Category: Literature

FFor this assignment, select any literary work from the assigned reading list. After
providing a brief summary of the literary work (no more than two sentences), assess the
literary work’s strengths and weaknesses, and devote the rest of the paper to arguing
why the literary work is important to American Literature.
This assignment will require two outside sources minimum (five outside sources
maximum). One of the outside sources must come from a Walters State Community
College database. This assignment will also require at least one direct quote from the
selected literary work, but no more than three direct quotes from the selected literary
work. The direct quote or direct quotes must come from the Norton Anthology American
Literature 10th edition anthology. Since this assignment requires outside sources, it must
conclude with a works cited page.
Any assignment produced by or with AI software (i.e. ChatGPT) will not be accepted for
a grade.
Writing it on “Judith Sargent Murray “On the Equality of the Sexes”

Purpose: For this assignment, you’ll choose one of the topics below to help you make an argument about Sundiata and Popul Vuh. You will then write a 1500-2500 word essay arguing for and supporting your conclusions. This assignment will build your writing and analytical skills.
We encourage you to use the material in the course to further develop your own original interpretations and arguments; researching other secondary sources is not required for this assignment, and plagiarism of other sources will not be tolerated. Be sure to cite any secondary research that you do for this assignment using MLA citations.
Topic #1: One of the Five Great Themes of World Literature is “Sacred & Secular.” As stated in Unit 1 of this course, “We will find in our study of literary masterpieces from the past many intricate negotiations between the divine and the earthly realms.” Discuss what we learn about how divine powers and earthly beings interact in Sundiata (in an area with a syncretic religion) and Popul Vuh (which is not a sacred text but presents the Mayan cosmology). Which values embodied by these interactions are considered significant by their societies? What can we learn about their respective cultures by analyzing how these texts handle these issues relating to the sacred and the secular? Use these questions as a springboard to making an argument related to the similarities and/or differences between the texts and their handling of these issues.
Second, write an essay presenting your argument. Include quotations from the texts as well as additional details that illustrate and enhance the points you are making. Use the following as an outline of what to include:
Explain the general topic and relevant themes (e.g. heroes, women) and any relevant terms for that topic (suggested 1-2 paragraphs).
Apply that topic to both Sundiata and to Popul Vuh (suggested 4-6 paragraphs). Give specific examples and quotes from the texts to support your analyses. Use in-text citations for the quotations.
Compare and contrast the texts; it’s up to you whether you organize your essay around this (i.e. spend half comparing them, then half contrasting them) or talk about each of them individually, then mention similarities and differences.
Your final page should be your Works Cited page, in MLA format. It should include the literary texts, as well as any content pages from the course material to which you may have referred and any secondary sources you used

Prompt for The Discussion Board
In your initial discussion post, please do the following:
Required Reading: The Nickel Boys, by Colson Whitehead (the second half)
Record a 3-5 minute video explaining your takeaway from the novel. What did you think of it? How does it relate to other things we have read? What stood out as most important to you? What surprised you? I really want to know what you think! And I want you to share it enthusiastically with your classmates, who will respond in videos to you next week. If you find any interesting resources on the reading, please share those in your video.
TYPE IN SINGLE SPACE…….. NO DOUBLE SPACE

Read Acts 1-10; 1 Thessalonians; Philemon; (ER reading) the Didache (link on blackboard); Galatians; Romans 1-5
Read the following texts. CHOOSE ONE TEXT. AND WRITE A 300-400 text analysis using any method of criticism below.
Ways to read the Bible:
Comes from the Greek
Implies discerning, perceive certain aspects
Enlightenment and rationalists, bulked of medieval periods and reformations
Literary criticism: treats bible as a piece of literature / major characters, plot, crisis, recurring themes ideas symbols words, who the protagonist is, principle actor
Historical socio historic criticism: Surrounding cultures, history, major events, read connections in connection
Source criticism: not a single text but a group of texts, looks at major sources/written sections to form the whole.
Form criticism: focuses on oral aspects of stories, societies that produced these works, oral cultures. Shared stories by word of mouth.
Redaction criticism: editor, how the editor/author organize, make choices, combine stories, various events. Critical choices to tell their own stories while working with earlier stories. What choices they make and why.
Genre criticism: written form of the text, form, style, plays on the idea that certain genres are written and read in a different ways.
Reader/ respond criticism: take seriously the reader and how the text is encountered and experienced. Think about how ancient people would have read it, in its early context. How do you react to this text, what is shocking surprising.
Hermeneutics/ feminist; liberation: feminist approach or gender view point. Gender issues fit don’t fit? Liberation theology, used with stories of Jesus mostly, only understood when read from the eyes of the poor. Not a perspective of all.
Canon criticism: total collection of the Bible. Canonization, how all these books came together how it happened, choices, how all the books became one as a whole. How the whole functions together.
Textual criticism: work with original manuscripts to correlate all differences and come up with the “most” accurate text.

