PAPER ASSIGNMENTS
Sep 22nd, 2010 by EKaufman
SECOND ESSAY
OPTION ONE:
In “How to Read,” Ezra Pound proclaims, “great literature is simply language charged with meaning to the utmost degree.” He also refers to the task of “literature” as “the art of getting meaning into words.”
For this option, you must pick one of the texts we’ve dealt with this semester and perform a close reading of it in which you investigate why this text qualifies as literature. What strikes you as important about the form language and meaning takes in this piece? What do you think this work of literature contributes to a larger world of writing?
Remember, a close reading does not involve outside research. You should think about a close reading as the act of holding up a magnifying glass to moments in the text at hand. You need to interpret, not summarize. You need to use textual evidence and analyze it. Your interpretation may have developed out of what we discussed in class or it may be something that we never mentioned; interpretations of things are not right or wrong–they are persuasive or not, depending on whether or not you can support your argument with textual evidence.
OPTION TWO:
In “Transforming Kafka’s Metamorphosis,” Nina Pelikan Strauss focuses her critical lens on the character of Grete and writes:
It is she who will ironically ”bloom” as her brother deteriorates; it is she whose mirror reflects women’s present situation as we attempt to critique patriarchal dominance in order to create new lives that avoid the replication of invalidation. We cannot read “Metamorphosis” with the sense that we “emerge unscathed, “and we write about Kafka with the suspicion that we are writing about “On Not Understanding Kafka.” I write this article, therefore, to share my suspicion that I have not hitherto understood Kafka and with the “commandment” Walter Benjamin finds intrinsic to approaching Kafka’s work: “Thou shalt not make unto thee a graven image.” Thou shalt not make Woman (in texts and in life) an icon whose images can remain fixed or dominated.
For this option, you need to focus on Strauss’ notion that “Thou shalt not make Woman (in texts and life) an icon whose images can remain fixed or dominated.” What do you think she means by this? Select one text we’ve read this semester and present a clear argument about the statement the text is trying to make about gender and/or a woman’s place in society.
ROUGH DRAFT DUE: Tuesday, November 23
(5-7 pages typed, bring 3 copies to class!!)
FINAL DRAFT DUE: Thursday, December 2 (5-7 pages typed)
***NO OUTSIDE RESEARCH IS NEEDED***
**I DO NOT ACCEPT PAPERS BY EMAIL**
WRITING THE ESSAY: Answering the questions above does not constitute an essay. Once you have thought through their implications, you should plan how to incorporate your ideas about them in a well-developed essay, as described below. Please feel free to consult with me at any point in this planning process, which is only the first step in writing an essay.
FORMAT FOR THESE PAPERS: You probably have learned to write essays in several paragraphs with introductions that lead to a thesis statement that you then justify by drawing specific examples to illustrate the truth of your thesis. I would like you to use that model for these papers. Please also make sure to give your paper a title.
Do not write the paper for the teacher; your audience is a hypothetical person who has read what you have read, but has not thought about it carefully. Your job is to teach that person what you have learned in thinking through the topic.
COVER LETTER: Each time you hand in an essay, you’ll attach a cover letter to the front. So, please write a letter, addressed to your readers, in which you answer the following questions and address any other concerns that you have. Think of your draft letter as an opportunity to share how you feel you have improved your paper. All cover letters should be typed and about one page long.
- What is your thesis? What are you hoping to achieve in this paper?
- What are some problems you faced when writing and how did you try to or succeed in resolving them?
- What idea or point do you feel you’ve made the most successfully? Least successfully?
- What grade do you think you deserve on this paper and why?
PLAGIARISM WARNING: THESE ARE NOT RESEARCH PAPERS AND THERE ARE NO SINGLE “RIGHT ANSWERS.” THESE ESSAYS SHOULD EXPRESS YOUR OWN EFFORTS TO UNDERSTAND THE TEXTS AND NOT SIMPLY REPRODUCE OTHER READERS’ (OR COMMERCIAL NOTES’) IDEAS. IF YOU DO CONSULT SECONDARY SOURCES, YOU MUST ACKNOWLEDGE THEIR HELP.
