LITERARY THEMES: The Feminist Epic in Contemporary Canadian Poetry 603-103-MQ sect. 19002 I Summer 2021 I Online Course I Monday and Wednesday I 6:00 PM — 10:00 PM English Department Prerequisite: 603-101 MQ
Prepare a 1,000-word essay that presents an original analysis of Daphne Marlatt’s Ana Historic. You have two options for this final assessment. Choose one:
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Write a comparative essay that presents an argumentative thesis statement considering
Marlatt’s Ana Historic alongside Anne Carson’s Autobiography of Red or Dionne Brand’s thirsty.
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Write a research essay that presents an argumentative thesis statement in response to Daphne
Marlatt’s Ana Historic supported by at least two secondary sources.
Students may structure their essay in a way that best supports their individual argument. However, students are welcome to follow the below recommended structure:
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Introduction (approx. 100–150 words):
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Introduce the writers and the titles of the literary texts under analysis.
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Develop an argumentative thesis statement that expresses your original interpretation.
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Briefly outline the key points of your analysis.
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Three (3) Body Paragraphs (approx. 250 words each):
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Introduce a key point to prove your thesis statement.
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Utilize quotations from the literary text(s) and the literary terms learned in class to support your original interpretation.
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Comparative Essay: Consider comparing and contrasting quotations from each text in each body paragraph, supporting your central argument with analysis of both poems.
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Research Essay: Include at least one quotation from each secondary source in the body of your essay. These should accompany your original interpretation of the literary text.
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Conclusion (approx. 100–150 words):
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Restate your argumentative thesis statement.
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Demonstrate the significance of the key points in your body paragraphs.
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Leave the reader with your final thoughts about the larger significance of the unique topic under analysis in your essay.
Comparative Essay
Students may revise and expand their analysis from a previous essay in writing their comparative analysis of Daphne Marlatt’s Ana Historic in relation to the text by Anne Carson or Dionne Brand. This writing, however, must be substantially changed.
The comparative essay must present an original and argumentative thesis statement about the two texts under analysis. Your earlier interpretation of Carson or Brand’s texts must be substantially changed in order to support this unique thesis statement.
If revising and expanding your earlier work, it is necessary to: 1) improve and develop your earlier writing and analysis, and 2) compare and contrast the text to Marlatt’s Ana Historic.
Research Essay
Students may use the articles and essays shared on Léa as one or both of their secondary sources. It is, however, recommended that students conduct their own research in order to best support their original thesis statement. Use research from authoritative and trusted sources, such as the following:
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Academic Sources: an article published in a peer-reviewed journal, a chapter appearing in an anthology from an academic press, or a book published by a scholar in the field.
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Non-Academic Sources: a newspaper article, a popular non-fiction essay, etc.
Do not use research from student papers, amateur blogs, or online discussion forums. Tertiary sources (such as encyclopedia articles or dictionary definitions) will not count toward the required two secondary sources. In researching the topic of your final assignment, rely on the Dawson Library Discovery Service (or other tools like JSTOR or Google Scholar).
Deadline
This assignment is due by 11:59 PM on Thursday, August 5. Save your short essay as a PDF file and upload it to Moodle. No feedback is provided for this final assignment. Late assignments will receive a penalty of 5% per day.
Essay Topics
Write your final essay in response to one of the following topics:
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What role does silence play in the feminist epic? Examine the innovative use of form and sound in Daphne Marlatt’s Ana Historic. Whose voices are heard in official history? Whose voices are silenced by institutions of power? Prepare an argument about the significance of re-writing marginalized lives in the feminist epic.
If writing a comparative essay, compare this to the role of silence or the power of language in Anne Carson’s Autobiography of Red.
If writing a research essay, incorporate at least two secondary sources into your
analysis of the role or silence or the power of language in Marlatt’s Ana Historic.
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What role does place play in the feminist epic? Examine the imagery, diction, and figures of speech with which Daphne Marlatt represents British Columbia in Ana Historic — in the 1870s, 1950s, and 1980s. Prepare an argument that explains the importance of rural or urban space in the feminist epic.
