Anne Bradstreet: What does it mean for her to be a female poet in her Puritan society? What are the personal problems and anxieties she must work through? Is her frequent self-deprecation a shrewd strategy, or is she sincere?

Personal problems and anxieties

Anne Bradstreet: What does it mean for her to be a female poet in her Puritan society? What are the personal problems and anxieties she must work through? Is her frequent self-deprecation a shrewd strategy, or is she sincere? Your task is to analyze and interpret the literary text(s). Be sure your thesis and your overall essay answers the assigned question(s). Do not write a simple biography, a summary, or a high school “book report.” Just answer the exact question posed in your chosen topic. Keep the focus tight, and avoid irrelevant filler.

Personal problems and anxieties

Consider the topic as a little puzzle or problem for you to figure out. 100% of your essay should be devoted to this. Your introduction should set up this question/problem/puzzle, and your thesis statement should voice a clear point-of-view about it. Don’t rush through this part of the essay. Make it clear to your reader why you’re even asking such a question, and then give some indication of how you’ll tackle it, how you’ll make sense of it. Be sure to quote frequently from your chosen text. About 15-20% of your overall word-count should consist of quotation.

Personal problems and anxieties

Use at least three quotations per body paragraph and analyze them closely. This is a high priority requirement. Be sure to cite and document your quotations correctly according to MLA style. A note about religious content: The literature of this era is steeped in religious content. Don’t turn your essay into a Sunday School lesson. Don’t preach. Don’t assume your reader shares your particular religious faith or tradition. Write to a broad, multicultural audience, and analyze your text as a work of literature. It’s fine to discuss what the author believes, but keep your own religious belief/tradition (or lack thereof) in the background.

Personal problems and anxieties

Grading criteria: Substantive points of argument for thesis and topic sentences Close/detailed/precise analysis of texts Theoretical sophistication, depth of thought Literary-historical context in the introduction paragraph and, when appropriate, throughout. Overall quality of your writing: organization, style, grammar/mechanics At least 1000-1250 words (Shorter essays will not pass.) Special Note: Plagiarized essays–even a single sentence!–will receive a zero and may not be rewritten. Every single word, clause, sentence, and idea of your essay must be your own unless you have clearly given attribution to your sources in one or both of these ways:

Personal problems and anxieties

a. You have put borrowed words in quotation marks and have concluded the quotation with a parenthetical citation in MLA format. A Works Cited section must appear at the end of your essay, in MLA format, giving full documentation for the original source. Example: Richard Ellman explains, “Historians of literature like to regard a century as a series of ten faces, each grimacing in a different way” (422). b. You have introduced paraphrased materials clearly with a tag and then followed with a citation. Paraphrases do not use quotation marks. Example: According to Richard Ellman, one of the world’s foremost experts in Irish literature, James Joyce set the agenda for an entire generation of modernist writers (422). https://youtu.be/d68HU0OMTHw

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