English 130 Reading Fiction

Critical Essay

Technicalities:
     * One inch margins
     * 12 point Times New Roman Font
     * Double spaced
     * Upper right hand corner includes in this order: your name, name of assignment, English 130, Dr. Steven Thomas, date
     * Title in bold, centered above first paragraph -- absolutely NO separate title pages

Length:
     * 2-3 pages
     * This means "significantly more than two pages but less than four pages"
     * It does NOT mean "almost one page" or "almost six pages"

Prompt:
     * Imagine that you are a critic writing a review of the novel Happyland for a magazine such as Harper's, Atlantic Monthly, The New York Times, or some other periodical. What might you say about it?

Expectations and Helpful Hints:
     * Proper essay form -- e.g., introductory paragraph, body paragraphs with topic sentences and supporting evidence, etc.
     * Have a clear question in mind and a clear thesis. We've talked about examples of questions in class. For instance, is it a satire? Is it feminist? These are just two examples of questions you could raise. There are many others, so it's up to you.
     * Whatever question you choose, be clear about how you are defining your terms.
     * You must draw upon one or more of the other readings to give you some critical perspective on the novel. For instance, how does Adrienne Rich define feminism? How do George Orwell and Marilynne Robinson understand fiction and reality? How is Happyland like or not like Jonathan Swift's Modest Proposal or Barry Glasner's Culture of Fear?