Graded Assignment Honors Project 3: The Catcher in the Rye Honors Project Overview This document provides an overview of the tasks and time line for completing this assignment. Assignment Instructions Read The Catcher in the Rye and take notes and answer the questions in the Reading Guide provided. When you have completed the novel, you will complete three assignments for this project. First you will submit a working thesis statement and supporting evidence for this thesis statement from the text. You will then find relevant literary criticism that you may use to support your thesis statement and submit a summary of these criticisms to your teacher. Finally, you will write an essay in which you defend a valid thesis statement using specific examples from the text of J.D. Salinger's novel and citations from at least two pieces of literary criticism. Process You should always use a process for your writing that includes planning and drafting. To complete this assignment, you will do the following: • • • • • • Review the assignment instructions and grading criteria thoroughly. The writing assignment you complete in this unit will be graded against a rubric that assesses the essay in the following five categories: purpose; ideas and content; structure and organization; language, word choice, and style; and sentences and mechanics. o Read the rubric at the end of this document. Keep the criteria listed on the rubric in mind as you complete the writing assignment. o Write in standard formal English, and use the third person and the present tense. This essay is a literary analysis, and your ideas should be expressed objectively and be supported with evidence from the novel. Avoid sentences that begin with “I think” or “I feel.” Complete a plan for your essay that includes a thesis statement and textual support for it. You will submit the completed plan for a grade. Identify several pieces of literary criticism that you may use to support your thesis statement. Turn in a summary of the ideas in these pieces of literary criticism for a grade. Begin drafting your paper, using your plan and your notes on works of literary criticism as a guide. Review and revise your first draft. You should try to have another person read your work and give you feedback as part of your revision process. Write the final draft of your literary analysis essay and submit it to your teacher. Grading/Point Values Analyze The Catcher in the Rye Point Value: 50 Identify Literary Criticism Point Value: 50 Literary Analysis Essay Point Value: 200 Required Final Draft Length Pages: 3–5 Word Count: 900–1,500 Honors Project Grading Rubric: Evaluate student essays on the basis of the rubric below Criterion 5 Purpose The literary essay fulfills its purpose of analyzing the characters, themes, symbols, and/or images of this novel. This purpose is clearly articulated in a valid thesis statement. Ideas and Content The literary essay contains insightful analysis of the characters, themes, symbols, or imagery of this novel. The writer incorporates relevant literary criticism to support his or her original analysis. The writer explains the connections between the evidence and the thesis. Structure and Organization The essay has a clear introduction, body, and conclusion. The essay identifies the title of the novel and the name of the author, presents a thesis in the introductory paragraph, and ends with a concluding paragraph that summarizes the main points or restates the thesis of the essay. The body of the essay contains paragraphs that support the essay's thesis. The essay consistently follows an organizational pattern such as order of importance or a chronological progression through the novel. Transitions are well placed and make meaningful connections between ideas and paragraphs. Language, Word Choice, and Style The writer uses effective, compelling language to express key ideas. He or she considers purpose, audience, and tone in language and word choice. The essay uses present tense when referring to the novel. The essay incorporates literary terms and contains no colloquialisms or slang expressions. The essay is written in the third-person point of view without first-person expressions of opinion. The literary essay is written in a formal style. Graded Assignment ENG304B: Honors American Literature | Honors Project 3 | Lesson 2: Analyze the Text Name: Madi Miranda Date: April 5, 2019 Graded Assignment Analyze The Catcher in the Rye After you have read The Catcher in the Rye and completed the Reading Guide, answer the questions below to analyze the text and develop a thesis statement for your honors project essay. As you answer the questions, remember that a proper thesis statement must make an assertion about some element of a work of literature and that the novel