Passage Analysis

A Long Term Assignment

HCAII

Persuasion and interpretation of literature are both focal points of HCAII. Any time you write to prove a point, as you will in both persuasion and interpretation, you should support your ideas. When you write about literature or about something you’ve read, you should support your opinions with text examples (direct quoting or paraphrasing from what you read-the text). This project will help to develop your ability to pull important quotations out of text.

Essentially, you will compile approximately 12 significant passages from various readings and explain their significance in a paragraph or mini-essay. At the end of the term, you will be tested over your choice of a small number of these passages.

How many passages??? (12 probably sounds like a lot! It’s not.)

•3 from Macbeth

•4 from Les Miserable

•3 from Things Fall Apart

•2 from Personal Reading

How do I know if a passage is important???

A passage is important in a piece of writing for many reasons, and your passage list should have passages that are significant for a variety of reasons. The following list shows some of the reasons you can consider:

·The passage helps the reader understand the writer’s point.

·The passage is exceptionally well worded and clear. It aids in making the author’s point powerful.

·The passage is important in defining a character.

·The passage is meaningful to you for a personal reason/connection.

·The passage reveals an author’s theme or writing style.

·The passage includes one or more literary elements that help the author convey his or her point. (Figurative language, diction, tone, symbolism, imagery, etc.)

What do I do with these passages???

Ask yourself: how can I embed my passage in a paragraph, or, sandwich analysis around my citation? Here are a few important ideas:

  • My first sentence should be a topic sentence! Assert why the passage is valuable.
  • Provide context!! Background information—briefly explain the situation leading into the passage.
  • Cite the passage in proper MLA format.
  • Provide quality analysis connecting the passage to the topic sentence. Clearly explain the significance of the give passage.

A mini-outline:

  1. Topic sentence.
  2. Context leading into the passage.
  3. Cited passage (MLA Style)
  4. Quality, relevant analysis.

An example passage analysis his provided for the following passage:

“He questioned himself if human society could have the right alike to crush its members, in the one case by its unreasonable carelessness, and in the other by its pitiless care” (24).

Society has a moral obligation to care for its community, and when it shuns some citizens, the Society as a whole is weakened. When Jean Val jean first wanders into the streets of the D______, he is burdened. Carrying the yellow card of a convict, he can find no shelter, although he has money, and he can find no food. Having paid for his crime, stealing a loaf of bread, with 19 years of hard labor, Val jean finds he must pay this debt once again. Doors close in his face. The cost of a meal inflates moment to moment so that he cannot afford to eat. Society does not believe him worthy. Thinking about his predicament, “He questioned himself if human society could have the right alike to crush its members, in the one case by its unreasonable carelessness, and in the other by its pitiless care” (24). Yes, he did commit a crime, but is 19 years really a commiserate sentence for stealing a loaf of bread? Because of extenuating circumstances, the starvation of children, how could any government say that stealing a loaf and giving up 19 years of life is equal? This situation alone illustrates Hugo’s belief that there is a higher moral code that supersedes any legal ethic. When Society does turn the less fortunate into the cold, a huge class chasm is created. Even today, institutions “crush” members of our society. Our public school system insists that every student learn in the exact same manner in a system created over 100 years ago. Any student that is unfortunate enough to learn in a different manner, is not applauded for his or her ingenuity, but told to conform. With Val jean as our moral guide, Hugo condemns society for not having the care it should of its citizens.

Hugo, Victor. Les Miserable. New York: Simon & Schuster, Inc. 2005.

Other requirements:

  • Each paragraph must be typed.
  • Double spaced
  • 12 point Times New Roman Font
  • Include a proper MLA header.