Now that you have completed Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, you are in a good position to
consider what critics have written about the novel. You will need a total of two critiques (also
known as critical analysis essays) for this assignment.
First, locate one critical analysis essay written about the 1818 version of Mary Shelley’s novel.
You may focus most of your attention on this first critique. Your chosen critique should be
reliable and located in a university publication (written by a professor,) a literary journal, or
an online literary website. Following are some examples of acceptable online literary
websites.
You should choose from one of these if you want to use a website:
ipl2 Literary Criticism
collection: http://www.ipl.org/div/litcrit/bin/litcrit.out.pl?ti=fra-63
Professor Sherry Ginn’s critique:1 http://www.clas.ufl.edu/ipsa/2003/ginn.html
Professor Naomi Hetherington’s
critique: http://knarf.english.upenn.edu/Articles/hether.html
The questions in the study guides should have helped you evaluate this criticism in your
head. Now it’s time to write it down!
Your evaluation may go more smoothly if you approach the guiding questions in this order:
1. Evaluate the critic/author:
Who wrote the criticism you read? What credentials does the author have (education,
professional career, other publications, etc.)? (If you are using a credible author, you should
be able to find her/his credentials fairly easily)
2. Find the thesis of the article:
What is the thesis of the critical article you’ve chosen? What point does the author want to
make about Frankenstein?
3. Evaluate the thesis:
Do you agree with this thesis? Why or why not? We’ve covered many ideas in the study
guides. Can you find points within the guides that support your agreement or disagreementwith the critical writer(s)? Look for new supporting information rather than revisiting the
same ones the critics have chosen.
4. Evaluate the support:
Whether you agree or disagree with the thesis, does the critic provide sufficient research
from the text and outside references to make a strong case? What does the article have for
support from the text or outside sources? In your opinion, what makes these references
valid? Do you feel the author uses this support properly?
Next, locate a second critique about the novel, and discuss how this second critique agrees
and/or disagrees with the first one. For instance, if the first critic argues that Shelley’s writing
is juvenile, does the second critic agree with this assessment? If the first critic believes the
novel is autobiographical, does the second critic concur? These are just a few examples of
how you can include this second critique in order to have a polished, comprehensive
Evaluation Essay of your own.
In addition to addressing each of the evaluative components above, develop your essay so it
has a clear introduction, body, and conclusion. You must include an evaluative thesis
statement both the introduction and the conclusion. Ensure that each of your claims are
supported with valid evidence from the literary criticism you have chosen, the
novel, Frankenstein, and/or the study guides.
Using proper MLA2
style, insert parenthetical citations for all borrowed information in
addition to a Works Cited page for Frankenstein and your chosen literary critiques; you are
not required to cite the study guides if you use them.
Hint: For a thesis statement, try answering a question like: How and how well does this piece
of criticism state and support its argument regarding Frankenstein?
You might use these as possible guidelines in crafting your thesis statement:
(Critic, aka author of the critique) uses (add critic title) to (add an adjective to describe the
effectiveness of the argument such as “adequately” or “inadequately”) argue that (add critic’s thesis)
by (explain why and/or include your support).
OR
(Critic)’s (add critique title) (add an adjective to describe the effectiveness of the argument such as
“adequately” or “inadequately”) argue that (add critic’s thesis) because (explain why and/or include
your support).
More specific thesis examples:
John Smith uses “Frankenstein Critique Essay” to adequately argue that Victor’s mother created the
first monster by coddling Victor as a boy.
OR
2 Tip: Review the course topics for MLA resources. Failure to use MLA style will mean a point deduction. John Smith’s “Frankenstein Critique Essay” does not effectively argue that Victor’s mother created the
first monster because the novel Frankenstein too strongly supports inherent good or bad, which
means nurturing roles cannot be held responsible.
The guidelines for this assignment are as follows:
Length: This assignment should be at least 750 words.
Header: Include a header in the upper left-hand corner of your writing assignment with the
following information:
Your first and last name
Course Title (Composition II)
Assignment name (Evaluation Essay)
Current Date
Format:
MLA-style source documentation and Works Cited3
Your last name and page number in the upper-right corner of each page
Double-spacing throughout
Standard font (TimesNewRoman, Calibri)
Title, centered after heading
1” margins on all sides
Save the file using one of the Underline your thesis statement in the introductory paragraph.
Reminder: You need at least two critiques in addition to the novel in Works Cited in order to
receive the highest score. In other words, you need three sources total in cited in the essay and
on the Works Cited page in order to earn the maximum points in the corresponding column on
the grading rubric. Failure to meet the source minimum will result in a severe decrease in your
gradE
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