Critical Essay Response Assignment

Choose one of the four critical essays listed below. For each of the two following instructions, write two or three paragraphs in response (between a page and a page and a half for each response). Use double-space lineation in your answers. Assignments that exceed four pages of writing will not be accepted. Your responses will be evaluated for accuracy, insight, and expression (i.e., good writing).

Include a list of Works Cited in MLA format. (Please include the URLs in your list of Works Cited, where applicable.) The assignment is due on March 6th. The assignment requires submission to Turn It In and hard copies must be accompanied by the Essay Submission Checklist.

1) Summarize the main argument of the essay and any secondary arguments. Include the main points the essay makes and a description of the methodology the author uses for supporting the main argument. Indicate how the essay represents a new way of thinking about the text it treats. Do not quote from the essay.

2) Assess the value of the essay. How convincing is the essay? How does the essay represent a valuable contribution to our understanding of the text? What are the main weaknesses in the argument of the essay? Avoid talking about minor weaknesses in the style or presentation of the essay. You may quote from the essay for this part.

• Barbour, Brian. “‘Between Two Worlds’: The Structure of the Argument in ‘Tintern Abbey.’” Nineteenth-Century Literature 48.2 (1993): 147-68.
• Hall, Spencer. “Shelley’s ‘Mont Blanc.’” Studies in Philology 70.2 (1973): 199-221.
• Ramel, Annie. “The Crevice in the Canvas: A Study of The Mayor of Casterbridge.” Victorian Literature and Culture 26.2 (1998): 259-72.
• Rowe, M. W. “Arnold and the Metaphysics of Science: A Note on ‘Dover Beach.’” Victorian Poetry 27.2 (1989): 213-217.