Choose a prompt for your paper using at least one of the novels from the following 3 novels.Either Harry Potter, The Walking Dead, or Star Wars. You can use two or all three if you choose. this paper is a review (if you choose to use only one novel). If you want to you may choose to do a comparison paper if you decide to use more than one text. This paper still requires a thesis argument:
So far weve seen the difficulty of classifying novels into distinct genres as many of the novels weve ready so far overlap with one or more genres. How useful is genre for thinking about literature? Develop an argument that relates to at least one of the books weve read so far and how this book shows either the complexity of genre or its usefulness.
-How useful is the idea of influence for contemporary literature today? Using one of the novels or more so far, is influence as straightforward as it seems, or are these contemporary novels better thought of in another way? For example: derivative; revisionary; critique.
-What is the relationship between modern sci-fi and the earlier 19th-century Gothic genre? Or, how has todays science fiction transformed since the nineteenth century? (Using either The Walking Dead or Star Wars if you classify these as sci-fi).
-How has fantasy evolved today from the Gothic, and does it differ radically or is there some continuity between this contemporary movement and its earlier manifestations? (Using HP, TWD, or Star Wars, you may include film versions).
-If you dont want to talk about the nineteenth century Gothic influence any more, discuss up to all three contemporary novels (HP, TWD, and SW) and formulate an argument around contemporary fantasy/sci-fi fiction & literature. You can choose your own topic here, as you may want to discuss other influences on these contemporary novels that we havent really focused on in this class, such as folklore, the Bible, fairy tales, and/or religion, to name just a few. You can pick one influence and one novel if you wish (for example: the influence of folklore in Star Wars or fairy tales in Harry Potter–must still have an argument! Not just describing an influence). For example: “The Gothic’s influence in X is overstated and folklore is more influential to the development of X.”
Structure your paper with an Introduction, a few body paragraphs, and a Conclusion at the end. Start with an introduction that will tell your reader what you will be writing about. End the first paragraph with a clearly-stated thesis statement.
Your body paragraphs should do the work of evidence,” consistently citing quotes as evidence in defense of your thesis.
The conclusion paragraph should not just summarize your main argument, but also answer the question of why this is significant or relevant to the themes we have discussed (in lectures or in your posts).
Your overall paper should run you at least 3 pages. (does not include your works cited page)
