EN103: Fairy Tales
Second Essay Assignment
The second essay is due at the beginning of class on Tuesday, November 27. The paper should be about 5-6 pages long.
In this essay, you should carefully compare and contrast any two versions of the following fairy tales:
You may compare and contrast two versions of the same tale, or versions of two different tales. Be very careful in choosing the texts you want to write on, since you want to choose the ones most appropriate to your topic. You should have a precise topic focusing on a specific theme. I hope you choose the theme you are most interested in; some suggestions that seem particularly relevant to these tales are: women, assertiveness, passivity, independence, autonomy, men, sexual desire, fathers, mothers, sisters, family, home, security, marriage, nature, magic, money, violence, class.
For class on Tuesday, November 20, bring a thesis for your second essay. This thesis should be typed and should be stated as a single, complete sentence. The thesis of the essay is the one, central idea that you want to convince the reader of. A good thesis is one that can be proven (that is, there is objective evidence in the texts to support it) and that needs to be proven (that is, it is not obvious or self-evident). A thesis does not have to be a single sentence, but it is a good exercise to write it as a complete sentence since it forces you to articulate the single, coherent idea that drives the essay as a whole.
Secondary critical sources are not required for this essay, and in fact I am most interested in your close engagement with the primary texts. You are, however, free to apply the critical sources that we have read to your argument, or to refer to other secondary sources. But remember that you must fully cite any and all sources that you use. The source must appear in the list of works cited at the end of the essay, and each source must be cited on every occasion that you make use of its words or ideas. This is true if the source is your primary source (the text you are studying) or a critical source (an analysis of the work published elsewhere), and it is true if the source is printed or electronic, including internet sources. Follow the MLA style of in-text citation and lists of works cited, as described in A Pocket Style Manual.