Core Objective Assessment
ENGL 2341 Forms of Literature Signature Assignment
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I. Title and Number of Course: ENGL 2341 Forms of Literature
II. Title of Assignment: Literary Period Paper
III. Foundational Component Area: Language, Philosophy, and Culture
IV. SLOs assessed in this assignment:
1. Identify key ideas, representative authors and works, significant historical or cultural
events, and characteristic perspectives or attitudes expressed in the literature of
different periods or regions.
2. Analyze literary works as expressions of individual or communal values within the
social, political, cultural, or religious contexts of different literary periods.
3. Demonstrate knowledge of the development of characteristic forms or styles of
expression during different historical periods or in different regions.
4. Articulate the aesthetic principles that guide the scope and variety of works in the arts
and humanities.
5. Write research-based critical papers about the assigned readings in clear and
grammatically correct prose, using various critical approaches to literature.
V. Core Objectives assessed in this assignment:
A. Critical Thinking: To include creative thinking, innovation, inquiry and analysis,
evaluation, and synthesis of information
B. Communication: To include the effective development, interpretation, and expression
of ideas through written communication
C. Personal Responsibility: To include the ability to connect choices, actions, and
consequences to ethical decision-making
D. Social Responsibility: To include intercultural competence, knowledge of civic
responsibility, and the ability to engage effectively in regional, national, and global
communities
VI. Description of Assignment:
Literary Period Paper
For this signature assignment, each student will write a research-based essay about a literary
period (to include literary movements).*
The Literary Period Paper will include the following:
⮚ Optional Topic Proposal (Not Assessed):
● Professors may elect to require a topic proposal for this assignment, including
any of the following: the chosen literary period, two chosen works which
represent the period (preferably from different geographical regions), a list of
potential research keywords and/or databases, a working outline, and/or a
brief summary of why the student is interested in this literary period.
● Unless otherwise noted by the professor, students should only choose periods
and works which were read in class.*
⮚ Research Essay
For the research essay, each student will select a literary period that was addressed in
class* and research the causes, key concepts, and writing styles of that period. (SLO 5)
Each student’s paper should:
1) Section 1: Historical and cultural background of the period.
■ Briefly describe the causes or origins of the chosen literary period,
including significant historical and cultural events that led to the period.
Essentially, what brought about or sparked the period? How did historical
or cultural events at the time influence writers? (SLO 1, SLO 3)
2) Section 2: Summary of period values and characteristics.
■ Briefly describe the chosen period overall, including its key ideas,* core
values* (social, moral, political, spiritual, etc.), and aesthetic principles*
(including but not limited to: the period’s common themes, subject matter,
new writing techniques, and preferred forms or styles). Essentially, what is
this period “all about”? What are the defining characteristics of this
period’s writing? How did these defining characteristics develop?
Students should connect their description of the period’s characteristics to
the historical background above. (SLO 1, 3, 4)
3) Section 3: Argue that two works of literature are valid examples of the period.
■ Select two works from the chosen literary period, ensuring that each work
is written by a different author.+ Then provide a clear, well-developed
argument demonstrating how both works are representative of the
period by analyzing how the literatures’ specific forms or styles match the
values and principles of the chosen period.* This should be the longest
section of the paper. (SLO 2)
+ Unless the professor states otherwise, all works should come
from assigned class readings.* Where possible, the two chosen
authors should come from different geographical regions.
■ Example: A student writing about Regionalism might argue that William
Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily” is representative of the Regionalist
Movement because it uses dialect to convey an authentic Southern voice;
depicting regional cultures as realistically as possible was a primary
principle of Regionalism.
■ The student should provide and analyze specific examples (direct quotes
or paraphrasing) from their chosen works of literature to support their
argument.
The goal of the assignment is to demonstrate understanding of the ways literary periods
shape literature and act as vehicles for expressing artistic, political, social, or religious
values.
⮚ Rough Draft and Sources
● To include a significantly developed rough draft of the essay, with a minimum
of two primary and two secondary scholarly sources.*
⮚ Final Essay (900-1100)* with Works Cited
● The MLA style final essay must include the following:
1. Description of the chosen period’s historical and cultural background.
2. Description of the chosen period’s values and defining characteristics.
3. Argue that two selected works are representative of the chosen
period’s values.
4. A minimum of two primary and two secondary scholarly sources.*
5. A Works Cited page including all appropriate MLA citations.
VII. Assessment of Core Objectives:
This assignment will be assessed using the attached Literary Period Paper Rubric.