English Literature - NEA coursework

when i was doing my nea i'd come up with my own points and research critics on the specific topic of my text- sometimes i'd use them to form the basis of my own points or you can find a critics quote that you may disagree with and argue against this. it takes a bit of practice and rewriting to integrate them smoothly into the essay.

You can apply a theory more generally, e.g. feminist theory posits that men and women occupy different roles and spaces within society (you could cite something like Literary Theory by Terry Eagleton). Alternatively, you could refer to a specific critic’s ideas e.g. Mary Ellmann discusses a range of antifeminist stereotypes in her book, Thinking About Women.

The key thing is that the criticism you include should clearly be linked to your analysis rather than bolted on or shoehorned in.

You can access literary criticism using databases like JSTOR (if you are lucky enough to have access; I think there is also an option to access a few articles for free), newspaper reviews (particularly The Guardian), Google Scholar, and books like ‘Readers’ Guides to Essential Criticism’ (these contain a series of essays on the same text).

I have copied a paragraph from coursework I completed at school (a long time ago!). I hope that it gives you an idea of how to embed critics.

The idea of challenging rigid practices and perceptions of patriarchy, evident in Theseus and Hippolyta’s lack of respect for fatherly interference, can also be seen in the character of Blanche. Blanche challenges ideas of female subordination and conformity to popular 1940s American opinions on what was ‘desirable’. Clum labels Blanche as a “crypto-gay character” (Queer Theory as Lens, 2013, p.89) : her attempt to assimilate into a culture that looked down upon unmarried older women, through performance in a bid to conceal her age, is symbolic of the suppression of homosexual desires in an era that punished non-conformists. When Mitch “tears the paper lantern off the light bulb” he is metaphorically exposing Blanche’s real identity, concealed beneath a fragile and weak layer of “paper.” This concept of concealment is seen throughout the play with the action of “[putting] on soft colours, the colours of butterfly wings” suggesting that Blanche has been in costume throughout, an idea reinforced through the juxtaposition of “butterfly wings” to her white clothes in scene one that liken her to a “moth.” The stark contrast between a “butterfly,” that connotes beauty and a spectrum of colour, and a “moth,” which can be interpreted as an inferior butterfly, serves to identify Blanche’s fragmented identity. While Blanche puts on butterfly wings, she represents what was viewed as the undesirable sector of society in 1940s America: unmarried and lacking the beauty and elegance of a butterfly, Blanche challenges the view that women should be married and domesticated.

Thank you!!

Thank you very much!!