English 2773 critical responses, fall 2005

Note that critical response essays have a 200 word minimum, and that they must be typed or submitted as attachments via email. Avoid plot summary or straightforward retelling of "what happens" in the work (play, poem, novel, etc.)—see nugget 1.

Format your response according to MLA guidelines for margins, spacing, name, date, etc., headers, etc. as outlined on my "simple stuff" handout.

4.2 Due by midnight, Saturday, December 17: follow the link and be as helpfully critical as you can: critical feedback.

1.1 Due Monday, August 22: Respond to the Indian creation stories however you like (so long as you avoid plot summary). Say what you find especially interesting about these Native American myths, making specific references to the texts. You might consider how they seem to follow and/or depart from stereotypical perceptions of American Indian culture, or you might consider how these religious myths resemble and/or differ from the creation account in Genesis—anything you find worthy of comment in any respect is fair game.

1.2 Due Wednesday, August 24: Discuss similarities and/or differences in the portrayal of the "New World" and its native inhabitants in the assigned readings from Christopher Columbus, Cabeza de Vaca, and John Smith. Direct quotations aren't required, but do make very specific, concrete references to the texts to support your claims.

1.3 Due Friday, August 26: Native American "trickster tales" often present humorous or scandalous violations of social norms by the "trickster" character (sometimes a Coyote, Raven, Hare, etc.). Discuss the different social norms or customs of the Indian cultures explored in the "trickster" tales we're reading for Friday (pp. 120-56 in the Norton Anthology): that is, what values do these tales reveal as important to their respective tribal cultures? Make specific, concrete references to at least two separate tales in your discussion.

1.4 Due Monday, August 29: Compare, or more precisely, contrast William Bradford's and Thomas Morton's descriptions of early seventeenth-century life in New England. Make specific references to both texts in support of your claims: quotations are not required, but they are encouraged.

1.5 Due Wednesday, August 31: Offer a brief evaluative summary of any two poems we're reading by Anne Bradstreet and one by Edward Taylor. For each of these three poems, say what the poet's essential message is, and explain how he or she is or is not effective in delivering this message. Quotes are encouraged but not required.

1.6 Due Friday, September 2: Open assignment on Michael Wigglesworth's "thundering epic," The Day of Doom. Avoid plot summary or straightforward recounting of "what happens" in the poem: comment analytically on whatever strikes you as interesting, notable, or important in the poem. If you prefer some guidance, you might consider how the poem seems particularly "Puritanical," or you might consider different ways the poem still holds relevance for readers today despite its its musty old age.

1.7 Due Wednesday, September 7: Discuss Mary Rowlandson's depiction of her Indian captors, paying particular attention to how she reconciles their small individual kindnesses to her in the context of her larger views on Native Americans as a whole. Offer at least three quotations to support your claims. See QD1-3 for the mechanics of documenting quotations.

1.8 Due Friday, September 9: Open assignment on Jonathan Edwards's "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God." Respond to whatever strikes you as interesting or worthy of note in the text, and offer at least three quotations in support of your observations. If you prefer some guidance, you might consider points of connection or comparison between Edwards and other Puritan writers we've read.

1.9 Due Monday, September 12: In as many significant ways as occur to you, discuss how Franklin seems an appreciably more "modern" writer or thinker than the Puritans we've read in recent days. Focus on fundamental differences in attitude or outlook between Franklin and the Puritans. Quote from at least two of the three readings, with a minimum of at least three quotations total.

1.10 Due Wednesday, September 14: It has been said that Crevecoeur's Letters from an American Farmer is the first text in American literature to ask and answer the question, "What is an American?" Quoting the Letters three times or more, explore this theme of what defines an American, according to Crevecoeur: what qualities does he suggest are most essential to "American-ness"?

1.11 Due Friday, September 16: Avoiding plot summary (N1) and offering at least four quotations to illustrate your claims, compare and contrast Olaudah Equiano's experiences as a slave to his fellow Africans and then to European slave-traders in the first two chapters of the Narrative. In particular, what makes enslavement by the whites so much worse than enslavement by Africans?

1.12 Due Monday, September 19: Open assignment: respond analytically to anything in Equiano's Narrative (from the third chapter forward) that strikes you as interesting or significant. Avoid plot summary (N1), and include at least three quotations to illustrate or support your claims.

1.13 Due Wednesday, September 21: Write a detailed and in-depth explication of any one of the Freneau poems we're reading for Wednesday. Go through the poem in nearly line-by-line fashion, translating the verse into prose and explaining in your own words each major point Freneau makes in the poem. A great majority of the response should be in your own words, but include at the very least six quotations to substantiate your claims about the poem's "message" or meaning, carefully following the guidelines for quotations of poetry outlined in QD4.

