Essay #2 (Due December 11 by noon)

Your second essay for this course is a chance for you to write on a topic of your choosing that deals with antebellum literature. This assignment does not require research, though you may bring in secondary sources or contextual materials where appropriate, so long as those materials do not substitute for your own thinking. You need not demonstrate your handle on all material we've covered in class; rather, write an in-depth examination of a focused topic which will be informed by your awareness of the dominant issues in nineteenth-century American culture.

Make sure you create space for your own insights by avoiding theses that simply repeat the main currents of class discussion. I will be looking for your ability to draw on the material discussed in class but to generate insights from your own lively engagement with specific texts.

If you have questions about your topic or the requirements of the paper, please don't hesitate to meet with me in person or drop me an e-mail.

You might approach this papers by:

1. Making an argument that develops a specific angle on the themes we've been discussing: Nature/economy, Women and Men, Race and Slavery.

2. Reading across these categories. For instance, you might read how a slave narrative represents nature in a way that challenges the Romantic ideals of Thoreau or Emerson.

3. Writing an essay that takes issue with an argument made in class. Without explicitly invoking the setting of our class, you could pose your argument as a response to something I or someone else said, and make a case for an opposing position.

4. Writing either on an assigned text we didn't discuss much or on an antebellum text that was not assigned but relates to the the topics discussed in the course.

5. Taking a completely different angle. I'd be happy to read an essay that follows your particular interests and makes a strong argument that takes you beyond the specific topics we've discussed in class.

As I read your essays, I will looking for the following qualities:

General Requirements
Your essay should be about 7 pages long (no less than 6, no more than 8) and is due at my office Tuesday December 11 by noon . If would you like to write on an author covered in the last two weeks of the course, you may be allowed an extension after discussing your topic with me.

Insights
Your essay should go beyond class discussion to show me the fruits of your own reflection on the texts.

Focus
It should have a manageable focus and a clear, engaging thesis/question that unifies your writing, and your paper should deliver on what you propose to address.

Organization
It should be well organized, with a clear argument and smooth, logical transitions from paragraph to paragraph, and from sentence to sentence.

Support
You should support your argument with evidence from the text, and you should be interacting with any direct quotes you use for support. You should introduce every quote and then read back into it with at least as much of your own analysis as the quote is long. For more on reading back into quotes, see Professor Wilson's page: tips for "reading back" into literary passages.

Style
Your essay should conform to MLA style and should be free from mechanical and grammatical errors (See writing resources for helpful links). I will take off points for MLA style errors.

Again, take a look at:
1) the statement on plagiarism for this course and be careful to give credit where it is due if you draw on outside sources (though I'm not expecting research for this paper).
2) Ten tips for writing essays in this course and tips for "reading back" into literary passages

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