Weekly writing assignments give you practice with analytical and critical reading skills, which can extend to analyzing and reading anything. They are an opportunity to develop your interpretation more thoroughly than you would in discussion. And where in discussion we might bounce between different points, questions, and passages, in the writing assignment you’ll focus on a single thesis for your literary analysis.
Task
Write a well-developed analysis of Our Nig (approx. 600 words) that responds to the following question: Frado is not a slave, but is she free? Your analysis should have a thesis that is supported with at least one close reading of a specific passage from the novel.
- To help you develop your thesis and interpretation, you might also consider some of these questions: Does Frado experience moments of freedom where she is able to assert her independence? Does Frado rebel against authority? Does Frado experience moments of sympathy or connection with whites or with authority? Is Frado able to exert control over her body and her work?
- Need help? View the Writing Literary Analysis doc on the Writing Handbooks page.
Advanced Labor Task
Use Frederick Douglass’s 1852 speech “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July? (Links to an external site.)” and his point of view on the conditions of African Americans in the nineteenth century to develop your thesis and analysis to the question, Frado is not a slave, but is she free? Your analysis should be supported with at least one close reading of a specific passage from the novel andfrom Douglass’s speech.
Format
This assignment must be typed (single or double-spaced—your aesthetic preference) and uploaded to Canvas as a .pdf, .doc, or .rtf file. Use a first-page heading with your name, my name, course, and date. Give your assignment an original title.
Criteria for Grading
To earn a “Complete,” assignments must meet the following requirements:
- State your thesis in response to the question
- Develop your thesis with analysis of the novel’s political, historical, and cultural contexts and/or its formal properties, e.g. characterization, imagery, irony, theme, etc.
- Support your thesis with at least one close reading of a specific passage from the novel
- Include at least one quote from the novel, properly cited with an MLA parenthetical citation, e.g. “Quoted passage” (51).
- 1-2 well-developed paragraphs, minimum of 600 words total
To earn Advanced Labor credit, assignments must meet all of the above criteria, as well as the following criteria:
- Use Douglass’s speech to construct and develop your thesis on the novel
- Support your thesis with at least one close reading of a specific passage from Douglass’s speech
- Demonstrate engagement with Douglass’s speech by using it to deepen your analysis and interpretation of the novel
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