papers containing
unacknowledged use of
sources (aka plagiarism) will not be accepted.
12. Provide a Works Cited page listing your text as a primary
source and the
scholarly articles as secondary sources.

6. 13. Give your paper an interesting title that indicates the
direction of your thesis. (Do
not use the boring title “Key Text Paper.”)