ENGLISH 105 Essay Assignment #2

 

Length: 4-6 pages (that means NO LESS THAN 4 pages, please!  Three and one-half pages is not a four page paper.)  Please include a Works Cited list at the end of your paper; this list does not count toward your page minimum.

Due Date:  Friday, May 3rd, or Monday, May 6th, at 11:30 in class. 

Additional Details: Format your paper according to MLA standards; each paper should be typed (in a 10- or 12-point font), stapled together, double-spaced, with 1” margins on all sides and numbered pages.  Outside research is not necessary for this assignment.  Essays that are not carefully proofread (i.e. marred by careless “typos” and mechanical, grammatical, or spelling errors) will be returned to you without a grade, and you will not receive any credit for the assignment.  Turn in your rough draft with your final draft.  If you haven’t gone to the Writing Center yet to work with a tutor, you must do so on this paper or be docked one full letter grade.  If you go to the Writing Center for a second time, I will award you extra credit.  Call 341-4436 to make an appointment.

Weight: This essay is worth 15% of your final grade.

Goals:  This paper should be a thematic examination of TWO different writers that we’ve studied since your last paper was due; every author from Edgar Allan Poe onward are eligible.  I’d like you to choose a theme that you believe to be important in the works you’ve chosen, and write a comparative essay that first examines HOW each writer treats that particular theme, and then offers your interpretation regarding WHY this is so.  That is, why do you believe the authors made the decisions they made?  What were they trying to teach or demonstrate to their readers?

When I say theme, I’m talking about the big issues that underlie many of the stories we’ve read.  Here’s a short list of themes that will, I hope, get you thinking about possible fruitful topics:

 

The 19th century American character

Man’s relationship to nature

The role of science

Urban vs. rural life

Guilt and innocence

The role of government/politics in American life

Freedom

Education

Self-reliance

Individual dignity

Isolation/the need for human connection

Heroism—what makes a hero in 19th c. America, and why?

Gender roles and/or treatment of women in society

The quest for beauty

The role of the imagination

The role of religion

The importance of dealing with the past

Becoming a man/becoming a woman

Industrialization

The role of the individual in society

Love—what it means, what its limits are, the failure of love

Democracy and capitalism

 

 

Of course, there are dozens of other themes you might choose—this list is by no means comprehensive. 

Remember that your essay should be persuasive—that is, you need to generate a specific central claim, or THESIS STATEMENT, that must be proven or demonstrated.  Your essay should rely on your interpretation of the works, rather than straight historical or biographical facts.  One important key to doing well on this assignment is to engage with the texts you choose VERY CLOSELY.  Use quotations to back up your arguments, and then explain those quotations carefully and thoughtfully.  It’s easy to lapse into broad generalizations about love or human nature or whatever when you deal with thematic issues, so do be careful to resist this temptation.  Whatever assertions you make should always be supported by textual evidence. 

I will grade your essay according to the following criteria:  strength of thesis (making useful, relevant statements about those important thematic issues), insightfulness of interpretation (observing important things beneath the surface of the stories or essays), strength of argument (supporting your statements with research, logic, and examples from the text, and building those statements into a coherent essay), organization, and stylistic skill and grace.

If you have an idea for a different topic other than this comparative thematic study, please come talk to me or email me.  I am glad to approve alternative topics AS LONG AS YOU CHECK WITH ME FIRST.  And, as always, I am available any time to talk with you about your ideas, your drafts, or anything else you want to discuss.