Length: the paper must be at least 500 to 600 words long at a minimum. Papers can be (and probably should be) longer than the minimum.
Point Total: 100 points.
Topics: you must use at least 3 outside sources and include at least one properly documented direct quote from each source for the paper. The sources may not to be dictionaries or encyclopedias, either hard copy or electronic; dictionaries and encyclopedias may be used, but they may not count as any of the three sources. Wikipedia is not an acceptable source.
You do not need to use any outside sources (aside from the texts or the films) for options 13, 14, 15, 16, or 18.
- Three Native-American creation myths with representative examples and analysis.
- Raven (the Native-American trickster character) – you may not choose this option if you wrote about Raven in answer to the essay for Test 1.
- European exploration of the New World using the writings of four different explorers.
- The real story of John Smith and Pocahontas. Be sure to use Smith’s description of the event and compare that with other sources that question Smith’s version.
- Captivity narratives – your work should focus on other authors and go beyond the material on Mary Rowlandson in the textbook if you wrote about Mary Rowlandson’s narrative for Assignment 1.
- Choose one: music/women’s roles/medicine during the Puritan era.
- Choose one: music/women’s roles/medicine during the Revolutionary War.
- Choose one: music/women’s roles/medicine on the frontier before 1865.
- Women writers of the Colonial Period (1700-1800). You may not use any of the authors covered in class (Bradstreet, Wheatley, or Murray).
- Tall tales in early America (before 1865).
- Read The Contrast, A Comedy in Five Acts by Royall Tyler (pages 1403-1447) and discuss the contrasts in the play.
- Watch the film Amistad (directed by Steven Spielberg) and discuss it in terms of a slave narrative. This does not mean to write a first person narrative account; you should use the definition of a slave narrative (either the one covered in class or one researched) and apply that definition to the film.
- Watch the film Amistad (directed by Steven Spielberg) and discuss it in terms of the middle passage. This does not mean to write a first person narrative account.
- Read Charles Johnson’s Middle Passage and compare it to Equiano’s A Interesting Narrative of the Life . . . (pages 1262- 1297).
- Read Charles Johnson’s Middle Passage (find a copy) and compare it to the film Amistad (directed by Steven Spielberg).
- Watch The Last of the Mohicans (directed by Michael Mann), read James Fenimore Cooper’s “Preface to The Leatherstocking Tales” (find a copy) and define the classic American hero by referring to both works. You will need to use the Preface to the 1850 edition of The Leatherstocking Tales.
- The Seneca Falls meeting 1848.
- Read William Styron’s The Confessions of Nat Turner (find a copy) and compare it to the film Amistad.
- Read eight of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s poems and discuss his contribution to American literature. Do not just summarize the poems. The focus is on Longfellow’s importance, and the poems should supplement the discussion.
- Explain the importance of any of
the following to American literature or thought. Do not write a biography!
- Anne Hutchinson
- John Winthrop
- Roger Williams
- Sojourner Truth
- Margaret Fuller
- Lydia Maria Child
- Mary Boykin Chestnut
- Find four paintings of the Salem
Witch Trials and examine the attitude depicted in those pictures. Include
copies of the paintings in the paper and properly cite the source of the
paintings.
- Find four paintings from the Hudson River School of painting and examine the attitude depicted in those paintings. Include copies of the paintings in the paper and properly cite the source of the paintings.
Format:
- Please employ the 2016 version (the 8th Edition) of Modern Language Association (MLA) style for research papers.
- All papers written outside of class must:
- be typed.
- be double-spaced.
- be in 12 point type (preferably using Times New Roman font).
- have a 1 inch margin at the top, bottom, and sides of each page.
- have your last name and page number in the upper right corner of each page, ½ inch below the top edge of the page.
- The first page of each paper must:
- have identifying information in the upper left
corner:
- your name,
- your teacher’s name,
- your class and section number,
- the date.
- have identifying information in the upper left
corner:
- have your last name and the page number in the upper right corner.
- have the title of your paper.
- Subsequent pages need only have your last name and the page number in the upper right corner.
Due date: the date the paper is due is listed on the course Calendar and Course Schedule.
Late papers: Late papers will earn a zero. No late assignments will be accepted, except for specific circumstances, including death in the immediate family (parent, sibling, spouse, child), hospitalization or severe illness which precludes attendance on the due date, jury duty, or military service. Documentation must be provided for such absences.
Grading: papers will be critiqued, graded, and returned online.
Papers will be graded according to the English Department’s Theme Standard Sheet and Plagiarism Policies. Please review the rubrics posted in Course Content.
Content: papers should not be a plot synopsis (summary) of the works; instead, they should be analyses of works as well as substantive argumentation. Some topics ask you to compare items; of course, comparison implies contrast as well.
Research and documentation: many of the topics will require some research. If a paper is researched, it must be documented using MLA documentation format, and you need to use appropriate sources for the research.
Submitting papers: papers should be saved in Microsoft Word.
You should also feel free to use the Writing Center on each campus as well as Brainfuse, which is online tutoring accessible through Blackboard.
