This course has introduced a critical and theoretical approach to literature.  We have "run" Dryden’s Indian Queen, Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe, and Lowry’s Under the Volcano through selected theories and critical approaches such as Classical Formalism, Mythopoetics, Structuralism, and, with Edward Said, Postcolonialism.  We have also understood Dryden, Defoe and Lowry's works as interconnected in terms of their representations of Latin America. So by now you know the themes that unite these works and you have learned that theory is dense and highly discursive, that authors refer to a body of knowledge presumed to be shared by their readers; that they make allusions to literature assumed to have been read.

For the final exam, I want you to take one theory or concept from The Critical Tradition since Saussure and apply it to your reading of Under the Volcano.

Before embarking on this assignment, you should review your notes, the presentations in class, and the comments that surface during discussion.  This information will help you to apply theory to the literature.  As you prepare your paper, I expect you to revise your work based on peer review in order to advance a sophisticated argument.

The essay should apply theory to Malcolm Lowry's Under the Volcano. Please note that I am more interested in the application of theory than a recounting of the novel.  Make theory your guiding principle. You should make a specific and sustained connection to one of the authors in The Critical Tradition. This connection may include a selection of well chosen quotes and an elaboration on those quotes as they inform our reading of the novel.

Here are the steps you need to complete; I will not accept any final essay that does not meet all the requirements:

Requirements:
1. Write a polished, word processed 6 page draft for a peer critique on Thursday November 21, 2002.
2. Make revisions according to Peer Critiques.
3. Submit 6-8 page final with drafts on December 3 at 4:00 p.m.
Please note: No extensions.
If you want your essay returned, include a self-addressed stamped envelope.

Approach:
1. Choose your theorist
2. Focus on one theoretical idea or concept and apply it to one specific chapter or passage in the novel.
(Don't try to do too much; rather, you should analyze fully the topic you do have).
3. Announce the thesis in your introduction, support the thesis in the body, and make sure you have a  conclusion.
4. Once you have narrowed your topic, you should then elaborate on your interpretation.
To deal with theory, briefly summarize the argument.
To deal with the novel, assume that your reader knows the text intimately, especially the plot.  Jump into your analysis, in media res-- in the middle of things.
5. Begin your paper by announcing your thesis:
"This essay addresses Frye's concept of archetypes as it informs Under the Volcano"
"This essay uses Edward Said's essay on Orientalism to investigate another imperial situation between the British and Latin America"
And so on.
6. Address the following compositional issues:

• Use active verbs (get rid of the "to be" verbs: is, are, was were, be being, etc.)
• Get rid of expletives (there are, there were, it is, it was, etc.)
• Use literary present tense ("Saussure outlines an important, but somewhat arbitrary, relationship between signifier and signified.")
• Use transitions between paragraphs to connect ideas
• Use author, page citations (see MLA below)
• Limit quotes to one or two a page and integrate them (introduce them and respond to them)
• Avoid first person

Format of Work:
Word process your work with a computer; you are required to have your own disk, to save your work and to print it out upon request.  Hand-written and ill prepared submissions are not acceptable and will be returned with a zero.
Double space all hard copies
Use 12 point, Times New Roman
1 inch margins all around (no padding with wide margins)
Use the Modern Language Association Style to document outside sources including web pages.
Include the following information:

     Your Name
     The Date
     Dr. Ramirez, CSUSB
     Literary Theory and Criticism
     Title of the Essay

Scholastic Responsibility:
1. You should document your texts with "author's last name, page" citations: (Marx, 385 ) or (Said, 1278).  When you use the theory, be sure to properly quote and paraphrase, rather than plagiarize.  If you have questions about using a source, use the Writer's Reference, visit the Writing Center, or consult basic MLA guidelines at http://www.mla.org/reports/ccet/ccet_index.htm

2. Plagiarizing (submitting work that is not your own or failing to document other people's analyses or using their words) or any other form of scholastic dishonesty (cheating) will result in an F in the assignment and possible failure of the course.  Plagiarism happens frequently when students are not prepared, when they are confused or rushed, or when they assume that the professor will not know. But this is a poor assumption.