BOOK: Sir Gawain and the Green Knight: The Classic Translation by Burton Raffel. With a New Introduction by Brenda Webster
Your analysis paper should be around 750 words with a cover page and a bibliography page. You do not need other references; just the book itself. However, if you refer to concept, definition, or theory, you need to cite your source.
Cite all text taken from the book. If word by word, text must be in quotes to avoid plagiarism. Avoid long quotes. Paraphrase where possible; the paper is to reflect your thoughts and analysis. See Syllabus and HIS101 Guidelines for Projects along with Rubrics uploaded on BB Course Documents.
Read the book – make notes of tone, mood, symbols, life lessons, proverbs, social issues, religious/philosophical views, political issues, gender roles, character growth/changes, struggles, opposing forces, generational interaction/gaps, etc. These notes will be helpful in choosing a thesis for your essay. This is a critical analysis paper; not a summary of the story or a research paper.
Choose a narrow thesis since this is a short paper; if unsure, clear thesis with me. Your thesis must be clearly stated in introduction paragraph; preferably first sentence. You should be able to complete this sentence with your thesis or what you want to prove: “The purpose of this paper is to ___________.”
Then you must have at least three paragraphs in the body of the essay proving your theme by using at least three different “aspects” from text in relation to your theme. Provide citations from text.
Any term that you define or concept that you explain must be followed by a source and the citation should be added to the Bibliography. In-text and Bibliography page citations should follow APA style.
Concluding paragraph should tie everything together and restate your thesis.