UM The Effect of Orientalism as a Discourse in Literature Essay

This is the same course as the previous two essays. And this is the last one.

Please write the materials according to the previous two essays

For Writing Assignment Three, you will write an essay that explores a question or issue surrounding a topic related to any that we have been examining in class all semester. It is up to you to come up with your own topic. In previous activities, you brainstormed some of the issues in postcolonial writing that you might consider, and you can use these thoughts along with the instructor’s feedback on your ideas to develop an original theme fully. You should use at least two primary sources and at least two secondary sources from those we have studied in class, and you are welcome to use any other texts you deem helpful to your argument. You might consult the research trails and databases we discussed in this unit.

In your paper you should anticipate using the texts, both primary and secondary, in some kind of dialectic. In other words, the texts should speak to one another, or re-inform one another. For example, how has reading Colonialist Criticism made you reconsider Orientalism? How does the narrative voice of Shabine make you reconsider Orientalism? What do ideas in Not You/Like You make you think about in relation to Colonialist Criticism and in turn make you think about Grace Nichols’ narrators?

NB: These are examples of how to think about the text; don’t think you have to use any of these ideas in your paper.

Your paper will show evidence of our work all semester. We’ve been looking at ways to think about texts, we have been “in conversation with” academics and academic writing, we have been questioning our habits of mind, and we have been analyzing ideas. Perhaps most importantly, we have been learning how to have ideas ourselves. Here is your chance to show what idea(s) of your own you can come up with in relation to the texts we’ve been reading, and to produce a piece of writing that presents your ideas in an interesting, informative, and academic way.

Your work should show originality, creativity, insight, solid and credible interpretation of texts, top-notch integration of sources, accurate use of MLA style on works cited pages and in-text (which will be discussed in the next unit), and writing that is interesting to read. You should look at the grading criteria in the course syllabus to see what constitutes such work. Begin drafting early to gain the most from learning about documentation and exercising peer review. Be sure to keep impeccable track of your research trails if you choose to use or look for other secondary sources, and don’t be afraid to search around and look at other secondary sources, even if you don’t end up using them. The practice in using the databases in this manner is invaluable, and, at the very least, you can get some excellent ideas for titles, which we’ll discuss further in Unit 12.