Fight Club Research paper 8-10 Pages, includes Presentation & Annotated Bibliography Argument/Analysis: Fight Club and the Perversion of the American Dream
OVERVIEW
The novel Fight Club by Chuck Palahnuik raises many issues about modern American society. Themes it addresses include consumerism, materialism, success and opportunity, capitalism, conformity, fatherlessness, hypocrisy, and rebellion. The novel can be seen as a critique of what has become of the American Dream, the ever-increasing wealth gap, and the lack of critical thinking in our society. It can also be viewed as a psychological study of what happens when people become disillusioned with or are left out of capitalist, consumer-driven society.
In this volatile political and social climate we are currently living in, with our ever-increasing polarization and wealth gap, this novel offers us the opportunity to ask some key questions about what is becoming of our country and world, and to consider what direction we should be heading in.
For this essay you have many options for analyzing this work and what it implies. Choose one “lens” through which to view the novel and incorporate well-chosen evidence from the novel as well as credible research on that topic to support your thesis.
PROMPT/SUBTOPIC OPTIONS 1. Psychoanalytical Analysis. Analyze Fight Club in terms of Sigmund Freud’s theory of the Id, Ego, Super-ego, and Alter-ego. How does his theory help explain the actions and motivations of the narrator/Tyler, as well as the Space Monkeys and real-life Fight Club enthusiasts? Include in your analysis your interpretation of the cause(s) of the unconscious desires that drive the narrator to split, become Tyler Durden, and create Fight Club and Project Mayhem. 2. Consumerism, Capitalism, and Fight Club. Analyze the novel in terms of what it is saying about our consumer-based economy, materialistic society, and new definition of the American Dream. Your analysis should include our current definition of success and the opportunity to succeed or lack there of in America today, including the wealth gap and power of corporations, special interests, and billionaires. You might use some evidence from the preface to The Divide to support your thesis. http://www.democracynow.org/2014/4/14/read_matt_taibbi_on_the_divide
3. Fatherlessness and Fight Club. Analyze the novel in terms of what it is revealing about young men who grow up without fathers or male role models in their lives. Why are these men searching for saviors and where does all of the aggression come from? How does it apply to what is happening in real life today? What does it say about our values (throw-away mentality), social fabric, and education system?
4. The Real Terrorists: Corporate America or Project Mayhem? Analyze the novel in terms of the behavior and ethics of corporate America compared to the behavior and ethics of Project Mayhem. Who are the real terrorists? What is the motivation behind Project Mayhem? You might use some evidence from the preface to The Divide to support your thesis. http://www.democracynow.org/2014/4/14/read_matt_taibbi_on_the_divide
5. Perils of Obedience and Non-conformity. Analyze the novel in terms of what can happen when people blindly obey authority and what can happen when people are pushed too far and marginalized for too long. For example, the narrator conforms most of his life and one day he snaps. Why? Why do so many join Fight Club? You might use evidence from Stanley Milgram’s Perils of Obedience study and Mitsuye Yamada’s poem, “To the Lady” to support your thesis.
Remember, this is your opinion and the success of your essay depends upon how well you support it with reasoned analysis and well-chosen evidence.
You must include outside research in this essay: A minimum of three credible articles or books in addition to ample support from Fight Club. You may use anything I’ve posted on Profspace.
In this and all essays you should
· Open with something that hooks your readers
· Provide enough context (a brief summary) in the introduction to give us an overview of the issue—this may include introducing your texts and authors
· Write a clear and forceful thesis statement that answers the prompt
· Use enough well-chosen support to illustrate your points
· Make sure all quotes or paraphrases have signal phrases and are in “quote sandwiches” with proper MLA in-text citation
· Add appropriate transitions between ideas within paragraphs and to connect your points between paragraphs
· Conclude with a summary of your analysis and make a final point (kairos)
· Carefully proofread for spelling, grammar, and format errors before submitting the Final Draft
· Create a catchy title, as it’s the first way to hook your reader
The essay must be 8-10pages and in MLA format (double-spaced), with a separate Works Cited page. The Final Draft will be turned in via turnitin.com before midnight of the due date. The rough draft should be printed and brought to class on the due date for peer review.
Annotated Bibliography
DIRECTIONS An annotated bibliography is a Works Cited page with a paragraph or two that summarize the text and analyze or evaluate it in some way. Professors can ask for different types of annotations but for this assignment you will include a summary of the text and a brief description of how you will use it, so you will write one paragraph for each citation.
You need a minimum of three SECONDARY sources for this bibliography, plus the PRIMARY text.
For the final draft of your research paper, simply remove the annotations from the Annotated Bibliography, change the title to Works Cited, add any other sources you cite from, and your Works Cited page is finished. Remember, only list texts that you actually cited from. Listing sources you don’t use is considered academic dishonesty. And never cite or use Wikipedia—it is not credible.
“Works Cited” simply means listing all of the “works” or sources that you cited (used) in your essay to support your thesis. They should be listed in alphabetical order by author’s last name or title if there is no author, and reverse (also know as hanging) indented.
Depending on the type of source it is—article, book, video, photograph, website, etc.—the exact format and order of information listed will vary. If you are using the ELAC databases, most citations can be automatically generated. If you are citing from a website, you can copy and paste the URL into easybib.com and generate the citation. If it is another source, look up how to cite it at: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/