1.14 Due Friday, September 23: Discuss any concrete connections between any two or more of Phillis Wheatley's poems and/or letters and any works we've read to this point in the semester. You might look for similarities primarily, or you might focus on contrasts with other writers or works on specific themes or circumstances. Quote each Wheatley work you discuss at least twice, and with poems, follows the guidelines for quotations of poetry outlined in QD4.

1.15 Due Monday, September 26: Royall Tyler's The Contrast is a comedy: what strikes you as funny in the first two acts of this play? More specifically, what is "made fun of"? Quote the play at least three times in illustration of your claims.

1.16 Due Wednesday, September 28: Discuss Tyler's generalized depiction of the American national character in the final acts of The Contrast. How does he suggest that Americans are fundamentally different from Europeans? Consider whether these differences show Americans in more generally positive or negative terms in contrast to the Europeans. Include at least three quotations to illustrate or substantiate your points.

1.17 Due Friday, September 30: Discuss the depiction of women in the first sixteen chapters of Charlotte: A Tale of Truth. Quoting from the text at least three times to illustrate your claims (and from at least three different chapters), discuss Rowson's portrayal of different types of difficulties that women faced in the time period of the novel. You might also consider whether you think Rowson may be considered a feminist in any respect through her writing in this novel.

1.18 Due Monday, October 3: Open assignment on chapters 17-35 of Charlotte: avoiding plot summary and quoting the text at least three times to illustrate your claims, discuss any situation or event in the novel that seems especially noteworthy or important. Explain what makes the situation or event so notable or significant in terms of the novel's central themes.

2.1 Due Friday, October 7: Open assignment on the two Washington Irving stories, "Rip Van Winkle" and "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow." Explore whatever issues strike you as interesting or notable in each tale (separately), avoiding plot summary and quoting each story at least twice to support your claims.

2.2 Due Monday, October 10: Discuss as many different significant themes involving nature in our reading from The Pioneers as you can: what different attitudes towards nature do the various characters express, and which do you think the author sanctions or supports? Explain, quoting from the text at least four times to illustrate your claims.

2.3 Due Wednesday, October 12: Discuss Sedgwick's commentary upon American writing (or more narrowly, American women's writing) in "Cacoethes Scribendi" and also her commentary upon politics in "A Reminiscence of Federalism." Avoid plot summary, and quote each story twice.

2.4 Due Friday, October 14: Address two of the following three options, offering at least two quotations from the readings in your discussion of each writer:

a) Discuss Bryant's view of nature in the three poems on the syllabus for Friday.

b) Explain the continuing relevance of William Apess's discussion of racial prejudice in "An Indian's Looking-Glass."

c) Discuss realism in the excerpts from Caroline Kirkland's, A New Home—Who'll Follow? If you can, you might focus more narrowly on how Kirkland offers a particularly feminine realism in her description of frontier life.

2.5 Due Monday, October 17: If you find Emerson's advice to nineteenth-century Americans in "The American Scholar" and "Self-Reliance" good advice, still, for Americans in the twenty-first century, explain which of his urgings you think most important and why, quoting both pieces at least twice in your discussion. If you find Emerson's advice not to hold such relevance today . . . explain why, here also quoting both readings at least twice.

2.6 Due Wednesday, October 19: Discuss Robin's maturation in "My Kinsman, Major Molineux," and also Hawthorne's depiction of Puritanism in "The Minister's Black Veil." In the first story, how do his nightmarish experiences cause Robin to "grow up fast"? Explain. And in the second story, consider in particular what the minister's veil symbolizes or represents about Puritans in more general terms. Quote each story at least twice, and as always, avoid plot summary (see nugget 1).

2.7 Due Monday, October 24: In both stories for Monday, "The Birth-Mark" and "Rappaccini's Daughter," consider how Hawthorne explores two themes (i.e. two themes in each story), the perils of science and technology, and women's sexuality. Comment on and explain the questions Hawthorne raises on both subjects in both stories, quoting each story at least twice to illustrate your claims.

2.8 Due Friday, October 28: Explore the different themes ("messages") Poe delivers in these three poems about the death of a beloved woman: "The Raven," "Ulalume," and "Annabel Lee." Quote each poem at least twice in your discussion, following the guidelines for quoting poetry outlined in in QD4 carefully.

2.9 Due Monday, October 31: What specific facets of human nature does Poe seem most interested in revealing or exploring in any two of the three stories we're reading for Monday? Explain, quoting each story you discuss at least twice to illustrate your claims.

