Asian Literature
General Guidelines
The purpose of
this review is for you to analyze the narrative framework of a text of
y
our choice. In other words, you
will analyze prominent methods use
d to
communicate the narrative (
or story
)
of the work you choose
.
Any
East Asian
narrative
written
text
from the modern period
, including fiction,
essays
,
and poetry
may be used. Graphi
c novels
may be used, but beware that you
may have to limit your topic to a section of a series, which could make analysis more
difficult.
You may
not
review any of the
works
covered
in
class
. However, you may review
other works by authors
discussed in
class and are, in fact, encouraged to do so.
Secondary sources are encouraged but not required. If you do use secondary
source
s
, be sure to provide proper citations using MLA format. (See examples at the
end of this handout.)
Please use only academi
c sources.
Internet sites such as
Wikipedia and journalistic articles can be a useful starting p
oint, but should NOT be
cited in
an academic paper. If you are unsure of the validity of a source, contact the
instructor.
Papers which use inappropriate sou
rces will be graded down.
Your completed review should be about
2000
2500 words
. Please submit your
document
electronically on Blackboard, using
the
Turnitin
link
.
There is no need to
submit a paper copy.
This review
should be a polished piece of w
riting, relatively free of errors or typos. If
your
paper
has significant grammatical mistakes or
sentence structure problems
,
you
will be graded down.
If you have weak writing skills, it is
your
responsibility to
find a reliable friend or tutor to proofr
ead your work.
Don’t forget to give your paper a title! Keep in mind that a creative title is an
excellent way to spark interest in your reader.
Use 12
point font and 1
inch margins throughout with left
margin justification.
Number each page at the
bottom center or bottom right.
Asian
names should be written in
Asian
word order (family name first).
Include dates for people
, works,
and historical periods
or events
for example,
Natsume Soseki (1867
1916) or the Meiji period (1868
1912)
Any
for
eign
words
used (for example,
daimyô
)
should be in
italics
.
Loan words that
have been incorporated into Eng
lish (for example, sushi
) do not need to be in italics.
Write the names of all
major works in
italics
.
Writing the Review
Below is a suggested outline for writing your review. Keep in mind that this is only a
guideline: although you
should
provide the
factual information listed in
Part
One, you
are
n
ot
required to follow this
format, especially if you have experience writing papers
on literature, or consider yourself a strong writer.
Part I
Introduce the work, including b
asic biograp
hical information
:
(1)
title
in
both
original
language and
English
(including variant names, if k
nown), (2)
author
,
(3)
year of publication or release
, and (4) genre
(s)
.
You may also want to add relevant
background information, particularly as it m
ay relate to your discussion in Parts
3
and 4.
Par
t 2
Give a
brief
summary of the work
and main characters
. If your summary is too l
ong,
you will not have enough space to do an adequate analysis.
Part 3
Discuss one prominent aspect
of the
work
,
referring to
concrete
details
and
/or
specific examples
from the
text
. This
could include
but is not limited to: (1)
narrative voice
:
first person, third p
erson, unreliable narrator, etc
,
(2)
plot
:
sequencing of events, use of flashbacks or dreams, a story wi
thin a story, etc
,
(3)
character analysis
:
flat c
har
acters, stock characters, how characters change over the
course of the work, etc,
(4)
language
:
descriptive, realistic, use of
poetic language,
dialogue, etc
,
(5)
tone
: humorous, serious, didactic, sarcastic, etc, (6)
contextual
framework:
drawing on histo
rical events, legends or folktales, earli
er literary works,
etc
, and
(7)
integration of text and images
.
Part 4
Discuss
a second
prominent aspect of the
work
,
referring to
concrete
details
and
/or
specific examples from the
text
.
Part 5
Summarize your
analysis by concluding with a discussion of the extent to w
hich you
think the work represents
East Asian
narrative traditions.
Do you think the appeal
of the w
or
k is limited to readers with
knowledge of
these
narrative traditions? Or
do you think the work has universal appeal? Why?
Include a bibliographical reference at the end of the paper for the text
that
you used.
Include any secondary sources used as well.
Pitfalls
Avoid judging a work based on its conformity to realism. Keep in mind that realism
is a relative concept that can vary across time and cultures, and that reali
sm is not
necessarily the goal of every writer
or artist
.
Avoid making general cultural judgments based on one text. Keep in mind that the
many literary
texts are produced
with the intention of
entertain
ing and making
a
profit, and should not be interpret
ed as an unbiased perspective of a situation or
issue.