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Section Essay Prompts
Some (Real) Hints About Writing the Essay
Some (UnReal) Hints About Writing the Essay

INSTRUCTIONS:

The following prompts offer broad subjects about which you must formulate SPECIFIC ARGUMENTS. Be sure to define your argument precisely, clearly, and boldly in the opening paragraph of your paper, and to relate it to the role of the novel as a whole. You can argue anything you wish--be as intellectually daring as possible--as long as you cite and EXPLAIN specific evidence from the text in your defense. Be creative (starting with your title). Be brave. Be invested. Have a stake. Have fun.

Final Notes:

• DUE: Friday, 10/31 at the BEGINNING of section
  
• If you use a catchy abstraction such as "myth of individualism" or even just plain "individualism," explain in a brief sentence or two how you are using it.
  
• Fewer words are better than more words. Don't dazzle us with verbiage. Be economical with the English language.
  
• 1" margins all around. 12 point standard font. Double-spaced. Don’t skip spaces between paragraphs.
  
• Use proper grammar and punctuation when quoting from the text. Parenthetical citations of the novel's page numbers.

PROMPTS

1. What is the relationship between the narrator's point of view and a thematic or cultural issue at work in the novel? Questions to consider: What does the dominance of Delano’s perspective say about a larger issue at stake? What is the significance of the "authorial intrusions" in Charlotte Temple? Is this narrator to be identified with the author? How would this question relate to Turn of the Screw?

2. What is the function of different spaces in the novel -- home, boats, new worlds, schools, the city, the country, etc? What is the relationship between these spaces and a larger cultural or social issue raised by the novel?

3. What does the novel suggest about different models of friendship? How does friendship relate to family?

4. Examine how characters define themselves and/or understand the world around them in accordance with or in rebellion against pre-existing value systems and worldviews. How is individual self-image and experience created apart from such value systems and worldviews? What kind of cultural comment is the novel making in its presentation of characters in relation to pre-existing value systems?

5. Discuss how the novel constructs "American-ness," paying special attention to how the novel constitutes American identity by juxtaposing it with other national identities or sub-national ethnicities. How does nationality figure in the text as a factor of identity? What role does race/racism play in the novel?

6. Examine the idea of writing or speech in one of the novels. Possible questions might include the following: Who tells stories within the novel? How do different forms of writing / storytelling / speaking either impel or disrupt the narrative? How does writing within the novel comment on the novel itself? What is the significance of when and which characters are able to express themselves, and when and which characters are silenced by the narrative (i.e. Babo does not defend himself in the legal documents, Charlotte Temple often bursts into tears before she can speak)?

7. Analyze the construction of either masculinity or femininity in one of the novels.

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1. The thesis statment makes a point that could be contested or that requires support and elaboration. Make your thesis as complex as the page-length will allow you to support.

2. Although some thesis statements are too specific, far more commonly they are not specific enough. To narrow a thesis statement, ask yourself about any aspect of it: why? in what way? how? what's the meaning fo this term? what exactly do I mean by this phrase? Sometimes that explanation alone will turn into a thesis.

3. The thesis statement presents an argument about a specific problem, question, or idea that will provide the focus for your paper. The problem should be specific to the work, and narrow rather than specific. For example, not "Women's Rights," but "The social expectations of women as caretakers of children."

4. The intro and thesis statement should not (nor should any part of your essay) summarize the plot of the novel.

5. The thesis statement should not be a general claim about life or society; it should be a specific claim about the book's social or artistic arguments.

6. Following the previous advice, try not to begin your essay with a phrase such as, "Since the beginning of time, [America, man, democracy, Christianity...choose your large social construct]." You are introducing your argument, not philosophical concepts, the book, the historical context, or the author.

7. Revise your thesis as you write your rough draft.

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HOW TO WRITE A PAPER...

1.Sit in a straight, comfortable chair in a well lighted place with plenty of freshly sharpened pencils.

2.Read over the assignment carefully, to make certain you understand it.
3.Walk down to the vending machines and buy some coffee to help you concentrate.

4.Stop off at the third floor, on the way back and visit with your friend from class. If your friend hasn't started the paper yet either, you can both walk to McDonald's and buy a hamburger to help you concentrate. If your friend shows you his paper, typed, double-spaced, and bound in one of those irritating see-thru plastic folders, drop him.

5.When you get back to your room, sit in a straight, comfortable chair in a clean, well lighted place with plenty of freshly sharpened pencils.

6.Read over the assignment again to make absolutely certain you understand it.

7.You know, you haven't written to that kid you met at camp since fourth grade. You'd better write that letter now and get it our of the way so you can concentrate.

8.Go look at your teeth in the bathroom mirror.

9.Listen to one side of your favorite cd and that's it, I mean it, as soon as it's over you are going to start that paper.

10.Listen to the other side.

11.Rearrange all of your CDs into alphabetical order.

12.Phone your friend on the third floor and ask if he's started writing yet. Exchange derogatory remarks about your teacher, the course, the university, the world at large.

13.Sit in a straight, comfortable chair in a clean, well lighted place with plenty of freshly sharpened pencils.

14.Read over the assignment again; roll the words across your tongue; savor its special flavor.

15.Check the newspaper listings to make sure you aren't missing something truly worthwhile on TV. NOTE: When you have a paper due in less than 12 hours, anything on TV from Masterpiece Theater to Sgt. Preston of the Yukon, is truly worthwhile, with these exceptions: a) Pro Bowler's Tour b) movie starring Don Ameche.

16.Catch the last hour of Soul Brother of Kung Fu on channel 26.

17.Phone your friend on the third floor to see if he was watching. Discuss the finer points of the plot.

18.Go look at your tongue in the bathroom mirror.

18.5. Look through your roommate's book of pictures from home. Ask who everyone is.

19.Sit down and do some serious thinking about your plans for the future.

20.Open your door and check to see if there are any mysterious trench-coated strangers lurking in the hall.

21.Sit in a straight, comfortable chair in a clean, well lighted place with plenty of freshly sharpened pencils.

22.Read over the assignment one more time, just for the hell of it.

23.Scoot your chair across the room to the window and watch the sunrise.