Hebrews 8-13; 1 Peter; 1 John; Revelation 1-6 and 17-22; (ER reading) Acts of Paul and Thecla (link on blackboard); 1 Timothy
Read any of the following Bible texts, CHOOSE ONE and wrote a text analysis using one of the below bible criticisms in 300-400 words
Ways to read the Bible:
Comes from the Greek
Implies discerning, perceive certain aspects
Enlightenment and rationalists, bulked of medieval periods and reformations
Literary criticism: treats bible as a piece of literature / major characters, plot, crisis, recurring themes ideas symbols words, who the protagonist is, principle actor
Historical socio historic criticism: Surrounding cultures, history, major events, read connections in connection
Source criticism: not a single text but a group of texts, looks at major sources/written sections to form the whole.
Form criticism: focuses on oral aspects of stories, societies that produced these works, oral cultures. Shared stories by word of mouth.
Redaction criticism: editor, how the editor/author organize, make choices, combine stories, various events. Critical choices to tell their own stories while working with earlier stories. What choices they make and why.
Genre criticism: written form of the text, form, style, plays on the idea that certain genres are written and read in a different ways.
Reader/ respond criticism: take seriously the reader and how the text is encountered and experienced. Think about how ancient people would have read it, in its early context. How do you react to this text, what is shocking surprising.
Hermeneutics/ feminist; liberation: feminist approach or gender view point. Gender issues fit don’t fit? Liberation theology, used with stories of Jesus mostly, only understood when read from the eyes of the poor. Not a perspective of all.
Canon criticism: total collection of the Bible. Canonization, how all these books came together how it happened, choices, how all the books became one as a whole. How the whole functions together.
Textual criticism: work with original manuscripts to correlate all differences and come up with the “most” accurate text.

Instructions: Choose one of the topics on the back of this sheet and write an essay that is fully developed
with specific details. Assume that you are writing for an audience of English 2330 students who are familiar
with the pieces that you have read. This means that you will not need to provide a summary at the
beginning of your essay (however you do need to make sure that you mention the title of the piece and the
author’s full name). Be sure to provide a clear and focused thesis near the beginning of the essay, and use
specific evidence in the form of quotations, paraphrases, and summaries from the literature throughout the
body of the essay to support the assertion made by your thesis. Keep in mind that quotes from the literature
by themselves do not explain your thesis; you need to fully explain each quote, paraphrase, or summary
that you use. Be sure that your essay is carefully constructed, organized with topic sentences that reveal
points about your discussion, and free of grammar and punctuation errors. This is not a research paper, so
do not use any outside sources in your paper.
Note: Please underline your thesis before you turn in your essay.
Format:
1. Set up a heading on the first page according to the standard MLA format.
2. Put your last name and page number in the upper right hand corner of each page.
3. Give your essay a title, but do not place that title in quotation marks, underline it, or boldface it. Also, do
not use the title of the story as the title of your essay.
4. Type your essay (black ink), double space, and use a standard 12 point font such as Ariel, Courier,
or Times New Roman.
5. Provide parenthetical citations in MLA style for each quotation, paraphrase, or summary from the
literature.
6. The length of the essay should be about 1000 words minimum.
7. Provide a works cited page. If your essay uses material from more than one story, you should
provide a works cited entry for each story. Use the following example as a guide.
Work Cited
Zelazny, Roger. “A Rose for Ecclesiastes.” Science Fiction: The Science Fiction Research Association
Anthology. Eds. Patrick Warrick, Charles Waugh, and Martin Greenberg. New York: Addison Wesley,
1998. 308-337
The topic is : Is Deckard a Replicant? Why or why not? Use SPECFIC scenes from the movie to
prove your point.
one of the main thing im looking for is to go deep and write about the difference between normal human and others (shadows) or (replicant)!!

