A minimum of two critical sources, one of which may be taken from our textbook The Longman Anthology of Detective Fiction.

For this assignment, you will write a four-page argumentative essay based upon one of the topics listed below. Your essay must include a contestable thesis, followed by substantive paragraphs that originate with focused, idea-driven topic sentences. To remind yourself how to arrive at a thesis statement (observation & abstraction) present that claim (CSC, claim,subject,claim), and organize your paragraphs (TAXES) please refer to our readings from Techniques of College Writing.
T.A.X.E.S MEANING ;
T.opic sentence- (a sentence that states the one point the paragraph will make)
Assertion statements- (statements that present your ideas)
eX.ample(s)- (specific passages, factual material, or concrete data)

E.xplanation- (commentary that shows how the examples support your assertions)
S.ignificance -(commentary that shows how the paragraph supports the thesis statement
Your paper should also include:
A minimum of two critical sources, one of which may be taken from our textbook The Longman Anthology of Detective Fiction.
A minimum of four full pages, Times New Roman 12 pt. font and a heading on page one. Please see OWL @ Perdue’s website for formatting instructions.
MLA format throughout: this includes proper quotation integration and a Works Cited page.
Texts/Authors you may choose to write about (no more than two):
Hammett
Chandler
Mosley (Devil in a Blue Dress)
Haywood
Grafton
Rozen
Paretsky
Maron
Sayers, Christie, or Marsh (stories under “Women Writing Men” unit)
Topic One:
At the end of most mysteries and/or suspense fiction that includes a femme fatale, these characters are under arrest, in jail, exiled, or dead. Why? Does this trope of the vanquished femme fatale disclose anything about both power and powerlessness in her character? Formulate a thesis about your interpretation of the role of the femme fatale in American culture and in your selected text(s) specifically. Are there any cultural anxieties, perhaps, that reflect our social codes or mores that animate the femme fatale’s actions and demise?
Topic Two:
Why do so many readers believe that the city is the natural setting for the Hardboiled? How does the genre address both the positive and negative aspects of the city? How does the Hardboiled located in the city change the relationship of the detective to crime, to others, to government structures? Does your Hardboiled detective give coherence to a decentered city through a unique ability to connect spaces within the city that are normally separated? If so, how and why? Or, does your author’s detective demonstrate an uncanny attachment to where s/he lives, and that intimate knowledge of the urban environment helps him/her resolve his/her cases?
Topic Three:
First, capture what you believe to be Raymond Chandler’s thesis or argument from the “Art of Murder.” Say this in one or two sentences (“The Art of Murder” can serve as one of your sources, should you select this topic). Then apply Chandler’s claim to a hardboiled story (or two) of your choosing. How do Chandler’s claims find purchase in these stories and why? Here are some suggestions for consideration: do the stories exemplify his argument? Undermine his claims? Corroborate and extend his thesis? Do your stories reconfigure/echo/deride, etc. Chandler’s argument? Do you see any surprises? Formulate your thesis, but do not neglect the “so what?” of it all. That is, do not merely identify that Chandler’s ideas are present; analyze their effects in your story and extend those ideas outward, toward culture and society.