Assignment:
You will write a thoughtful, in-depth academic essay based on one of the topics below (however, each essay must involve the concepts of hope and change).
Gay Rights Movement: The depiction of LGBT individuals has changed over time, sometimes celebrating the glory of new rights/acceptance/visibility, sometimes presenting the societal backlash/tragedy/horror. You will analyze one or more works of literature that explores the theme of gay liberation. You might choose to focus on one work and examine how accurately it depicts the reality of a specific movement. You might choose to look at several works on one movement and discuss how they are similar and different. You might look at several works about different gay rights movements over the last fifty/sixty years and explore the changes in their depiction over time. You can also explore how the movement remained hopeful even during the darkest years. (Historical Criticism)
Queer Theory: In several works, we have seen how LGBT individuals' status in society has affected the choices they make and the control they have over their own lives. Examine how they are depicted in our course readings. What elements in the text exist in the middle, between the perceived masculine/feminine binary? In other words, what elements exhibit traits of both? What are the politics (ideological agendas) of specific gay, lesbian, or queer works, and how are those politics revealed in the work's thematic content or portrayals of its characters? How does the text illustrate the problems of sexuality and sexual "identity," that is the ways in which human sexuality does not fall neatly into the separate categories defined by the words homosexual and heterosexual? You may choose to look at the changes over time or to focus on the hope of individuals in a particular era. (Queer Theory/Criticism)
You may choose another idea for a topic, but you must obtain my approval.
PRIMARY SOURCES:
The number of works you choose to use will depend on what they are, their length, and your purpose. You must demonstrate that you have read any work you discuss in your essay. The primary sources are the actual readings from our textbook. You will do this by making detailed, specific references to various aspects of the work through in text documentation (in-text citations). You may use four or more primary sources from our course readings. If you cannot demonstrate a thorough reading of any work you discuss, your essay will fail (this means you did not read or understand the work that you are attempting to use).
SECONDARY SOURCES:
You must use at least four to six secondary sources. These can be academic journal articles that analyze, report, or discuss some aspects from the works we have read. You should also reference historical or other background sources. These sources must also be academic sources (No Wikipedia or similar sources are acceptable).
Substantive use of secondary sources is required. Simply plugging in one quote from each source does not qualify. Therefore, find sources that contain a wealth of information relating to your analysis.
ESSAY REQUIREMENTS:
• Your essay must be 6 to 8 pages long (minimum range)
• Your essay must be in proper APA format (APA manuscript format)
• You must have a References page in current APA format. It should be the last page of the essay, but it is not included in the minimum 6-8 page requirement
• You must have in-text citations in current APA format for all source information including primary and secondary sources.