This is a 3000 + word humanities/ liberal arts research essay that begins with your book but doesn’t end there. In almost every case, your book is a distinguished work of literature and, as such, needs to be treated with respect and subjected to a careful INTERPRETATION (not a summary–your insights). Remember that you have a handout that delineates the elements of literature in a series of questions that one may ask about any literary text. Of course, the Theme(s) are paramount but choose other elements that you think are important, obviously including Character, Symbolism, Style, etc. Also, on the second page of the handout, there are a series of Critical Strategies. Again, Reader Response Strategy is first and foremost but also choose other strategies that may be useful in making your case and will lead you to research outside the book, such as Biographical or Mythological Strategies. Of course, you should have at your disposal a number of selected quotations that serve to highlight the key elements of your book and demonstrate the unique voice of the author’s style and tone.

The research elements of the essay will begin with your own Book Review. This needs to be accomplished before you consult any other professional sources or Book Reviews. This will be done in the Virtual Class next Tuesday when I send you the prompt 15 minutes before class. Remember, I won’t be there as we agreed in class yesterday. Then, the next step would be to consult professional book and author reviews from sources such as the NY Times Book Review, the NY Review of Books, New Yorker Magazine, and countless other sources. I will send you links to these professional sources.

As you expand your inquiry outside the book, do a Google Search–not only of your specific book but also in the context of your author’s genre and reputation across the board. Read several of these commentaries and get a sense of what others are saying about your book and author. You need to research the author’s life and times, his/her style, reputation, genre(s) of literature, etc. Once you have thoroughly investigated the book, then probe outside the book and enlarge your scope by way of comparison and contrast. You can use any other art forms or the real world: other books, essays, magazine articles, op-eds, myths, music, theatre, movies, painting, philosophy, history, current affairs, your own life experiences to enlarge the scope.

Find a universal theme that embraces the book and speaks to the big questions: How should a good person live in a compromised world? What are the moral imperatives and values that you hold to be true and eternal? How can a balance of self and society be achieved? How can we humanize the world and experience a transformation of consciousness? How can we honor particular cultures, ways of life, spiritual attitudes, diversity? These themes should resonate within your book and extend to the universe of ideas. But, in the end, your book is a unique work of literature with a unique set of values and themes just as you are a unique individual with your own way of interpreting the world. Make sure that we know about BOTH WORLDS (yours and theirs) by the end of your paper. Make a discovery and demonstrate fresh ideas by not being overly reliant on outside sources. Use MLA Style with endnotes (reference the Textbook). This is not a BOOK REPORT but a LIBERAL ARTS INQUIRY with a unified THESIS/ARGUMENT and a THEMATIC TITLE. You must reference ample sources, likely more than 15 but a minimum of 10. Supply a Word Count. Absolutely, you must have a rough draft before your final edit–this is too much material and too challenging to be accomplished in a single sitting or day.

Essay due date extended to Saturday, December 10 at Midnight. Symposium begins on Thursday, December 1 and finishes on Tuesday, December 6. You need to have accomplished a sufficient amount of research and drafting by December 1 to write a concise 100-150 word PRECIS/ABSTRACT (make copies to distribute to your classmates). Prepare a 6 minute speech/discussion of your ESSAY (not merely your book) with a good TITLE, Your audience will be your classmates and myself. We–your audience– will ask any relevant questions after reading your PRECIS and listening to your PRESENTATION. Practice outside of class for coherence and clarity of speech. This presentation will itself be graded. The actual research paper counts for 25% of your FINAL GRADE.

MY BOOK NAME is by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.—Slaughterhouse Five, Galapagos