How important are references in an English EE?

[Charlie99]

My EE is on English, and therefore is filled with opinions and observations. I have two references, one from a philosophy website and another from a literary article. I'm not sure as to whether to put in more references.

Something I think I should note is that I am analyzing the importance of empathy in the character change of a character. It's not something like feminism where I can just research on the historical context.

Thanks for all your help!

[Ruan Chun Xian]

First off, surely you have references to the book itself? You have to quote from the primary source materials otherwise you will not do well at all.

Second, the EE is a research essay. While to a certain extent, for literature you don't need as extensive material as, say, for History, but there is a whole section in the marking criteria on evidence of further research and referencing. So yes, you should have a fair amount of referencing. It's all well and good to have your own observations, but it might be worthwhile to research on the actual subject of empathy and character change, or see what other people have said about this subject in regard to this particular book.