NOVELS

 

Allende             House of Spirits

Alvarez             How the Garcia Girls

Anaya              Bless Me, Ultima

Atwood            Handmaid’s Tale

Bronte, E.         Wuthering Heights

Bronte, C.        Jane Eyre

Burgess            Clockwork Orange

Defoe               Moll Flanders

Doctorow         Ragtime

Du Maurier       Rebecca

Golding            Lord of the Flies

Gordimer          July’s People

Hesse               Siddhartha

Hosseini           Kite Runner

Huxley              Brave New World

Joyce               Ulysses

Kosinski           Being There

Lahiri                The Namesake

Lawrence         Lady Chatterly’s Lover

Morrison          Beloved

Rodriguez         Always Running

Salinger            Catcher in the Rye

Shelley             Frankenstein

Shute                On the Beach

Steinbeck         Of Mice and Men

Twain               Huckleberry Finn

Voltaire            Candide

I.      Read a banned novel or play (see list).  Then write:

A.  Brief summary of plot (1 to 2 sentences)

B.  Description of setting(s)—Cite 1 or 2 quotes which put us there and then. 
      (With a play, this may come from the stage directions.)

C.  Discussion of each major character

1.  Physical description

2.  Personality

3.  An apt quote either from or about him/her

D.  Discussion of theme(s)

E.   Analysis of style—Cite 2 quotations and tell what each demonstrates about
      the author’s style.

II.      Research biographical and critical material on your author.

A.  Author’s life

1.   Significant dates/events (Keep this brief.)

2.   Events/ people who may/seem to have influenced his/her works

a.   People on whom fictional characters (composites, too) were based

b.   Situations from life recreated in fiction

c.    Themes in fiction which may have stemmed from life

3.   Conditions under which controversial material was             
      created/banned. 

B.  Literary criticism

1.   Read at least 2 critiques/reviews of works. Include a copy of one in       your completed project. Cite these in your bibliography.

2.   Search in particular for critical discussion of controversial material.

III.  Identification of material in the work that caused it to be banned

A.     Sex

B.     Religion

C.     Politics

D.     Racism

E.      Violence

F.      Other

 

After finishing your reading and research, complete your project:

Write an introduction, containing your thesis statement, which describes what you’ve set out to discuss and any preconceived notions you may have had about your author’s ideas and techniques or the situation in which s/he wrote. Write out your material on your author and the novel/play in paragraph form. Then write a conclusion, tying up what you’ve said and remarking on any conclusions to which you’ve come through your reading, your research into your author’s life and criticism of his/her works, and your research into why others found this work objectionable.

IV.  Bibliography (Works Cited)—Cite all print and Internet sources, using correct
       MLA format.