AENG 205Z Dr. Scheck
Final Essay Guidelines
Length: 2200-2400 words, minimum, not including List of Works Cited Due: no later than midnight, December 6.
Overview
This essay is to be your own critical interpretation of some aspect of theBeowulfpoem based in the evidence of the poem itself and whatever historical or cultural context you deem relevant.1You may adopt a specific theoretical lens, such as Cohen's essay on monster theory, but you are not required to do so. Merit will be assessed on the basis of logical argumentation based on careful, thoughtful, and detailed analysis. In order to do this well, you will need to carve out a narrow area of inquiry and make an arguable (unexpected, contentious, debatable) claim within that area based on careful analysis of the evidence (the text itself).
Presenting Evidence
Present your evidence carefully and selectively, introducing each example or concept in a way that prepares the reader to see/understand what you do, and explaining the relevance of each example clearly in support of the point you are making. Pinpoint the concept, meaningful word pattern, symbol, image, incident/gesture/scene, phrase, or (short) passage that is relevant to your argument, contextualize it, and explain how it's relevant.
Citation
Borrowed facts and ideas, as well as paraphrases and direct quotations, must be properly cited. Again, I'd rather you did not use critical sources, or sources like Wikipedia, Spark Notes, etc., but if you do,you must cite them.
And, of course, you must cite the text of the poem properly. Because this is a poem, and because we are using different editions and formats of the poem, use line numbers rather than page numbers for your in- text citations. Be sure to offer complete information for the text you used (including translator's name, year of publication, format, etc.) in the List of Works Cited at the end in proper MLA format.
In short: Each essay should be followed by a List of Works Cited following current MLA citation format (see chapter 14 inDiggingor the OWL website). Your list may include only the translation of the poem that you used, which is fine, if that is in fact all you used.
Format
Please format your essay in standard academic format: 12 pt. type; double-spaced; indented paragraphs with no additional spacing between paragraphs; 1-inch margins all around.
Be sure to state name and date in the top left or right corner of your paper. Center the title no more than an inch below that; begin your essay no more than an inch below that. As noted above, works cited should follow your essay without any unnecessary page break.
1If you plan to work with cultural or historical context,please do not do additional research--use what you've already got, such as the three introductions to the poem assigned at the beginning of our encounter with the poem--Liuzza's should be especially helpful in that regard, for anybody who is interested.