This course has introduced a cultural and historical approach to literature.  By now you should be familiar with common tropes and approaches and acquainted with different geographies.  You should incorporate this knowledge in the final essay.  You should advance a coherent and sophisticated thesis that goes beyond plot. For the final essay, I want you to take one idea or concept from our discussions of world literature and apply it to your reading of Snow Country. Before embarking on this assignment, you should review your notes and the class website.  This information will help you to generate ideas.  You are expected to revise work based on peer critiques. 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, 4 page word processed draft; make three copies for the Peer Critique on 3/17
2. Submit 4 page final with drafts and peer critiques on 3/19 at 4:00 pm
Please note: No extensions. No late work will be accepted.
If you want your essay returned, include a self-addressed stamped envelope.
3. 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 ("Kawabata explores the emotional risks of the geisha.")
     Use transitions between paragraphs to connect ideas
     Use author, page citations (see MLA below).
     Include a works cited
     Limit quotes to one or two a page and integrate them (introduce them and respond to them)
     Avoid first person
     Find a unique approach

4. Provide a meaningful title

5. Format of Work: Word process your work with a computer.
Double space all hard copies; Use 12 point font, 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 (with a title page, stapled on back please):

          Your Name
          The Date
          Dr. Ramirez, California State University
          World Literature II
          Title of the Essay

It is essential that you make constant back-ups of your work. Misplacing or losing files can be frustrating
and it does happen with frequency.  Moreover, computers freeze and power outages are not uncommon.
However file problems or any other kind of computer and printing problems will not excuse late work.
Print drafts as a safety measure and save a copy on a NEW disk.

Scholastic Responsibility:  You should document your texts with "author's last name  page" citations:
(Kawabata 185 ).  Be sure to properly quote and paraphrase, rather than plagiarize.  Use the Writer's
Reference as a guide.  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 the professor will not know. But this is a poor assumption.
 

6. Sample Essay Format
Name, etc.
Introduction
State the thesis (one or two paragraphs)
This essay explores the role of the geisha in Snow Country.

Body
Two to three paragraphs on example 1
    Analysis of example 1, analysis of example 1, analysis of example 1, analysis of example 1,
analysis of example 1, analysis of example 1, analysis of example 1, analysis of example 1,
analysis of example 1, analysis of example 1, analysis of example 1, analysis of example 1.
Two to three paragraphs on example 2
    Analysis of example 2, analysis of example 2, analysis of example 2,
analysis of example 2, analysis of example 2, analysis of example 2,
analysis of example 2, analysis of example 2, analysis of example 2,
analysis of example 2, analysis of example 2, analysis of example 2.

Conclusion
One to two paragraphs: Wrap up your ideas and make sure you have related your thesis to the
themes of World Literature. and the films.
    Wrap it up, Wrap it up, Wrap it up, Wrap it up, Wrap it up, Wrap it up, Wrap it up,
Wrap it up, Wrap it up, Wrap it up, Wrap it up, Wrap it up, Wrap it up, Wrap it up,
Wrap it up, Wrap it up, Wrap it up, Wrap it up, Wrap it up, Wrap it up, Wrap it up.
    Wrap it up, Wrap it up, Wrap it up, Wrap it up, Wrap it up, Wrap it up, Wrap it up,
Wrap it up, Wrap it up, Wrap it up, Wrap it up, Wrap it up, Wrap it up, Wrap it up,
Wrap it up, Wrap it up, Wrap it up, Wrap it up, Wrap it up, Wrap it up, Wrap it up,
Wrap it up, Wrap it up, Wrap it up, Wrap it up, Wrap it up, Wrap it up, Wrap it up!