Summarize/List the different ways Douglass taught himself to read and write. And what other things did he learn?

This is not a research essay but an exercise in close, vibrant, creative close reading. As such, please do not undertake research except for readings that promote an understanding of historical context, genre, and general background. Please do not use ChatGpT.
Essay prompts:
Both “Othello” and “Benito Cereno” feature characters who are masters of manipulation (Iago, and Babo respectively). These characters have a close proximity to the writers who composed these works by virtue of the fact that they share the role of the shaper of the plots, almost as if each writer has embedded an image of the artist within the text.
Compare and contrast Iago to Babo, and discuss Shakespeare’s relation to Iago versus Melville’s relation to Babo. What similarities and differences obtain?

Grading criteria:
The specific criteria for evaluating essays and other writings include content, organization, sentence
structure, style, diction, and mechanics. The grade determination will be based on the following scale:
The characteristics of the “A” paper = 90-100
1. A significant central idea clearly defined and supported with concrete, relevant, and
imaginatively selected detail.
2. The research used is substantive, appropriately documented, sufficient to support the thesis,
and well integrated into the paper.
3. A clear, logical, purposeful organization of the whole, consistently and imaginatively carried
out; original and consistent attention to proportion, emphasis and completeness; coherent,
unified, and fully and effectively developed paragraphs; explicit and effective transitions.
4. Sentences skillfully constructed: unified, coherent, forceful, and effectively varied.
5. Distinctive diction: fresh, precise, economical, and idiomatic; individual words used with a
sure sense of their denotative and connotative values.
6. Clarity and effectiveness of expression promoted by consistent use of the standard grammar,
punctuation, spelling and other mechanical elements of writing; a sure sense of the effective
use of punctuation.
7. Acceptable manuscript form.

Summarize/List the different ways Douglass taught himself to read and write. And what other things did he learn?

This is not a research essay but an exercise in close, vibrant, creative close reading. As such, please do not undertake research except for readings that promote an understanding of historical context, genre, and general background. Please do not use ChatGpT.
Essay prompts:
Both “Othello” and “Benito Cereno” feature characters who are masters of manipulation (Iago, and Babo respectively). These characters have a close proximity to the writers who composed these works by virtue of the fact that they share the role of the shaper of the plots, almost as if each writer has embedded an image of the artist within the text.
Compare and contrast Iago to Babo, and discuss Shakespeare’s relation to Iago versus Melville’s relation to Babo. What similarities and differences obtain?

Grading criteria:
The specific criteria for evaluating essays and other writings include content, organization, sentence
structure, style, diction, and mechanics. The grade determination will be based on the following scale:
The characteristics of the “A” paper = 90-100
1. A significant central idea clearly defined and supported with concrete, relevant, and
imaginatively selected detail.
2. The research used is substantive, appropriately documented, sufficient to support the thesis,
and well integrated into the paper.
3. A clear, logical, purposeful organization of the whole, consistently and imaginatively carried
out; original and consistent attention to proportion, emphasis and completeness; coherent,
unified, and fully and effectively developed paragraphs; explicit and effective transitions.
4. Sentences skillfully constructed: unified, coherent, forceful, and effectively varied.
5. Distinctive diction: fresh, precise, economical, and idiomatic; individual words used with a
sure sense of their denotative and connotative values.
6. Clarity and effectiveness of expression promoted by consistent use of the standard grammar,
punctuation, spelling and other mechanical elements of writing; a sure sense of the effective
use of punctuation.
7. Acceptable manuscript form.