must contain textual evidence to support or prove or defend that assertion. (10 points) Score 1. The first step in developing a thesis statement is to identify a topic or subject. Literary analysis essays can be written about any number of elements, or aspects, in a literary work— its characters, its settings, its events, its language, its images, its themes, or its symbols. The subject of your literary analysis essay should be something that is prominent in the novel, not something that is minor or of little importance. Example: A literary analysis essay on The Great Gatsby might focus on the message that F. Scott Fitzgerald conveys about the adverse effects of wealth on the novel's characters. What topic or subject in The Catcher in the Rye would you like to write about in your literary analysis? Explain why you think that this topic is appropriate for a literary analysis essay. Answer: Holden Caulfield has some mental illness. He is undergoing treatment of the illness in a psychiatric hospital or sanatorium. His condition affects his relationships and encounters with other characters in the novel. As such, it is only fair to write about mental illness as the main topic in the essay. (10 points) 2. Next consider the purpose of your essay. The purpose is what you intend to show or prove about the subject you have chosen. An essay about one of the symbols in a novel might be written to identify and explain that symbol's meaning. An essay about a character in a novel might be written to explain how he or she changes and grows over the course of a work. Score Example: The purpose of an essay about the adverse effects of wealth on the characters in The Great Gatsby might be to show that wealth is not a source of happiness or contentment for people, but actually harms those who pursue and obtain it. © 2009 K12 Inc. All rights reserved. Copying or distributing without K12’s written consent is prohibited. Page 1 of 3 Graded Assignment ENG304B: Honors American Literature | Honors Project 3 | Lesson 2: Analyze the Text What do you plan to show or prove about your subject? Answer: Holden is affected by his illness. Some of the effects Holden faced include his low grades have led to his fourth expulsion from school, he fell out with his roommate, he falls out with all his sexual/personal conquests, he is mistreated by so many people in the story. People are not aware of his condition. Therefore, the main purpose of the analysis essay would be to show and prove the negative effects of mental health issues on the patient, in terms of their participation in society. The essay would show how these people are mistreated and stigmatized in society because they are misunderstood. (15 points) 3. Now consider the role that textual evidence will play in your essay. Textual evidence includes details, quotations, and descriptions from the novel. A writer will incorporate or cite textual evidence to support the assertion he or she makes about the essay's subject in the thesis statement. Score Example: If one were writing an essay about the adverse effects of wealth on the characters in The Great Gatsby, one might cite details, quotations, and descriptions about the unhappy marriage of Tom and Daisy Buchanan, the failure of Gatsby to win Daisy over, and the death of Gatsby to support one's assertion. Describe at least three specific pieces of textual evidence from The Catcher in the Rye that you will use to support the assertion you will make about your subject. If you cannot find several pieces of textual evidence that can be used to support your assertion, consider changing your subject or the assertion you plan to make. Answer: To demonstrate Holden’s apparent difficulty is fitting in and forming relationships with the people around him, I would cite the two instances where cab drivers become angry and irked by his genuinely curious question of where the ducks in Central Park go when the lagoon freezes. ”I was wondering, where the ducks went when the lagoon got all icy, and frozen over. I wondered if some guy came in a truck and took them away to a zoo or something. Or if they just flew away” (Salinger page 18). Also, I would cite his experience with Spencer, his elderly history teacher. “Do you blame me for flunking you boy? he said. No sir! I certainly don’t, I said. I wished to hell he’d stop calling me “boy” all the time” (Salinger page 17). Holden’s teacher tries to scold him for failing his classes without understanding his condition. Also, I would cite his last experience with Stradlater, who is dating his ex- © 2009 K12 Inc. All rights reserved. Copying or distributing without K12’s written consent is prohibited. Page 2 of 3 Graded Assignment ENG304B: Honors American Literature | Honors Project 3 | Lesson 2: Analyze the Text girlfriend