Description
For your fourth short practice paper, you will compose a short (3-4 page) essay in which you present an argument about “Woman Hollering Creek” by Sandra Cisneros using Feminist Literary Criticism as a lens.
The process:
The discussion post from this week is intended to start you thinking about a specific element of Cisneros’s story you want to focus on. Starting with this post consider how you can expand on the idea you presented to make a claim about how to interpret the story through Feminist Literary Criticism. Consider what sections, quotes, or plot points will support the claim you want to make. I suggest focusing on a specific character, plot point, or element instead of trying to tackle the whole story.
Review the materials provided about Feminist Literary Criticism in this week’s module.
Your paper should include
An introduction where you introduce Cisneros’s story in a sentence or two and present your argument. Make sure you are making an argument about how to interpret the story – not simply observing something about the story. You should have a clear argument about the ideologies presented in the story based on your chosen focus.
A set of body paragraphs which extend your claim based on a reading of the story – you can close read one specific section, discuss the plot more broadly, focus on one character or plot point, whichever approach feels most helpful for your argument.
A brief concluding paragraph where you talk about how your argument about the story reflects broader ideas about the themes raised.
The focus of your paper is to make an argument about “Woman Hollering Creek” that uses a Feminist lens. You should not just summarize the story. Identifying plot or character elements that are reflecting Feminist ideas is a great start – you want to go further and make an argument about what this means for our interpretation of the story.
Make sure you are appropriately quoting elements from the story – since the story is online you do not need to worry about page numbers, and you do not need a works cited. You do need to be sure you are clear about quotations or paraphrases of Cisneros’s words and ideas.
Your essay should be formatted as follows: 12 point, Times New Roman, double spaced with one-inch margins. Your name, the date, the course name, and a title should appear on the first page. You do not need a separate title page.
