Your goal is to demonstrate an ability to craft a complex argument and communicate analytically about recent American literature within the context of a topic of your choosing. You must
incorporate at least one of the major themes of this class origin and transformation of American
identity, development of a particular narrative, trend concept, or philosophy, the influence/role of a
specific genre or school of thought, the relationship between a particular text and the social context
within which it was written, etc. but the specific topic is up to you, provided that you are able to
associate your topic with the subject matter of the course. While all authors, texts, genres, and topics
are fair game, you should establish a clear focus on whatever direction you take a focus that is specific enough to produce a valid argument. You should assume that your audience is familiar with the literature you are discussing, and address those readers accordingly.
Format:
essay must be typed, double spaced, and use one inch margins. Sources must be
documented according to MLA style, using both parenthetical citations and a works cited page.
Topics. The specific topic is up to you, as is the approach you will use in your analysis. Your essaymust
deal with authors we have studied in this course, as well as a small collection of secondary sources,
carefully curated by you
Possible topics might include the following:
1.Growth, transformation, and perpetuation of American identity and/or the American Dream
as evidenced by one or more texts from this class
2.
Modernism as a response to major social shifts in the U.S.
3.
Study of ideological/philosophical shifts from genre to genre, generation to generation, or
undertaken by a specific individual
4.
Whitman as the quintessential American author, or his work as a reflection of and/or response
to the Democratic experiment
5.
Analysis of morals and ethics in Bryants poetry
6.
The birth and impact of the Beat movement,
or other sub/counter-cultures in America
As always, make sure to use scholarly sources, which can always be found through the RSCC Librarys
online databases. You might consult Google Scholar, but be sure that you evaluate those sources
carefully. You should try to use the most credible and relevant sources possible. However,
the bulk of your evidence should come from your own close reading of the texts
1250 word essay, including two to three primary sources and five to seven secondary sources.
