SECOND ESSAY
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.
ROUGH DRAFT DUE: Tuesday, November 27
(5-7 pages, typed and double-spaced)
FINAL DRAFT DUE: Tuesday, December 4
(5-7 pages typed, please hand in all prior drafts along with final draft)
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”
Wollstonecraft, from A Vindication of the Rights of Woman
Pope, “An Essay on Man”
Swift, Wollstonecraft, and Pope 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. Wollstonecraft opts for almost legalistic prose to examine the inequalities women were subjected to. Pope turns to verse in order to compose what he considered to be “the centerpiece of a proposed system of ethics.”
In this paper, you need to pick either Swift, Wollstonecraft, or Pope 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 Wollstonecraft opt for the essay? What draws Pope to the long (epic) poem?
- 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?
ROUGH DRAFT DUE: Thursday, September 27
(3-5 pages, typed and double-spaced, bring 3 copies to class)
FINAL DRAFT DUE: Thursday, October 4
(3-5 pages typed, please hand in all prior drafts along with final draft)
***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.