Critical Lens Analysis
Purpose
The purpose of the Researched Critical Lens Essay is to write an argumentative literary analysis that successfully persuades your classmates to interpret a work of literature through the perspective of a critical lens: Psychoanalysis, Feminism, or Cultural or Historical Perspectives.
The key to writing a successful literary analysis is to
• Draft a thesis statement based on your informed opinion that will be supported with evidence from your chosen literary work and required outside scholarly sources (1 literary
work + 3 required outside sources = 4 total sources)
Assignment
Your assignment for your Research Critical Lens Analysis Essay is to write an argumentative literary analysis about ONE of the following literary works you have read during class:
• Edgar Allan Poe, “The Cask of Amontillado”
• Susan Glaspell, Trifles
• Sandra Cisneros, “Woman Hollering Creek”
• Owen Wilfred, “Dulce et Decorum Est”
• ee cummings, “next to of course god america I”
• *Danez Smith, “Dinosaurs in the Hood”
• *Danez Smith “not an elegy for Mike Brown”
Once you have selected the literary work you want to write about, you will need to select one of the Critical Lenses we have studied in this course:
• Psychoanalysis
• How a character’s mental state influences the work
• Feminism
• How the treatment of women and/or the perspectives/experiences of women influence the work
• Historical Perspectives
• How the time and place in which the work was written influences the work
• How the historical events that took place at the time and place in which the work was written influences the work
• Cultural Perspectives
• How cultural norms, social expectations, or social issues at the time the work waswritten influence the work
Remember that there is no correct way to interpret a text. Your instructor is interested in your ability to generate an argument, articulate that argument, and support it up with sufficient, relevant examples from the literary text and outside, scholarly sources.
