English 316: The American Renaissance

Research Paper (20%)

You will write a literary analysis on one text, or two to three short stories or poems. You can analytically compare and contrast two or three shorter texts, or write a focused analysis on one. All essays should be thoughtful, organized, and well-written and should have a strong thesis statement. A thesis statement should offer an argument. You should locate passages in the text to support your thesis. The strongest proof of your argument will be quotes from the text, not your personal opinion. A strong analytical writer should work hard to connect evidence (quotes) with claim (analysis). For this paper, you must perform outside research and quote two scholarly sources on your text.

For this assignment, you may choose to take a more historical bent to your paper. You could research the time period and show how your text corresponds to its historical moment. For instance, you might research gender norms and develop a paper that shows how Stowe responds to these norms. Or, research abolition and show how Melville answers the class of the movement. Thus, your paper will consist of quotes and analysis from the text and quotes from historians and scholars that inform our understanding of the period and the text. You must have a thesis statement that describes your argument concerning the period/theme and text. You should quote two outside sources.

Here is a list of possible topics. If you choose something off this list, please see me, so we can discuss your ideas.

Literary Nationalism: exploring the relationship between critique and pride

Solitary man and woman in the wilderness, perhaps comparing Emerson to Douglass or Dickinson and how race and gender complicates or changes Emerson?s model

The relationship between the physical and the spiritual in any number of works

How do Whitman and Thoreau answer Emerson? How do they differ from him? What about Dickinson?

The depiction of nature in any number of our works

How do any of our authors respond to Emerson?s ?An American Scholar??

Relationship between Sentamentalism and Romanticism

Douglass as a Representative Man/Prophet,

Douglass? Careful Construction of Masculinity and/or Manhood: What is his formula for selfhood? How does he represent it? Is it particularly gendered?

Awakening: why does Douglass represent himself as experiencing awakening moments? What do these moments prove?

Sentimentality in Douglass and Brown: Can we read their works as sentimental? How does their use of sentimentality complicate notions of self-abnegation and power?

Critiquing the Cult of Domesticity in any of our texts: Does the work uphold traditional gender norms or subvert them?

Looking at the relationship between sentimentalism and romanticism: Can we see Whitman influenced by sentimentalism? What is Melville?s relationship to sentimentalism? How does Melville critique sentimentalism? What are the shortcomings of sentimentalism, according to him?

Minstrel figure

Abolition in Uncle Tom?s Cabin, Racialism in Uncle Tom?s Cabin, The Trouble with Black Masculinity in Uncle Tom?s Cabin, Women in Uncle Tom?s Cabin, Romanticism in Uncle Tom?s Cabin

What are the constraints on the author at this time and how does it show in his/her work?

How does the market affect an author?s work?

How does Whitman remain a Romantic even in his Civil War Poetry?

What are the differences between Melville, Dickinson and Whitman?s civil war poetry?

Some of the above are general and extremely broad topics and questions, and you should work hard to narrow your topic and to find an argument. You should not prove to me something obvious. For example, you would not need to prove that Whitman participates in literary nationalism. This is blatantly obvious. However, you could write an argument about Whitman?s use of literary nationalism and how it works to deliver a critique of class and race inequity. In other words, an argument is different from an obvious observation. An argument is an idea that you have to prove and it relies upon a careful and nuanced reading of a text. If you are interested in a topic that I have not listed, please see me. If you want to flush out your ideas, please see me. I want to help you.

You want to use scholarly sources. You will not be allowed to use wikipedia or other online encyclopedias. The better sources are books and journal articles and your grade will reflect the quality of your source. I urge you to consult Ebsco Host, ProQuest, and Academic Search Premier. Please see me if you need help using the library server. Make sure that you don?t just throw your quote into your paper with little thought. Rather, you want to show that you thought about it and it complements or challenges your ideas.

Criteria for Evaluation:
An excellent research will:

Have a proper introduction that goes from broad to specific. Your introduction should introduce to me the theme of your paper.

Contain a concise thesis, which lays out your argument and your evidence. A successful thesis must do both.

Contain clear paragraphs with topic sentences and concluding sentences. Your topic sentence cannot be a quote and should not be summary. Your topic sentence should refer back to your thesis. I have been trying to mark this on your homeworks.

Contain quotes and analysis that support your thesis. Your analysis should refer back to your thesis and the language and ideas in your thesis.

Each paragraph in your body should contain quotes, with the exception of the conclusion and introduction.

Your paragraphs should be between 5-10 sentences long.

End with a sound conclusion that summarizes and gestures in a new direction.

Have transitions between paragraphs.

Demonstrate clarity of structure and coherence of thought.

Be written in clear prose with correct grammar, word choice, sentence structure, spelling, and punctuation.

Cite every outside source. Your outside sources must be worked into your paper, not just thrown in there. You have to think about how your sources affect your argument
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