FIRST ESSAY
OPTION #1:
Voltaire, Candide
Selections from Monkey
Monkey is a pilgrim and, perhaps, so is Candide. They are both on the road, traveling toward a goal, and as they move from place to place, they encounter various adventures. As works of fantasy, comedy, and satire, Monkey and Candide make us laugh; at the same time, they explore serious questions about the function of government, the role and nature of different religious traditions, and the purpose of human existence. The books’ protagonists are in search of Enlightenment, but that word means different things in each text. In this paper, you are to compare and contrast some aspects of Monkey and Candide as fictional characters in order to define the kind of Enlightenment each one aspires to reach.
Some questions you might consider:
- How are we introduced to each character? What kind of personalities and abilities do they have?
- What do the characters need to learn or seek to find? How is their goal related to the idea of Enlightenment?
- Do the characters change in the course of their experiences? If so, what brings these changes about?
- Do they reach their goals? If so, is it because of their own efforts?
- By investigating the questions listed above, you should be able to formulate an opinion about the cultural assumptions that shape each text. Compare and contrast the values that emerge from a close examination of the protagonists and their experiences as they travel through life.
OPTION #2:
Swift, “A Modest Proposal”
Wordsworth, “The World is Too Much With Us”
Both Swift and Wordsworth propose completely different ways of thinking about and interpreting the (their) world. Most obviously, Swift opts to use satire in order to present his critique of the way Irish officials approached population and labor problems. William Wordsworth opts to use poetry, specifically the sonnet form, in order to delve into the way “we lay waste our powers.” In this paper, you need to pick either Swift or Wordsworth and really focus on examining how the form these writers chose to use impacts the work’s content. Make sure to do a careful close reading of the piece in order to help you to prove your ideas.
Some questions you might consider:
- How do these writers use tone or voice? Do you leave their respective pieces with any lingering feelings?
- Why would Swift choose satire? Why would Wordsworth choose a sonnet?
- How does the form of a piece of writing influence its content?
- What can a work of prose (or non-fiction) achieve that a poem can’t and vice versa?
DUE: Thursday, September 30 (3-5 pages, typed and double-spaced)
***NO OUTSIDE RESEARCH IS NEEDED***
**I DO NOT ACCEPT PAPERS BY EMAIL**
WRITING THE ESSAY: Answering the questions above does not constitute an essay. Once you have thought through their implications, you should plan how to incorporate your ideas about them in a well-developed essay, as described below. Please feel free to consult with me at any point in this planning process, which is only the first step in writing an essay.
FORMAT FOR THESE PAPERS: You probably have learned to write essays in several paragraphs with introductions that lead to a thesis statement that you then justify by drawing specific examples to illustrate the truth of your thesis. I would like you to use that model for these papers. Please also make sure to give your paper a title.
Do not write the paper for the teacher; your audience is a hypothetical person who has read what you have read, but has not thought about it carefully. Your job is to teach that person what you have learned in thinking through the topic.
COVER LETTER: Each time you hand in an essay, you’ll attach a cover letter to the front. For your First Essay Final Draft, please write a letter, addressed to your readers, in which you answer the following questions and address any other concerns that you have. Think of your draft letter as an opportunity to share how you feel you have improved your paper. All cover letters should be typed and about one page long.
- What is your thesis? What are you hoping to achieve in this paper?
- What are some problems you faced when writing and how did you try to or succeed in resolving them?
- What idea or point do you feel you’ve made the most successfully? Least successfully?
- Do you consider this draft to really be your “Final Draft?” Why?
- What grade do you think you deserve on this paper and why?
PLAGIARISM WARNING: THESE ARE NOT RESEARCH PAPERS AND THERE ARE NO SINGLE “RIGHT ANSWERS.” THESE ESSAYS SHOULD EXPRESS YOUR OWN EFFORTS TO UNDERSTAND THE TEXTS AND NOT SIMPLY REPRODUCE OTHER READERS’ (OR COMMERCIAL NOTES’) IDEAS. IF YOU DO CONSULT SECONDARY SOURCES, YOU MUST ACKNOWLEDGE THEIR HELP.