Paper menagerie literary analysis

Instructions

Purpose: Practice analyzing, evaluating, and synthesizing sources in preparation for your Final Project Researched Essay, which will entail taking one of your essays from Units 2, 3, or 4 and revising it to become a researched essay incorporating one of the theories of literary criticism we studied in Unit 1 (excluding Reader Response). You will start this process by creating an annotated bibliography with one well-chosen source.

Tasks:

Locate one scholarly source that would help you analyze the short story you selected for your Unit 3 Essay. This course can include literary criticism and/or a scholarly article about your chosen short story. Seek help (from one of the embedded librarians or your professor) with locating sources, particularly if you are struggling to locate a scholarly source.

For example, if you want to write about "The Paper Menagerie" or "Everything That Rises Must Converge," it might be interesting to find an article about strained parent/child relationships in literature, or if you want to write about "August 2026: There Will Come Soft Rains," you might find an article about 20th-century dystopic short stories, or for "The Storm," you might find an article about Acadian culture in Louisiana.

Now, you will write an individual annotated bibliographic entry for this source. Complete the following:

Begin with the MLA works cited entry for the text. Note that EbscoHost (in Galileo) will provide you with the MLA citation if you click “Cite” on the right-hand panel [and, scroll to the MLA entry]. And, also note that the works cited entry for the “Student-Selected Scholarly Articles” has been provided, in the “description” section (below the article’s title). If you use a "Cite" button-generated citation, be sure to double-check the citation to ensure it is correctly formatted. This link shows you what a correct MLA 8th edition entry for a journal article found in a database should look like: http://www.easybib.com/guides/citation-guides/mla-...

Then, write one well-developed paragraph that summarizes, synthesizes, and reflects on the source, using the outline below. Make sure that the paragraph contains specific information (not general observations that could apply to any source). Note that a single quote may be included—but the quote must be no more than one (fully) typed line.

Write 2-3 sentences that summarize the source’s main argument and claims; be specific when summarizing the text and include parenthetical citations when appropriate.