“Where Are You Going? Where Have You Been?” by Joyce Carol Oates

 Length: Four full pages of writing, not including the Works Cited page. You will need to include a Works Cited page for this essay. For directions on how to do your Works Cited page, refer to the PDF on how to set up your essays in the Student Resources module. For Essay 2, choose any story I have assigned, but not the same one you chose for Essay 1. Pick a story you like or can relate to. You want to choose one you can work with in order to write your best essay. Also, choose a story that has plenty of literary criticism articles. Our online librarian, Ms. Sarah Paige, has a great video about finding articles. Her video in the Student Resources module. To earn a passing grade on this essay, you must find peer-reviewed literary criticism articles in our library databases. If you have trouble finding articles on your story, choose another story. Some stories don’t have a lot of criticism built up yet. Be sure to contact me if you get stuck. Important: Start looking for literary criticism articles on your story now. What do I write about? Students should be able to analyze the story using literary terms. The research essay is much like Essay 2. To begin your research, find and read at least two articles.You are looking for literary criticism articles, not overviews or reviews. Literary criticism, not an overview, will give you the support you need when you write your essay. Overviews are generic and have no interesting ideas, and reviews are mostly plot summaries. Avoid them. Reading good articles will spark ideas. Use those ideas to help you write your paper, and be sure to cite those ideas by using the best quotes from the articles. Cite the quotes in the text of your essay. The best way to in-text cite is by blending the quote with your writing. Here’s an example: According to critic Benmont Tench, the man in “To Build a Fire” makes bad choices and “symbolizes man vs. the natural world at its most dangerous” (1156). Important: Create a strong, effective thesis statement. Carry the topic points in your thesis all the way through your essay, and use quotations from the articles to support your claims. Cite the quotes using MLA in-text citations.