Congratulations! You have made it to the last module of the semester! At this point, you have strengthened your use of:
Creation of stronger thesis statements
Clearer Introductions and Conclusions
Integration of MLA format with various sources
Recognizing Logical Fallacies in sources and your own writing
In addition, you have added some newer skills to your writing repertoire. Skills like:
Summary/Critique
Explanatory and Argument Synthesis
With these tools, your writing has become even stronger. Now, we are going to shift to another writing tool. Thankfully, it is one you have already used, throughout your life. This module focuses on analysis, specifically literature analysis.
For many students, specifically students seeking an AA or an AS transfer degree [talk to your advisor], the next step in their communication/humanities studies will be an art, music, theater, and/or a literature "appreciation" course.
Sometimes, some students will ask this question, "When am I ever going to use literature? This is not part of my future career. It's wasting my time!"
Trust me, it does not even bother me anymore. However, literature allows us to analyze a subject. While no one will probably ask you questions about a certain form of literature in your day-to-day duties of your career, the skill of analysis will be useful.
Simply put, you will be using the skill of analysis in most careers you may enter. For example:
Medical fields-analysis of symptoms and medication interactions
History-How and why a certain event took place
Engineering-How do you create a certain structure?
Marketing-Who buys a certain product and why do they buy it?
See, even in these examples, the idea of questioning is coming back. In fact, you will probably have to bring in synthesis of sources when you analyze.
Back to literature, you can even analyze fictional characters and stories. For most of the semester, we have dealt with "real world" occurrences and ideas. However, we need to ask ourselves this question: Does fiction relate to our real world? Let's think about this for a minute. It can even relate to other "reporter" questions. For example, let's use the theme of this module, monsters. Ask ourselves these questions
Why are monsters so popular? Why do they exist in our popular culture?
Where did these monster ideas come from? Where are they going in the future?
Who likes monsters in fiction?
What makes the idea of monsters so popular?
When did certain types of monsters show up in fiction? When did they gain popularity?
How do monsters change in our popular culture, in turn, our real world?
For this last module and your Final Essay Exam, you will be analyzing, various essays and sources over the concept of monsters, fictional and real. Now, I must state that the characters and stories we will be writing about are not real. However, do monsters, in various media, have a place in our "real world"? Let's see:
Think of how many vampire and zombie books, movies, tv, comics, and other media there are and have been.
Monster stories change depending on the time and place they are presented
We compare real life occurrences to monsters. For example, many think of AI as a Frankenstein monster or something out of a horror/science fiction movie. Many zombie films and stories come from our fear of disease, pharmaceutical companies, or viruses.
We see real world occurrences and compare them to fiction, especially monsters.
If we ask even more questions, we can see more real-world implications. For another example, "How much money do various monster stories and properties make for creators and companies?"
The answer is billions of dollars. Now that is a lot of real-world implications. Seriously though, we learn a lot from fiction. The famous feminist author Virginia Woolf writes, in her essay A Room of One's Own "Fiction is like a spider's web, attached ever so lightly perhaps, but still attached to life at all four corners".
What Woolf is explaining here is that fiction plays a part in our real world. The tools of the study of fiction are the focus on this final module. However, see this as an introduction to literature studies, not the full course. It is nice to get a little practice beforehand though. In fact, let's have some fun with the idea of literature and its attachment to "life at all four corners".
I know everyone is not a fan of horror movies, but please let your instructor have a little fun. This is more of a science fiction film, yet the monstrous and horrific plays a part. Let's compare fictional science to the real world a bit. Please watch the following video from the film Jurassic Park:
Thank you for that. What are these characters debating? Well, the premise of the novel and film Jurassic Park is the question that Dr. Malcolm is posing: Just because science can do something, should they do it? This is definitely an ethical conundrum. Also, it may play a part in our real world. Let's apply it to the world. For example:
Should we allow AI to become ever present in our world. Do we lose a part of ourselves as a culture by giving in to it?
Does this ethical dilemma play a part in advancements in technology, including military power?
Can technology be used against us, such as AI?
Can we trust power like this to governments?
