Major Paper: The Epic Journey and the Hero
THE ASSIGNMENT
This major paper is your first writing experience in this course. The topic and the scope of the paper are relatively simple and straightforward, but the preparation of the readings is time-consuming. In order to write a competent reaction paper, you will need to read Anpao, "The Epic Cosmos," along with a film or any other work which exhibits the characteristics of the epic and the hero. A fine search engline of primary and secondary information concerning Anpao can be found here.
THE TOPIC
You will have to establish the criteria for your (1) understanding of the epic and the nature of the hero and (2) understanding of the work you have chosen to analyze in terms of the criteria you established in (1). You might substitute the words "action" or "definition" for "criteria" One of the best ways to think about this relationship is to discuss the action of the hero as it relates to the central, salient ideas found in "The Epic Cosmos." Next, demonstrate how your film or book reflects these relationships. In short, you are attempting to argue the point that the film or book you have selected is, indeed, an epic with an epic hero. (Forrest Gump, Mission Impossible, Braveheart all move us closer to the invisible potencies of truth, justice, and love. Can you think of any other films which have this movement?)
The structure of your paper would include a working definition, and then comparison. You might wish to devote one-third of your paper to definitions, another third to the application to Anpao, and the final third to the film or book you are analyzing.
General Considerations
For a comprehensive review of writing this kind of paper, go to this site.
1. Please be sure to write from a comprehensive THESIS, that is, an idea with movement, which becomes the central, informing idea of your paper. You might formulate answers to the two questions (above), but your paper should reflect a coherent, well-developed, and carefully illustrated THESIS independent from the questions themselves. This is YOUR thesis!
2. In order for your paper to become more coherent, you'll need to use transitions--connecting one section of the paper to the other. At certain, critical points in the paper, ask the question, "Where have I been, and where am I going?" The answer to this question provides the transition. You might also find it helpful to use transitions between paragraphs, "Now that we have seen the development of the novel, let's look at some of the characters." Finally, transitions often work well even between sentences, but here they serve to keep the idea moving: "In addition," "further," "on the other hand," "thus," "moreover," etc.
3. As Aristotle tells us about drama, "All plays have a beginning, and middle, and an end," so must your papers, i.e., and introduction, and development, and a conclusion. The introduction contains the single, most important sentence in your paper, i.e., the thesis. The development section is the proof of the idea and is often a full reflection of the movement and the concept in the paper. Cause and effect, illustration, and definition become the "movement" and give shape to the idea. The conclusion offers your reader a summary of your most salient points and has a special shape of its own. The introduction is deductive while the conclusion is inductive.
3. Documentation is central to this work, and you'll need to study the MLA Documentation in order to see the scholarly format of citations and notes.
4. A critical, reaction paper must contain copious illustrations drawn from the primary sources under consideration. A good ratio is 50% YOU and 50% Louise Cowan, Joseph Campbell, Richard Sewall, and your film.. In order to develop the paper well, consider composing an essay of approximately eight (8) pages not including the works cited page.
5. Finally, you need to use the writing process, i.e., the pre-writing, the shaping, the various drafts, and the final, edited version of the paper. This all should be submitted along with the final, edited version.
Send the final copy of the paper to mseifert@texas.net