If writing a comparative essay, compare this representation of place to the city setting
examined in Dionne Brand’s thirsty.
If writing a research essay, incorporate at least two secondary sources into your analysis of the setting in Marlatt’s Ana Historic.
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Who is the hero of the feminist epic? Who is the hero of Daphne Marlatt’s Ana Historic — Annie, Ana, or Ina? In particular, consider the role of the narrator or speaker in the construction of this hero. Prepare an argument about the presence or absence of a traditional epic hero in these feminist re-visions.
If writing a comparative essay, compare this representation to the heroic construction
in one of the following epics: Carson’s Autobiography of Red or Brand’s thirsty. If writing a research essay, incorporate at least two secondary sources into your analysis of the hero in Marlatt’s Ana Historic.
Style Guidelines
Your essay must follow these style guidelines:
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Double-space your entire essay.
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Use a legible 12-point font (e.g., Times New Roman or Arial).
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Include a header with the following information at the top of the first page:
Your Name
Instructor’s Name
Course Title Due Date
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Include a unique title in the centre of the first page underneath the header.
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Use proper MLA formatting for quotations, in-text citations, and the final Works Cited page.
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Italicize the titles of long works: Autobiography of Red, thirsty, and Ana Historic.
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Indicate the titles of short works with quotation marks: “II. Each.”
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You can indicate the untitled part of a longer poem (such as Brand’s thirsty) with Roman numerals outside of quotation marks: XVI, XXVI, etc.
Short Quotations and Long Quotations — Poetry
Follow the MLA guidelines, explained in the assignment guidelines for the previous two short essays, for formatting your short and long quotations, as well as your in-text citations.
Many passages from Daphne Marlatt’s Ana Historic are written in prose (i.e., sentences and paragraphs). Introduce these quotations by following the below rules.
Short Quotations — Prose
Introduce quotations of three lines or less with quotation marks. Follow the quotation with an in-text citation. If your copy of the book has page numbers, include these in the parentheses: “what is fact? (f) act. the f stop of act. a still photo in the ongoing cinerama” (Marlatt 37). Note that it is necessary to include the author’s last name in the citation if you have not included it in the preceding sentence.
Long Quotations — Prose
Introduce quotations of four lines or more as a block quotation. Here is an example of a long quotation from Marlatt’s Ana Historic:
she is writing her desire to be, in the present tense, retrieved from silence. each morning she begins with all their names. she has taught them to say, ‘Present, Mrs. Richards,’ and so, each morning she begins with her name, a name that is not really hers. each evening she enters her
being, nameless, in the book she is writing against her absence. For nothing that surrounds her is absent. far from it. (53)
Continue your analysis on the next line by returning to the left margin. The citation rules for long quotations are the same as short quotations, with one exception: do not include any final punctuation after the parentheses.
Reminder: In your essay, all text — including quotations — must be double-spaced.
Works Cited
At the end of your essay, include a Works Cited page. On its own line, centre the title “Works Cited.”
Under this, beginning at the left margin, include a full citation for all of the texts under analysis.
Refer to previous short essay assignment guidelines for the Works Cited entries of the poets studied in Weeks 1 – 5. You are responsible for providing the information for: 1) the copy of Daphne Marlatt’s Ana Historic from which you are quoting, and 2) the secondary sources supporting your original interpretation.
Formatting Your Works Cited
Include all primary sources (i.e., the literary texts under analysis) and secondary sources (i.e., the outside research you have incorporated into your analysis) in the Works Cited.
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Double space all citations.
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Organize the Works Cited alphabetically by the author’s last name. This is the name that appears in your in-text citations throughout the essay.
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Capitalize the titles of books, poems, articles, etc.
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Use italics for the titles of larger works and quotations marks for titles of shorter works.
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The general format for any citation is: Author’s Last Name, Author’s First Name. Title. Publisher,
Publication Date.
Review the full guidelines (including citations for electronic sources) available at Purdue OWL: https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/mla_style/mla_formatting_and_style_guide/mla_wor ks_cited_page_basic_format.html