and with whom Holden tries to fight because of his relationship with his ex and eventually loses. “I kept thinking about Jane, and about Stradlater, having a date with her, and all. It made me so nervous, I nearly went crazy” (Salinger pages 44, 45). These three experiences demonstrate the effects of mental health on relationships, as told through Holden’s experience. (15 points) 4. Finally, you are ready to compose a thesis statement for your literary essay. Your thesis statement should focus on a specific subject, make a claim or an assertion about that subject, and briefly state a conclusion that you have drawn about the subject based on textual evidence that you plan to include. Score Example: A suitable thesis statement for a literary essay on The Great Gatsby might read as follows: "Through his depictions of the failures and the death of Jay Gatsby and the discontent felt by the Buchanans in The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald shows readers that wealth is no substitute for true happiness but is instead a corrupting influence in the lives of these characters." Look at your answers to the first three questions above and then combine them into a single thesis statement. Answer: Through the escapades of mentally challenged Holden in J.D. Salinger’s “The Catcher in The Rye,” we are shown the adverse psychological effects of mental illnesses on people suffering from such illnesses, due to the mistreatment and stigmatization that befalls people with mental illness, and the difficulty people have fitting in with society. Your Score © 2009 K12 Inc. All rights reserved. Copying or distributing without K12’s written consent is prohibited. ___ of 50 Page 3 of 3 Graded Assignment ENG304B: Honors American Literature | Honors Project 1–4 | Lesson 3: Identify Literary Criticism Name: Madi Miranda Date: April 18, 2019 Graded Assignment Identify Literary Criticism After you have developed a working thesis statement for your honors project essay, go to your local library and locate relevant works of literary criticism that support your thesis statement. Provide the bibliographic information and a brief summary of at least two pieces of literary criticism that you find in the spaces provided below. For each work, also include ideas and quotations that could be used to support your thesis statement. Your Thesis: Through the escapades of mentally challenged Holden in J.D. Salinger’s “The Catcher in The Rye,” we are shown the adverse psychological effects of mental illnesses on people suffering from such illnesses, due to the mistreatment and stigmatization that befalls people with mental illness, and the difficulty people have fitting in with society. (25 points) 1. Source 1 Score Bibliographic information: Baumbach, Jonathan. "The Saint As A Young Man A Reappraisal Of The Catcher In The Rye". Modern Language Quarterly, vol 25, no. 4, 2011, pp. 461-472. Duke University Press, doi:10.1215/00267929-25-4-461. Summary of the criticism: The article is an analysis of the novel. It generally talks about Holden’s experiences in the novel, as well as the effect the same had on him and the reactions people around Holden should have demonstrated, instead of mistreating him. © 2009 K12 Inc. All rights reserved. Copying or distributing without K12’s written consent is prohibited. Page 1 of 3 Graded Assignment ENG304B: Honors American Literature | Honors Project 1–4 | Lesson 3: Identify Literary Criticism Ideas and quotations that support your thesis: The article describes how “Holden’s seeks out Antolini because he hopes Antolini can be a substitute father” (page 463). However, they eventually fall out because Antonini does not understand his condition. (25 points) 2. Source 2 Score Bibliographic information: Yahya, Wan Roselezam Wan, and Ruzbeh Babaee. "Salinger’s Depiction Of Trauma In The Catcher In The Rye". Theory And Practice In Language Studies, vol 4, no. 9, 2014. Academy Publication, doi:10.4304/tpls.4.9.1825-1828. Accessed 8 Apr 2019. Summary of the criticism: This article refers to the condition Holden is faced with as “trauma”. The authors of the article try to explain the psychological effects of war, through Holden’s situation. Ideas and quotations that support your thesis: The article directly states how the novel is a “depiction of trauma for many adolescents and young readers” (page 1825). © 2009 K12 Inc. All rights reserved. Copying or distributing without K12’s written consent is prohibited. Page 2 of 3 Graded Assignment ENG304B: Honors American Literature | Honors Project 1–4 | Lesson 3: Identify Literary Criticism Your Score © 2009 K12 Inc. All rights reserved. Copying or distributing without K12’s written consent is prohibited. ___ of 50 Page 3 of 3 
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