Explore

Murphy Exploratory Essay Assignment (100 points) Fall 2014 During the course of the quarter, each student will compose a 15-20 page exploratory essay that uses Joseph Hellers Catch-22, C.S. Lewiss The Screwtape Letters, and Kingsley Amiss Lucky Jim as foundational texts. The essay will not be a specific analysis or exposition of these texts entirely rather, these texts will serve as philosophical, aesthetic, and literary starting points for the consideration of individual conceptions of satire and the role it plays in contemporary culture. Beginning with a common starting pointthe forms and functions of satire, as well as their present places in popular culturethe essay will evolve according to each writers standard, while citing Heller, Lewis, Amis, and other secondary sources as necessary to develop the analysis. Additionally, the research project will take into considerations nine scholarly articles of the students choice (three articles for each novel), and the three films noted on the syllabus. An exploratory essay best suits the goals of this course. According to The Allyn and Bacon Guide to Writing, one of the recommended texts for the course, exploratory writing narrates a writers thinking process while doing research. The essay recounts your attempt to examine your questions complexity, explore alternatives, and arrive at a solution or answer (Ramadge, Bean, and Johnson 128). As such, the essays solutions or answers develop over time, as class readings and discussions take place and familiarize students with varying perspectives on the subject itself. During the writing process, two rough drafts will be due prior to the final draft of the essay. These due dates occur at the ends of the third and sixth weeks of the quarter, as noted on the syllabus. Because the success of the essay depends largely upon familiarity with the texts, thus, an ability to consider how multiple, conflicting viewpoints might inform the work, it is essential that each student reads