ENGL 2132 Turnitin class ID: 3399268
Prof. Bishop Password:
franklin
Fall 2010
Essay #1
Objective: For this essay students will
demonstrate their understanding of the periods known as Romanticism, Realism,
& Naturalism, as well as their ability to synthesize ideas across those
periods.
Guidelines: Write a well-developed
essay of at least 1,000 words that addresses one of the following topics:
a) Write
an essay that explores one of the eight primary characteristics of Romanticism
as it develops through two or three of the texts covered in class. Make sure
you focus on small instances of these ideas and articulate how and why they
appear in the manner they do. Be specific and explain your ideas thoroughly.
b) Write
an essay that explores the development of ÒAmericanÓ characteristics as they
develop through two or three of the texts covered in class. Make sure you focus
on small instances of these ideas and articulate how and why they appear in the
manner they do. Be specific and explain your ideas thoroughly.
c) Write
an essay that attempts to explain why authors such as Crevecoeur, Franklin,
Mann (by proxy Cooper), Emerson, Whitman, and Melville focused on such similar
(or differing) traits of American-ness. Make sure you
focus on small instances of these ideas and articulate how and why they appear
in the manner they do. Be specific and explain your ideas thoroughly.
d) How
do later authors, such as Emerson, Whitman, and Melville, reject the tidy
assumptions and advice offered by earlier writers such as Crevecoeur and
Franklin? Make sure you focus on small instances of these ideas and articulate
how and why they appear in the manner they do. Be specific and explain your
ideas thoroughly.
e)
How does the American self develop
through two or three of the texts? Do you see a direct lineage from one text to
another? Why might this development be important in terms of ÒsellingÓ the idea
of America. Make sure you focus on small instances of
these ideas and articulate how and why they appear in the manner they do. Be
specific and explain your ideas thoroughly.
f)
The Romantics were very much idealists,
in a lot of ways. Discuss the use of idealism in two texts from class
discussions, including Franklin and Crevecoeur even though they predate the
period. Argue why this idealism is present and persistent. Use specific
evidence from the text to make your argument.
g)
Realists are often very much concerned
with the consequences of actions, specifically consequences that are not ideal.
Explain how Twain demonstrates this in Huck Finn and why this would be of
importance to people writing in a post-Civil War America.
h)
Kate ChopinÕs The Awakening is a piece that is sometimes difficult to categorize.
Make an argument about which period ChopinÕs story seems to fit, and theorize
why this is significant. Use specific evidence from the text to make your
argument.
i)
Make an argument about how ChopinÕs
story uses conventions or concepts of Naturalism to convey a larger significance
about the lives of women in America in the late 19th century. Do not
claim that Chopin had a bad marriage.
j)
Make an argument about how any of the works
discussed in class by Twain, Chopin, or James are embodying Romantic traits to
communicate post-Romantic sentiments; more importantly, theorize why these
conventions are being used and what the results are. Use specific evidence from
the text to make your argument.
k)
Make an argument about the use of
ÒcommonÓ events and characters in these periods and why this is significant.
Use specific evidence from the text to make your argument.
l)
Explain how Edna and Hawkeye are
characters cut from the same cloth and why this is significant to the
development of an American literature. Use specific evidence from the text to
make your argument.
m) Make
an argument that JamesÕ Daisy Miller
is a Romantic, a Realist, or a Naturalist text. Be specific in your assertions;
use the primary characteristics of the period you think best addresses the
text. Ultimately, you want to argue how and why it fits into a specific period.
Be specific in your textual evidence.
n) Consider
the similarities between two of the texts covered in class and make an argument
about the use of specific characteristics from one of the periods discussed in
class. Be specific in your assertions; use the primary characteristics of the
period you think best addresses the text. Ultimately, you want to argue how and
why it fits into a specific period. Be specific in your textual evidence.
o) Discuss
one of the American traits, as developed in the first part of the term, and how
that trait gets passed on to the writers of Realism and/or Naturalism. Be
specific in your assertions; use the primary American traits you think are best
addressed in the text. Ultimately, you want to argue how and why this trait
appears and is used. Be specific in your textual evidence.
p)
Focus on the treatment of women in the
works of Chopin and James and make an argument about cultural expectations of
women in the texts. What might the authors be suggesting about American culture
and our treatment of women? Be specific in your evidence;
argue how and why these representations occur.
q)
Devise a topic of your choosing to
submit for Prof. BishopÕs approval.
Additional notes:
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No outside sources may be used. You may
use your book and any handouts on the website. No other sources will be
accepted. Any essay that uses outside sources will fail and will violate the
Academic Integrity Policy of this course. If you have taken notes in class, you
have plenty of material with which to work. If you have not taken notesÉ
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The essay will be graded using the
class Rubric available on the website.
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The essay must adhere to MLA formatting
and guidelines for essays.