ENG 120 Cuyamaca College Novel Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf Essay

Project 3 is a chance for you to compose a literary analysis paper related to Virginia Woolf’s novel Mrs. Dalloway. After considering our class readings, discussions and the film The Hours, please select just ONE of the three choices below to write your paper.

This paper should be a minimum of three pages, four pages maximum, not including a Works Cited page. Be sure to follow MLA format, including paper heading, right page headers, double-spacing, in-text citations, and a Works Cited page.

Remember that your paper must include a clear THESIS statement that adequately responds to your writing prompt and makes an ARGUMENT, which you will develop and explain through the rest of your essay.

I expect you to provide at least two direct quotes from the novel.

Finally, be sure you understand the literary difference between theme and subject/topic. Subject is a topic that acts as a foundation for a literary work, while a theme is an opinion expressed on the subject. For example, a writer may choose a subject of war for his story, and the theme may be his personal opinion that war is a curse for humanity. Usually, it is up to the readers to explore the theme of a literary work by analyzing characters, plot, and other literary devices. To sum up, a theme is more than just a subject, but rather, an opinion expressed about a subject.

Please carefully review the grading rubric attached to this assignment to best meet the requirements and earn the highest grade possible.

Topic Choices (CHOOSE ONLY ONE)

1. When Clarissa reflects on Septimus’s death at the end of the novel, she experiences a moment of being, or an epiphany. What truth becomes clear to her, and why is it significant?

2. Motifs are recurring structures, contrasts, or literary devices that can help to develop and inform the text’s major themes. In Mrs. Dalloway, there are a variety of motifs used, including Time/Big Ben, Shakespeare, trees/flowers, and waves/water. Select a motif used by Woolf in this novel, and discuss its significance in the novel.

3. Consider some of parallel plot events, scenes, and moments in the film The Hours and the novel Mrs. Dalloway. What theme do both the film and novel have in common? How is this theme portrayed and developed?