Choose ONE of the following topics and think about how each author addresses this theme. Make some notes on what you remember and think about this theme.

Thematic connection between two Texts

For this paper, you will analyze a thematic connection between two texts from the class. These may come from any weeks. You will argue how a specific theme or issue about women’s literature is portrayed in the two texts. This means you should find two texts who share a particular theme. This essay does not require outside research.

Choose ONE of the following topics and think about how each author addresses this theme. Make some notes on what you remember and think about this theme. Go back to the texts and look for relevant parts/quotes. Then, consider how you interpret these moments, what you feel the text “says,” and how the author’s approaches are distinctive. Your focus should be on analysis (looking at parts, breaking a text or theme into smaller aspects, looking at how things work together) and interpretation (making conclusions on how and why things are the way they are, assigning meaning, supporting claims).

Before drafting, the process should start with the specific (moments in the texts, images, ideas about character, quotations) and move toward an overall point of view (the larger connection and interpretation). Then, in your actual essay, you can start with the overall point (argument) and support it with the specific (evidence). Focus on what relates to your main point, the “thesis”—this is your unique connection between the texts. Your thesis should make a specific point about the theme in the two texts.