Are these technologies useful to us, or are they a detriment to our humanity?
These are real world ideas presented in a film that is clearly fictional. We can even go into other monstrous ideas. Think about these concepts:
Why are zombie films and books so popular? What about them speaks to us?
Same goes for vampires and the real concepts of serial killers and criminals
Can these types of stories be trying to tell us something without lecturing us?
How do these types of stories change with the times?
Does Mary Shelley's Frankenstein relate to our fears of parenting, genetics, and performing acts that we should not be doing?
Why do certain monsters come in and out of favor, but never truly die?
In the Final Essay Exam, you will be analyzing various interpretations of monsters, along with some literary analysis on their creation, interpretation, and story. Remember, you do not have to take these analyses as "law". Another fun aspect of literature analysis is that you get to support YOUR interpretation with texts. See, all of the skills of the semester are coming together.
All Learning Materials, Activities, and Assessments (Assignments) of this module stress the writing process of:
Engaging in all Learning Materials (learning skills and background for essay topics)
Communicating in the Discussion Board (Planning/Essay Brainstorming)
Writing a first draft of Final Essay Exam (understanding that will be improved upon through the writing process)
Editing/Revision (Visiting the Writing Tutor)
Completing finished essay (submission of Final Essay Exam)
In the simplest terms, analysis is breaking something into parts to examine it. In order to do so, you must determine the basis which you will use for examination. If you've had a physical , you have probably received an analysis of your blood work. Someone took a sample from you (a small one but it felt like you were giving a gallon) and various tests were performed on that sample. Your doctor probably looked at the raw data and came to certain conclusions. If you had to write a literary analysis in a previous class, your instructor may have given you the basis for analysis. The assignment could have required you to break a story into parts and examine how the author used symbolism or language, or look at several stories by the same writer and analyze that writer's style. If you've watched Law and Order, you have seen the TV lawyers break down the facts of cases and apply legal rulings to new situations. Analysis is at the heart of many kinds of academic and workplace writings.
When writing an analysis, it is not enough just to break a source into parts. The purpose of an analysis is to understand how something works, what it means, or why it may be significant. The analysis is, in essence, an argument, based on what you have learned from breaking the source into its parts. This is the "So what?" part of your paper. You examine the parts; now, what are the implications? What are your conclusions? In other words, So what?
The first part of an analysis states what principle or definition is being used; the second part applies specific parts of the principle or definition to the topic you are working on (the analytical principle). Then - So what? The short assignment will give you a chance to analyze some of the dilemmas posed in this very challenging chapter.
The worst thing you can do is do a Google search to "find" the deeper meaning in the literature that you are analyzing. The first and best step is to read the material. Please do not rely on an internet search to give you the "right" answer. If we use the analysis example in the workplace, there probably will not be a "Google answer". Besides, why would an employer hire us to find an answer that was easily found on the internet? Instead, think about how your own interpretations and analysis of the subject can be used to further the conversation and find the answer. This is the epitome of critical thinking, critical reading, and the finished product, critical writing. Use search engines and databases to support YOUR analysis, not the other way around.
Review the following resources from Online Writing Lab (OWL) from Purdue University which talks about elements of analysis.
Before diving into the learning materials be sure that you have reviewed the key words and concepts and the Instructor's Notes on Analysis.
Analysis
Review tutorial from Online Writing Lab (OWL), Purdue University: Elements of Analysis
Review tutorial from Online Writing Lab (OWL), Purdue University: "Close Reading a Text and Avoiding Pitfalls"
The following articles are all of the sources needed for Final Essay Exam. No other research is needed. However, there are some optional sources listed as well. These are not mandatory. They may help you gain different perspectives on the material though. These sources are also valid and usable in your Final Essay Exam.
"Monsters and the Moral Imagination"-Stephen T Asma
Everything you need to know to read "Frankenstein"-Iseult Gillespie (5 minutes)
Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (a documentary) (57 minutes)
Optional Sources
From the novel Frankenstein-Mary Shelley-Project Gutenberg
Nosferatu (1922) Full Silent Movie (1 hour 25 minutes runtime)