open topic
This essay should argue for the literary, cultural, or political significance of one or more of the
course’s assigned texts; the topic is up to you. Please frame your argument as part of a larger intellectual conversation by citing at
least three relevant outside sources — e.g., book or film reviews, essays in “middlebrow”
publications (e.g., The Nation, New Republic, or National Review), or academic books or articles
(such as those found in the journal Critical Inquiry).
Effective scholarly writing often uses the “They Say, I Say” model, in which you summarize and
critique what other critics have said about your topic, then explain how your own understanding
differs from theirs, and finally defend your claims with an original, well-reasoned argument.
In The Philosophy of Literary Form, the literary theorist Kenneth Burke explains this dialogical
conception of literary study like this:
Imagine that you enter a parlor. You come late. When you arrive, others have long
preceded you, and they are engaged in a heated discussion, a discussion too heated
for them to pause and tell you exactly what it is about. In fact, the discussion had
already begun long before any of them got there, so that no one present is qualified
to retrace for you all the steps that had gone before. You listen for a while, until you
decide that you have caught the tenor of the argument; then you put in your oar.
Someone answers; you answer him; another comes to your defense; another aligns
himself against you, to either the embarrassment or gratification of your opponent,
depending upon the quality of your ally’s assistance. However, the discussion is
interminable. The hour grows late, you must depart. And you do depart, with the
discussion still vigorously in progress.
For practical guidance on joining this “unending conversation,” I recommend the book They Say,
I Say, by Gerald Graff and Cathy Birkenstein.
In your formal essay you should assume your audience is intelligent and reasonably well
informed, but not familiar with literary-critical jargon or the specific texts you will be discussing.
Length should be about 6-8 pages.
I expect your formal essay to be of corresponding
quality. In addition to clearly expressing and adequately supporting an original and significant
argument, it should make appropriate use of its sources and have no significant grammar or
spelling errors. It should use MLA style and format for intext
citations and Works Cited page.
Assigned Texts:
1. Michael Abrams, Glossary of Literary Terms (sixth edition or later)
2. Chinua Achebe, Things Fall Apart (ISBN: 0-44-920810-9)
3. Richard Brautigan, Trout Fishing in America (ISBN: 0-39-550076-1)
4. Willa Cather, O Pioneers! (ISBN: 0-48-627785-2)
5. Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness (ISBN: 0-48-626464-5)
6. Jonathan Culler, Literary Theory (ISBN: 0-19-285383-X)
7. F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby (ISBN: 0-02-019881-7)
8. Mary Shelley, Frankenstein (ISBN: 0-48-628211-2)
9. Lois Tyson, Critical Theory Today (ISBN: 0-81-532879-6)