analyzing fairy tales

The Task: Write an argumentative essay supporting a complex claim about fairy tales using at least 2 class readings and 1 outside, credible source.

Format: 3-5 pages (800 words minimum, including your heading and title), double-spaced, 1-inch margins, 12-point Times New Roman font. Include a Works Cited page and in-text citations in MLA format.

Due: This essay will be due on Canvas by 11:59 p.m. on Sunday, February 23rd.

Our first sequence has prepared you to write an argumentative essay supporting a complex claim. In Short Assignment 1, we developed lines of inquiry (“locks”), and in Short Assignment 2, we created complex claims (“keys”) based on our critical reading of fairy tales. In Short Assignment 3, we practiced addressing counterarguments and concessions. For this assignment, we will be integrating and building off of these skills to support a complex claim by developing an argument in a longer essay. Your essay should incorporate all components of The Big 5, which we’ve talked about in class.

An argumentative essay is one of the most common writing assignments that you will encounter during your undergraduate career, and strong argumentation skills are essential for most academic writing, regardless of form or discipline. Because of this, you should think of this assignment as foundational for most of your future writing.

Your argument should emerge from and support a line of inquiry that is grounded in a surprising or controversial complex claim related to fairy tale. This topic is flexible, but your claim should be in some way linked to our course theme. If you have concerns about your topic, please feel free to discuss it with me. Some potential topics your argument could address:

One recurring image, character, or plot device and its function in multiple fairy tales.
One ATU “type” of fairy tale told in different versions across different cultures.
One fairy tale revised multiple times by the same author(s).
One or more fairy tales and their adaptations to new genres.
One or more fairy tales and their relation to a contemporary political/social issue.
The line of inquiry and complex claim you choose to expand upon and support can absolutely be taken from one of your Short Assignment 1”locks” or Short Assignment 2 “keys” Keep in mind, however, that a line of inquiry, or “lock,” must be further explored and developed into a complex claim, or “key,” before it can be used as the basis of your argumentative essay. Your Reading Journals might also prove useful in generating a complex claim for your essay. In fact, any of your previous work should be considered potential resources for this project. However, DO NOT simply copy and paste your previous writing together (I will notice if you do this). Use feedback and strategic metacognition to determine the portions of your writing that will be effective for supporting and developing your main claim. Please also feel free to deviate from your previous work, explore a new line of inquiry, and craft a new complex claim should you wish to do so. However, if you are planning to go in a new direction, speak to me about it in conferences first so that I can help you make that shift.