Length: 3-4 pages
Format: Typed, stapled, 12-point Times New Roman font, one-inch margins
Description: Write an essay about James Baldwin‘s Sonny’s Blues applying the historical criticism method.
To begin developing your thesis, it will be helpful to review the sections in each chapter of Critical Theory Today that list some questions critics ask about literary texts. Furthermore, Chapter 13 in An Introduction to Fiction gives general advice for developing theses and writing literary analyses. The essays in Critical Theory Today that apply various critical strategies to The Great Gatsby are examples of the kind of critical thinking and writing this assignment requires.
You are not required to do any research for this essay; however, if you do consult outside sources, you must cite any source from which you extract ideas or quotations. Use Modern Language Association format and citation guidelines. All papers must include a Works Cited page, even if the textbooks are the only entries on it.
Audience: Consider your audience for this essay to be academic readers who are familiar with the story but who are not familiar with the critical strategy or theories you decide to employ. In other words, there is no need to summarize the plot of the story, but you will need to provide an explanation of the critical strategy you choose to use. You may use quotations or paraphrases from Critical Theory Today or other sources.
Style: Your essay should be written in style that is appropriate for an academic audience. Use third person only (except in rare cases). In other words, do not use I, we, our, you, your, etc.
