Post-Freudian psychoanalysis:
Paper instructions:
Applying one or more key concept(s) from the lectures and readings about post-Freudian psychoanalysis, make an interpretive argument about the short story “Sea Oak.”
The theory contains many possibilities: existentialism, eros and thanatos, and the Oedipal Conflict. The short story also contains many possibilities: specific character analysis (like the narrator, the aunt), relationship analysis, scene analysis, theme analysis. I want to give you freedom to focus on any aspects of the theory and aspects of the story you feel you can analyze and find strong meaning in.
But whatever you choose, the goal of your paper is:
• to present a clear opinion for a thesis that guides your entire paper. This opinion must connect something from this theory to this story in a meaningful, interpretive manner.
• to point to many supporting examples from the story (quote generously) and argue how they fit or apply to the theory you choose to bring in (use the terms from lecture generously).
• to explore the deeper, more complex meaning of this application, psychologically (and socially, in so far as “socially” affects us psychologically). In other words, don’t just point out a correlation or two; create a rich, interesting, insightful discussion from the correlation.
Find a balance between a paper that takes on too much (too many concepts and too much of the story) and a paper that takes on too little (something which leaves with you only a couple of body paragraphs to write). If the paper gets too big, narrow your focus; if the paper gets too small, broaden your focus. Pick something that can sustain a strong, detailed, meaty essay, and something you personally find meaningful and interesting, too.