Five-page short essay (1500 words).

The essay is due on March 9 electronically on Sakai.

Option One: Open Topic

This paper should make an argument that interprets at least two of the texts on the syllabus that we have read since your first essay (Ondaatje, Hawthorne, Whitman, Thoreau). Your second essay can make reference to the secondary/critical readings of the course.

Your essay must have a carefully defined thesis (argument) that is supported throughout the paper with textual evidence and analysis that makes clear the significance of your chosen evidence. It can be an argument you have begun to explore in a think piece.

Please cite your sources in MLA style (if you are unfamiliar with this style an electronic guide is available at http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/)

 

Option Two: Close Reading/OED Compare and Contrast Essay

In this essay, you will analyze a concept or theme you see at work across the texts you have selected. You may focus on a single word that appears in each of the works you select. Or you may choose to trace a concept or issue that is expressed by varying words.

The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) is accessible through the URI Libraries online: http://www.oed.com.uri.idm.oclc.org/

Inf you choose this option please follow the directions below:

Part 1 (preparation)

1. Select a single word from a text (or texts) we have read together in class.

How to choose a word:

• You have noticed a word repeatedly in the text, or you noticed the same word being used in more than one text we have studied together. You became curious about whether it was being deployed for similar or different ends.
• You stopped reading because you did not know the proper definition of the word and then became curious about it.
• You noticed the word as particularly interesting or important and want to know more about why that is the case.
• You sensed that the word “means” more than one thing at a time; you want to follow up on its possible meanings and how they might be working within a given context.
• The word chooses you. You are captivated by a word and you come to be able to describe why that is the case. You want to think carefully about how your attentiveness to this word changes your relation to the text more generally.
• You sensed that a word was being invented or used in an unconventional way, and you wanted to study if/how this might be the case.

2. Look up your word in the Oxford English Dictionary and read through the Dictionary’s definition(s) of it.

The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) is available in both book and online formats. The online version of the OED is accessible through the URI Libraries. Provide your library patron info and you can find it at http://www.oed.com.uri.idm.oclc.org/

Make sure you research the etymology and potential meanings of the word you choose in the OED and refer to the OED when necessary or useful to your work. What have you learned about its etymology, its range of meanings at any given moment, and its changes in meaning over time?

Part 2 (execution)

Construct a meaningful essay around the word you choose. Write an essay that supports and makes a case for the value of the word you have chosen: how does it illuminate your reading of the text, your understanding of genre (epic, novel, romance?) or a cultural preoccupation? Does it encapsulate a concept you see at work? You may refer to or include analysis of any material you have come across for your blog posts.