Literary Research

Hamlet, the Prince of Denmark
Write a 2000+ word literary research paper analyzing an aspect of the piece of literature that
we are reading or another short story, with permission from Dr. Kantor. Samples of literary
essays include: character analysis, symbolism, setting, contrast-compare characters or setting
or symbols, theme, as well as many other literary devices to analyze. This is an analysis; this is
NOT a book report. Please be creative and thorough in your analysis. This paper must adhere
to MLA guidelines (outline, paper, parenthetical citations, citation page), and it must have 5-7
sources, with 2 of them academic/scholarly sources, with the primary source being the piece of
literature. You must use PROQUEST or EBSCO as well as other academic sources in the paper,
and it must be submitted in the plagiarism package in CANVAS.
Please consult the handouts and powerpoints provided to you in CANVAS as well as the
textbook.
The following criteria are essential to produce an effective argument
• Be well informed about your topic, in order to add to your knowledge of a topic, read
thoroughly about it, using legitimate sources. Take notes.
• Test your thesis. Your thesis, i.e., argument, must have two sides. It must be debatable.
If you can write down a thesis statement directly opposing your own, you will ensure that
your own argument is debatable.
• Disprove the opposing argument. Understand the opposite viewpoint of your position
and then counter it by providing contrasting evidence or by finding mistakes and
inconsistencies in the logic of the opposing argument.
• Support your position with evidence. Remember that your evidence must appeal to
reason.