ENGL 300 Brownson, Fall, 2009

CRITICAL ARTICLES ASSIGNMENT

Due Date: Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Assignment: Make copies of two of the articles you have located for your text. Attach to the front of each copy a paragraph, no more than half a page in Times New Roman, 12 point, in which you identify the theoretical stance the author takes (in other words, what kind of criticism you think it is) and why. Please separate the two articles and accompanying paragraphs as two packets and STAPLE each packet together. You will hand both packets in to me but you will get them back so that you can use the articles for the rest of your assignments.

ESSAY #1 ASSIGNMENT

Length: 2-3 pages, Times New Roman, 12 point, 1" margins, ONLY

Due Date: Monday, September 21, 2009

Assignment: Carefully read the handout, Cleanth Brooks’s "Irony as a Principle of Structure." Make sure you look up unfamiliar words and texts. Your essay will have two parts. First, write a summary of the article, noting Brooks’s thesis and major developmental points (1-1-1/2 pages). Second, discuss in detail one way in which Brooks’s theoretical stance can be usefully applied to a critical discussion of "The Secret Sharer" (1-1-1/2 pages).