Your Essays

Three sample student essays are available here.

• Must be on one of the stories in the LeGuin anthology or a film or television show we have considered.  Any other topic must be approved by me.

• May be on a combination of works (two or more stories, a story and a film, two films).

• Must not be a plot summary.

• Should, like papers in your 200 level courses, have a clear thesis statement, an introduction and conclusion, coherent paragraphs, and a logical organization.

• Should assume your classmates (and not your teacher) as your potential audience. Write it as if your audience has read the story/stories under consideration or seen the film or TV.

• Think of your essay as an interpretation (an attempt to shed light on the work(s) under consideration through careful analysis of some aspect(s) of it; in interpretation, you are the expert , seeking to help your readers, who are familiar with the work(s) but do not understand it fully, to be better readers/viewers.

• You might consider some of the following (this list is intended to be suggestive and not all-inconclusive): how the story/film/tv is told (its narrative structure), characters, purpose and meaning, language, imagery/iconography, qualifications as SF, genre/subgenre, reading protocol(s), novum(s), subtexts, use of estrangement.

• Feel free to contact me (in person, via e-mail) to discuss paper topics.