For this essay, you must perform a detailed analysis and interpretation of a work of electronic literature. Your thesis statement should formulate an interpretation of the work, and should be supported by a discussion of key strategies used by the writers to express their ideas. Your analysis should focus on how the work communicates multimodally, has meaningful interactivity, uses computation and randomness, takes advantage of networked data, and/or explores the potential of social media or mobile platforms. Your analysis should be supported with screenshots that are incorporated into the essay as figures in MLA format.
You must choose a work from any of the following sources:
- Any volume of the Electronic Literature Collection,
- the Turn On Literature shortlisted works,
- the shortlisted or winning works from the New Media Writing Prize,
- Dreaming Methods,
- Jason Nelson’s work,
- Nick Montfort’s poetry,
- Webyarns.com,
- luckysoap.com,
- or any of the works we’ve touched on this semester that we haven’t discussed fully.
A 1-2 sentence proposal of the work you wish to analyze, including a link to the work, is due by Monday, November 30.
Guidelines
The final paper should be about 500-750 words long in MLA format (about 2-3 pages long, typed, double-spaced, with 1” margins, and a 12-point font). Any use of sources must be documented in impeccable MLA format—parenthetical citation (author’s last name & page number) and a works cited page for the primary works and any research you cite.
The essay is due on Tuesday, December 8.
Evaluation
Your essay will be evaluated in the following areas, with areas 1-3 carrying most of the weight of the grade:
- Assignment (fulfilling requirements, quality of thesis, and depth of analysis),
- Organization (clarity of thesis, thorough paragraphing, overall organization),
- Development (relevance of claims, adequacy of support, and textual evidence),
- Sentence Structure, Word Choice, and Grammar (weaknesses will be identified in these areas, but they will not affect grade significantly unless they get in the way of understanding the essay).
An essay that satisfies all the requirements of the assignment with a clear sense of organization and adequate development earns a “C” in this class. An essay that achieves the goals at an above average level of proficiency, with only minor problems in one or two areas earns a “B.” The “A” is reserved for nearly flawless, elegant essays that excel in all the criteria described above. Essays that do not fulfill the minimum requirements for the assignment earn a “D.” Essays that are not turned in or are plagiarized earn an “F” in this class, and may result in a failing grade in the course.