reveal at least three elements of the poem or story that are true about the time/culture the literary work was written in, and/or something that is autobiographical about the author that was included in the fictional story. 

Im going to demonstrate this using an example from the book The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros. The House on Mango Street is a coming of age story about a poor young Hispanic girl. Some elements I might research and write about would be: 1. The fact that at one point the author was a poor Hispanic girl and investigate any and all autobiographical elements that appeared in the novel 2. I might research the time, place and culture where the novel takes place and point out any parallels between the fictional world in Cisneros book and the actual world that it is based upon. 3. I might research the over arching themes of the book to see if these issues were of significance to the time/place/culture that the book is based upon.

Remember that in academic writing, you must write in 3rd person. If you turn in a paper written in first person, major point deductions will be taken from your grade. Also, know that I expect 5 to 7 full pages. This means that in order to meet the page requirement there will need to be something written on the last available line of the 5th page.  Finally be mindful of your grammar, spelling, punctuation, etc. This can be an easy way to lose points fast.  I will be looking for the following as I grade your paper:

An introduction (20 pts)
A strong thesis statement (10 points)

A body covering the following: Three thoroughly researched aspects of the poem/story that are based on reality in either the authors life or the time/culture/place of which the poem/story is based.  (50 pts for content quality and organization)

A conclusion with a restatement of the thesis (20 pts)