This assignment will require you to write an essay that uses two of the assigned critical essays on Absalom, Absalom! plus one that you find on your own to describe a key facet and the evolution
of the critical conversation on Absalom, Absalom! As you have likely seen in our reading of critical essays on the novel, literary critics frequently review what has been said before them in prior publications in order to show where they will depart from established criticism or extend
those ideas further. That is the goal with this assignment. Use the articles you choose to show what the extant conversation is and how it could be extended or refuted.
1). Use the resources available through the Library’s website to find a critical article on your own about
Absalom, Absalom! Rather than just searching GALILEO, I encourage you to particularly target the
MLA International Bibliography database.
2). Read the third article you choose carefully, and group it with two that we have read together for class.
3). Prepare for writing the essay by taking adequate notes that relate the essays to each other. Where do they agree or disagree? Where do they cite the same evidence from Faulkner’s novel? What do they seem to say together?
4). After thorough preparation, write an essay that claims what these three essays seem to be saying
together about Absalom, Absalom! by explaining the connections or disagreements you found between the three essays. Your essay should have a. A focused introduction that introduces the three essays b. A thesis statement that explains what the three essays taken together reveal or indicate about the critical conversation on Faulkner’s fiction. c.Body paragraphs that support the thesis with adequate and appropriate summary, paraphrase, and quotation to show the similarities, agreements, and disagreements among the three essays. Be sure to elaborate in instances that you summarize/paraphrase/quote to make the connections you draw clear to the reader, and always cite the source. d. A conclusion that reiterates your thesis for the reader. e. A works cited page
5). This essay should NOT a. Simply summarize the three articles.
b.Praise or criticize the essays in the manner of a book or movie review c.Stray too far from the three essays in order to make an argument or meditate or reflect on the topic the essay addresses. Keep the focus of the essay on what is in the three essays