Skip to Main Content

HUMN15436GD: Understanding Narrative

Essay Assignment

For your essay, ensure you have a specific thesis - that you are making an argument about how the text ought to be interpreted, not just describing a phenomenon. Just as important, your essay ought to derive its argument from your own close analysis of the text(s).

Finding Literary Criticism

It is important to note that,

  1. Literary criticism can be found in both books & journals.
  2. You may need to search for each of the following aspects separately at first, before combining two or more:
    • Author & Title (ex. Mark Twain "Huckleberry Finn")
    • Genre (ex. "Coming of age")
    • Demographic (ex. African-American Narrative)
    • Literary device, theme or technique (ex. focalization)
  3. Start with a Summon Search, but follow up by searching a few specialized databases, as well (provided below).

Places to search include:

Finding Background Information

Literary Encyclopedias and Dictionaries are great places to learn more about common literary devices, themes, and techniques. In addition, handbooks provide important tools and details for practical application. Check out the links below!

Focalization

Character