The Impact of Words
So far we have a variety of poems and stories about a range of topics, everything from
the autobiographical realm to sociological domain. Each of these
pieces was created with craft, especially with attention to the words used to
convey the overall message. With that in mind, this project requires that
you investigate word usage in one fiction piece and one of the poems that have similar themes.
Your job is to find key words
from each. You are to look up the significant words in the OED (Oxford
English Dictionary) -- you are to use the one in the library not the one
online, as it is not complete. (This 34 volume dictionary traces words back to
their original source.)
Begin the paper by
introducing the authors and titles of the fiction and the poem.
Give brief
summaries of both.
Discuss what a
reviewer (if you are in 201 or 225 reviewers) has to say about the
pieces you are discussing.
Then introduce the
key words and a brief history of each word, its origins and at least three
of its meanings.
Find synonyms as
well.
Based on context and
content, discuss why you think the author chose to use the particular word
rather than one its synonyms.
You can go further than
this by discussing why you think another word would work better -- it's up
to you.
More than anything we want you to pay attention to language and its vitality.
To be included in final paper:
101 students:
2 words from each + 1 outside source
201 students:
3 words from each + 2 outside sources225 students:
4 words from each + 3 outside sources
See an example of a literary research paper.
