Book Analysis: The Fugitive
DUE DATES
You must have a complete draft ready for editing in class on Fri. October 14, and the final draft is due in class on Monday, October 17. You will turn in your rough draft, final draft and two editing sheets to me at that time.
LENGTH SPECIFICATIONS
The paper must be three to five pages in length with one inch margins all around, typed, double-spaced, with font similar to the one in this assignment sheet (Times New Roman 12pt or Courier 12pt). If your paper is not AT LEAST THREE FULL PAGES or does not meet margin and font specifications you will receive a grade no higher than a D, as some of you have already found out. If you do not know how to set these, bring the disk in to me and I will show you.
ASSIGNMENT
You have read an Indonesian novel from the 1950s, a period of
turmoil in Indonesian history. Consider the following questions:
What
historical events in Indonesia does the novel depict? How does
it depict Indonesian life and the colonial system? What message is
Pramoedya trying to send Indonesians? What characteristics do the main
characters display
that typify Indonesian culture/Southeast Asian culture/colonial rule?
Why would the author face political persecution for his writing? How do
the writing style, motifs and language reflect Indonesian culture and
help reinforce Pramoedya's message? Giving some consideration to each
of these questions but picking two or three as your main focus, write a
literary analysis of Pramoedya's The Fugitive.
Novels are really primary documents as much as newspapers and
diaries.
Even if they relate fictional events, we can often tell from the way
these
events are related what the author was thinking. From there we can
extrapolate
attitudes that were likely shared by the readers.
In order to place the novel in context you can use any source we have covered in class, including lecture notes, discussion notes, and class readings. However, since this paper is a book analysis, concentrate mainly on the book itself. I do not want you to use outside sources. Since this is an analysis and not a review, you can reveal the ending. Don't assume that your reader has read the novel, but don't get caught up in telling the story either.
CITATIONS
Give an abbreviated title and page or episode numbers in parentheses AFTER each example, i.e. (Southeast Asia, 65-72) or (Fugitive, 76-93, 107). Giving an example does not necessarily mean quoting directly from the book, but even if you do not quote directly you must give page numbers for where you got the information. Do NOT say "On page 43 of The Fugitive Pramoedya alludes to the brutality of the Japanese prisoner of war camps " or "In chapter 10 of The Fugitive Pramoedya shows us that Indonesians resented civil servants" a Instead say "Pramoedya alludes to the brutality of the Japanese prisoner of war camps. (Fugitive, 43)" or "Pramoedya shows that Indonesians resented civil servants. (The Fugitive, 300-330)" You need not cite after every sentence unless you use a direct quote from the book.
WHEN DO I USE A QUOTE? GUIDELINES FOR QUOTING FROM THE BOOKS
Paraphrase (put in your own words) as much as possible. You should only quote a particular passage from the book that you cannot put into your own words. There is no need to quote descriptions of people, places, or events, you can describe these things in your own words. In short, your paper should not be a cut and paste job from the book itself.
IMPORTANT NOTE ON PLAGIARISM: READ THIS CAREFULLY
If you are quoting directly from the readings or any other source you must put the quote in quotation marks. Failure to do so counts as plagiarism. You must give page numbers for any information you get from the reading, whether quoted directly or paraphrased, unless it is general knowledge such as "Elvis was a Rock and Roll star" or "The Cold War was between the United States and the Soviet Union." Again, if you do not acknowledge that you got the information from one of the readings you are denying the author credit for his or her research, and committing plagiarism. A good test of whether or not something is general knowledge is if you knew it yourself before reading the assignments, or if your roommate knew it.
LANGUAGE AND TONE
Avoid the use of contractions (don't, wouldn't, wasn't), slang or jargon, and the use of "I" or "the author of this paper." In other words, state your ideas as facts you are trying to prove rather than "I thinks." in other words, instead of saying "In my opinion social conformity was the most prevalent Indonesian cultural trait," say "Social conformity was the most prevalent Indonesian cultural trait" and then prove it with your essay.
Divide your essay into paragraphs of roughly equal lengths, with each paragraph discussing separate topics. Avoid using words you do not understand. Write simply and clearly in your own words as if you were explaining the readings to someone out loud.