2.10 Due Wednesday, November 2: Uncle Tom's Cabin was a bestseller of astounding proportions—no book sold more copies in the U.S. in the nineteenth century except the bible. Why do you think the novel captivated so many readers so thoroughly? Explain what you think makes (or made) Uncle Tom's Cabin so appealing to such a wide audience, avoiding plot summary and quoting at least two separate chapters from Wednesday's reading twice apiece or more to support your claims.

2.11 Due Friday, November 4: Open assignment on pp. 1709-46 of Uncle Tom's Cabin: point out and discuss whatever strikes you as particularly significant or interesting in at least two separate chapters from Friday's reading. Avoid plot summary, and quote at least two different chapters twice or more apiece to illustrate your claims.

2.12 Due Monday, November 7: Compare and contrast Harriet Ann Jacobs's slave narrative with Uncle Tom's Cabin. Focus particularly on the contrasts: in as many significant ways as occur to you, explore how Jacobs presents different aspects of slavery from Stowe, and consider whether you think Jacobs's narrative more powerful or less powerful than Stowe's—explain why. Include at least three quotations from Jacobs in your discussion.

3.1 Due Friday, November 11: Discuss Thoreau's view of individual rights and governmental responsibilities in the specific historical context in which he was writing, and also consider different aspects of contemporary American life where his views in "Civil Disobedience" are still highly relevant. Quote the text at least four times in illustration of your claims.

3.2 Due Monday, November 14: Discuss significant aspects of slavery in the first nine chapters of Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass that are distinctly new or different matters from those we've encountered in reading Olaudah Equiano, Harriet Beecher Stowe, and Harriet Ann Jacobs. Quote the text at least three times to substantiate your claims.

3.3 Due Wednesday, November 16: Open assignment on the concluding chapters of Douglass's Narrative: respond in whatever analytical fashion you like so long as you avoid plot summary and quote from chapters 10-11 at least three times. Explore whatever strikes you as noteworthy or significant.

3.4 Due Friday, November 18: Choose one—do not address both:
a) Give a close explication of any two of the Longfellow poems: that is, in virtually line-by-line fashion, translate each poem into your own prose and state what its primary theme or "message" is.

b) Write a summary of Whitman's "Preface to Leaves of Grass" (1855 version): identify his primary points in this preface and explain them, citing the text at least four times to support your analysis.

3.5 Due Monday, November 21: Choose one—do not address more than one:
a) Discuss Whitman's use of himself in our reading from Leaves of Grass—the "I" and "myself" in "I Sing Myself"—in relation to the American nation as a whole: what is his purpose in focusing so much of the poem on himself, even in physical respects? Quote the text at least four times to illustrate your claims.

b) Discuss Whitman's depiction of the American national character or identity in our reading from Leaves of Grass: what specific aspects of our American cultural identity does he emphasize? Explain, quoting the text at least four times to illustrate your claims.

c) Discuss the significance of sexual references in our reading from Leaves of Grass, quoting the poem at least three times in illustration of your claims.

3.6 Due Monday, November 28: Write a character analysis of both Billy Budd and John Claggart: describe the personalities of the two characters and consider in particular why Claggart seems to dislike Billy so much. Quote the text at least four times in illustration of your claims.

3.7 Due Wednesday, November 30: Discuss conflicting notions of justice in the second half of Billy Budd: focus especially on differing views of the need for punishing Billy for his crime. Avoid plot summary, and cite the text at least four times to support your claims.

3.9 Due Monday, December 5: Discuss any comments on nature or on death (or the afterlife) that Dickinson seems to stress as themes or "messages" of any three of the poems we're reading for Monday, quoting each poem at least twice and carefully following the guidelines for quotations of poetry outlined in QD4.

3.10 Due Wednesday, December 7: Discuss the depiction of working-class reality in Davis's "Life in the Iron Mills." Quote the text at least four times to illustrate your claims.

3.11 Due Friday, December 9: Open assignment: respond in whatever analytical fashion you like (avoiding plot summary, of course) to Louisa May Alcott's "Transcendental Wild Oats." Discuss whatever strikes you as interesting, significant, or noteworthy in this piece, and include at least three quotations to support your comments.

4.1 Due at the exam, Monday, December 12: Review the schedule of readings for the entire semester carefully and 1) explain which two writers or works you think should be removed from the syllabus in future ENGL 2773 courses and why, and 2) explain which four writers or works you think are the most valuable or important to keep on the syllabus—explain your choices here as well, and go beyond saying simply that "this writer is important" or this work is "a classic": explain what very specific value you see in studying each particular writer or work.