Analysis of a 20^th Century American Novel

• Format: 6-8 pages, double spaced, 1-inch margins
• NO 1^st person
• All quotes must be properly cited using MLA format
• Works Cited page required
• Papers turned in late will receive an automatic letter-grade deduction
• Severely limit biographical information on the author— mention only what is relevant for this analysis
• No outside sources, other than the work itself, are required. However, you are welcome to use literary criticism if you find it helpful, provided that you cite your sources
• No pictures, illustrations, or any other frills whatsoever
• Formal language required—no casual comments

You may choose any of the novels below. You will read the novel, and write an analysis of some aspect of the novel itself. I will be happy to help you come up with a thesis once you have chosen a novel. As always, first drafts are greatly encouraged, and I will be happy to correct any and all drafts that you hand in to me ahead of time.

NOVELS: All of these novels should be fairly easy to find. I will be happy to loan any that I own, the school library will have many of them, the public library should have all of them, and as classics, they are still available in bookstores. If you have your heart set on a novel that is not listed, see me for approval.

The Age of Innocence Edith Wharton

All the King’s Men Robert Penn Warren

The Assistant Bernard Malamud

An American Tragedy Theodore Dreiser

As I Lay Dying William Faulkner

Beloved Toni Morrison

Black Boy Richard Wright

Bonfire of the Vanities Tom Wolfe

The Bridge of San Luis Rey Thornton Wilder

Catch-22 Joseph Heller

The Chosen Chaim Potok

The Color Purple Alice Walker

East of Eden John Steinbeck

Fahrenheit 451 Ray Bradbury

Farewell to Arms Ernest Hemingway

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas Hunter S. Thompson

The Fountainhead Ayn Rand

For Whom the Bell Tolls Ernest Hemingway

Go Tell it on the Mountain James Baldwin

The Grapes of Wrath John Steinbeck

The Heart is a Lonely Hunter Carson McCullers

Heart of Darkness Joseph Conrad

The Heart of the Matter Graham Greene

In Cold Blood Truman Capote

The Invisible Man Ralph Ellison

The Jungle Upton Sinclair

The Lilies of the Field William Barrett

Lolita Vladimir Nabokov

Look Homeward, Angel Thomas Wolfe

Main Street Sinclair Lewis

The Member of the Wedding Carson McCullers

My Antonia Willa Cather

The Naked and the Dead Norman Mailer

Native Son Richard Wright

On the Road Jack Kerouac

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest Ken Kesey

Portnoy’s Complaint Philip Roth

Portrait of a Lady Henry James

Rabbit, Run John Updike

Ragtime E. L. Doctorow

Sister Carrie Theodore Dreiser

Slaughterhouse-Five Kurt Vonnegut

Sometimes a Great Notion Ken Kesey

Song of Solomon Toni Morrison

Sophie’s Choice William Styron

The Sound and the Fury William Faulkner

Tender is the Night F. Scott Fitzgerald