EN103: Fairy Tales

Third Essay Assignment

The second essay is due at the beginning of class on Friday, April 20. The paper should be about 5-6 pages long.

In this essay, you should analyze Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre by analogy to any of the classic fairy tales that we have studied, such as “Snow White,” “Cinderella,” “Donkeyskin,” or “Bluebeard.” Consider such topics as: the qualities of heroines, such as strength or weakness, activeness or passivity; male and female gender roles; marriage and romance in women’s lives and choices; the ways stories challenge or reinforce class distinctions and stereotypes.

For class on Tuesday, April 17, bring a thesis for your third 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.

Again, secondary critical sources are not required for this essay, and in fact I am most interested in your close engagement with the primary texts. However, you may wish to refer to some of the critical essays we have studies, such as Sandra Gilbert's "Plain Jane's Progress" or Gilbert & Gubar's "Snow White and Her Wicked Stepmother," and you are free 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.