In this essay you will synthesize the ideas and evidence from multiple scholarly texts to answer your research question about one monster’s role in the study of culture.
Synthesize the ideas and evidence from multiple scholarly texts
In this essay you will synthesize the ideas and evidence from multiple scholarly texts to answer your research question about one monster’s role in the study of culture. You will add to the current academic conversation about this topic by making a claim about why it matters, and you will use the details drawn from your research to develop and support your claim.
Your essay should be at least six pages, including an MLA formatted Works Cited list of at least five sources. You can copy these citations directly from your Annotated Bibliography, if applicable, but do not include the annotations here.
The length of your essay is not the measure of its worth. But it should take at least six pages to cite and explain details from at least five of the sources. At least three of them academic articles. That you studied during this research process. Which of the texts you put into conversation together are your choice. Your work is to synthesize what you gather from these texts into your own original claim about the monster’s cultural role. You are not merely going to write a report on what others have said about the topic. You are going to write an analysis of why, or to whom, their work matters. Remember that analysis needs to add something new to the conversation.
In an analytical essay, you should open with a general introduction to the topic. Like a summary of what you’ve learned, and then set up a focus on which part(s) of the topic your essay will address. When you make a claim at the end of your introduction. Be sure to explain not just what is already known about the topic. But also what point you want to add to the conversation. What is the most important aspect of the research from your scholarly perspective?
In the body of your essay you should analyze, one paragraph at a time, in as much detail as possible. Each piece of evidence that supports your claim. You will be moving among multiple sources, so be sure to introduce each one and transition clearly between them, providing in-text citations along the way. Don’t just drop in passages from your sources and expect them to speak for themselves. You should include thorough explanations of who or what you are citing and why each idea, example. Or piece of evidence is included.
After all the ideas, examples, and evidence have been thoroughly examined. You should close your essay with a reiteration of your claim. Then a more general statement about where your study fits within a larger context of monsters, monster studies, cultural studies, or culture.
