English 1B – Fall 2015

Assigned: November 5, 2015

Novel Analysis Paper with Research Support: Play it as it Lays

Due: Thursday, November 19

Other important dates: Thursday, November 12: Thesis workshop

Requirements:

·  This paper must be 1400 words and is 14% of your grade.

·  This paper must use one outside source of literary analysis to support your argument.

·  Your outside literary analysis source can be one (or more) of the articles provided by me or a literary analysis journal or book article (or full-length book study) on the novel that you find and acquire using one of our library databases or google scholar (NOT google). If you you’re your own article, YOU MUST get my approval before you use it, and you must turn in a copy with your final paper.

·  All in-text citations and the novel and article(s) information that will follow your paper in a "Works Cited" list MUST follow MLA citation rules. You can consult the MLA rules links on the course policies page of our website, our Writing About Literature textbook, or a handbook such as Diana Hacker's A Writer's Reference or any other handbook in the Writing Center that gives instruction about MLA format.

·  This paper represents a significant portion of your grade because in it you will demonstrate the culmination of your ENG 1A and 1B skills in research, critical thinking, argument formation and support, and essay organization; this assignment addresses five of the seven student learning objectives for this course:

3.  Analyze and interpret literary works using the formal components of literary analysis toward gaining an appreciation of how principles of critical thinking and formal argument can inform discussions of literature.

4.  Synthesize diverse interpretive alternatives gained through formal and informal research activities, and demonstrate an ability to assess those alternatives, both in writing and orally.

5.  Support premises about literary works by effectively integrating sufficient, relevant, thoughtful evidence drawn (as appropriate) from primary and secondary sources.

6.  Plan, write, and revise formal essays totaling 10,000 words--using analytic, interpretive, and persuasive strategies to present and support a considered position.

7.  Evaluate the relevance, validity and authority of information, and use and cite this information ethically.

ON RESERVE AT THE LIBRARY, UNDER 1B RESERVE READINGS UNDER DOUGLASS:

Articles that might be particularly useful for the prompts are listed in parenthesis by author's last name following the prompt. For an extra tip, note that all articles listed below are in MLA format.

Crow, Charles L. "Home and Transcendence in Los Angeles Fiction." Los Angeles in Fiction: A Collection of Original Essays. Albuquerque: U of New Mexico P, 1984. 189-205.

Coale, Samuel. "Didion's Disorder: An American Romancer's Art." Critique. 25.3 (Spring 1984): 160-170.

Hise, Pat. "The Pursuit of Nothingness or Play It as It Lays." Conference of College Teachers of English Studies 60 (1996): 75-84.

Winchell, Mark Royden. "Not Exactly Locusts." Joan Didion. Revised Edition. Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1989. 90-100.

These articles are on reserve at the library and are also available here, in this online book: http://issuu.com/didion/docs/joan_didion__essays_and_conversations

Brady, H. Jennifer. "Points West, Then and Now: The Fiction of Joan Didion." Contemporary Literature. 20.4 (1979): 452-470. (This is also available online through JSTOR for free if you are willing to register for an account with them.)

Chabot, C. Barry. "Joan Didion's Play It As It Lays and the Vacuity of 'Here and Now'." Critique. 21.3 (1980): 53-60.

Geherin, David J. "Nothingness and Beyond: Joan Didion's Play It as it Lays." Critique. 16.1 (1974): 64-78.

Wolff, Cynthia Griffin. "Play it as it Lays: Didion and the Diver Heroine." Contemporary Literature. 24.4 (1983): 480-495.

The Assignment

You will write a literary analysis of some aspect of Joan Didion's novel Play it as it Lays. Said another way, you will analyze some aspect of this piece of literature and interpret it beyond the level of plot. You will use quotations from the book to support your interpretations; indeed your interpretations should be largely based on close readings of the text itself. You will write to illuminate and offer something interesting and insightful about the novel (not about life in general!) Keep your thesis limited in scope; remember 1750 words is not enough space to make an argument about the novel in its entirety.

The options:

1.  This novel interacts with ideas about fame and the influence of Hollywood “culture” as forces that drive Mariah and other characters in this novel. In particular, Didion seems to be making a critique of Hollywood culture. If you agree that Didion Is making a critique of Hollywood culture, make a specific thesis argument about what her critique is and use textual evidence to support your ideas about Didion’s critique.

2.  Trace an image or related set of images and link them to a specific theme that is developed in the novel and an argument being made about that theme. This can be anything from simple images such as snakes, hummingbirds, gambling references, or food imagery linked to a larger concept or argument like disaster, evil, fame, California, feminisim, sexuality, body politics, etc. You must have a coherent and cohesive thesis that holds it together.

3.  Discuss the relevance of setting (Los Angeles, Las Vegas, the West) to your interpretation of one of the main themes of the novel. (So your thesis will need to define what you think that theme is and how setting helps to construct that theme.)

4.  Assert and defend a claim about the role of sexuality in the novel. You may include under this term motherhood and/or feminism.

5.  Assert and defend a claim about the idea of the self, as experienced by Maria Wyeth.

Remember that you need to consult with a tutor or faculty member on this paper. Consulting can include anything from idea generation, thesis discussion, coherence or unity, MLA format, or any other aspect of the paper that you wish to discuss. Have your helpful English professional sign your track-it packet as evidence of your conversation.

This essay will be evaluated with the same essay rubric we’ve been using all semester – consult one of your past essays to review the expectations (I ran out of room here!)