Chicana/o Literature
Fall 1996
Luz Elena Ramirez

Final Essay

Friday, November 22 - Overview

Monday November 25 - Select Topic and Research THREE SOURCES (Bring xeroxed material to class)

Monday December 2 - Draft with TWO copies (6 pages)

Friday December 6 - Revised Essay (7-8 pages)

Your final essay should also be saved on a disk (along with any other work you want on the web) in "text only format" and submitted with your portfolio on December 6.

OPTIONS:

 1.Choose one or two texts to discuss the interconnection between history and narrative.
Be sure to read the group responses on Tveztan Todorov, Jose Marti, Jose Mariategui, etc. Roberto Retamarthat are posted on the web.

 2.Choose one or two texts to discuss the significance and formal characteristics (epistolary mode, use of fragmentation and memory) of family narrative.

 3.Trace the idea of the border (borders real or imagined/geographical or psychological, etc.) in one or two of the texts we have read.
State what the border means to you in the introduction.

4.Analyze the use of gender and or sexuality in one or two of the texts we have read.
You may use your earlier analyses of entrapment and gendered subjectivity as a point of departure.

 Write your draft as if it were the final paper; proofread carefully, visit the writing center, read aloud

The purpose of this assignment is to multifold.
First, I want you to engage in a close reading/interpretation of select passages from the text you choose.
Second, I want you to research and document sources that are pertinent to your topic. Use MLA format.
You may use the course packet as PART of your research; I expect you to find additional material on your own.
Surf the web.

Remember to clearly identify your thesis in both your draft and final versions with bold face. Give your draft an original title.

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