Assignments

Due Dates for all assignments are listed on the schedule.

Grade Values

• Thematic Readings (80%)
• Investigation (20%)

Thematic Readings (80%)

For each text we read, you will compose a 500 word critical reading of that text. In these critical readings, you will need to succinctly identify something interesting or idiosyncratic or distinguishing about the text in question and then explain why this feature is important.

To clarify these instructions, from the perspective of a critical reader (which is one of the major skills taught in the discipline of English Literature), a text is a collection of decisions that someone made in producing that artifact. These choices can range from word choice, to sentence structure, images used, or even chapter length. Each of these choices was not made arbitrarily, even if the chooser is unaware of their decision. Part of reading texts critically is to identify the reasons these choices were made.

So, as an example, a widely debated image in The Great Gatsby is the green light on Daisy Buchanan’s dock. In the book, we first meet Gatsby as he opens his arms as in embrace toward this light. Why is the light green? A common reading points out that green often represents hope and the light points to Gatsby’s hope for reconnecting with Daisy. However, there are other contradictory meanings associated with green. For instance, intensifying the claims of hope, green is associated with reproduction and rebirth through its association with the green buds that shoot up each Spring at the end of Winter. Further, green is famously associated with jealousy because of a line in Othello about jealousy being a “green-eyed monster.” Important as well to Gatsby is that green is the color of money, the true green that rules the landscape of Jazz Age New York. We could also speak of the Green Fairy associated with absinthe Fitzgerald drank in copious amounts while in France during the early 1920s. These later three images—jealousy, greed, intoxication—equally highlight what Daisy means to Gatsby, as we learn through the rest of the book. While we might want to believe in Gatsby’s simple hope, as the ultimate sucker in American literature, the seeds of his own end are already inextricably tied up with his own hopeful longings (which links into the novel’s concluding lines, which I won’t spoil here).

The above is an example of a critical reading. I argue for a specific meaning that is not readily apparent from the text that complicates our understanding of the text in question. Moreover, my reading of Great Gatbsy is something we could debate about: you don’t have to buy my cynical take on Gatsby’s doomed love for Daisy. This ability to discuss aspects of my reading is what makes it an argument. If, for instance, you said “I enjoyed the Great Gatsby” or “Great Gatsby is a novel about Jay Gatsby and his love for Daisy Buchanan,” these are not critical readings: there’s nothing to discuss (I can’t argue with your enjoyment of a book, it’s not disputable).

Your assignment for each of the novels we read is, then, to author a 500 word reading of the text you have just finished. In order to do this reading you will have to learn to read for symptoms: when you read a text don’t just try to follow the plot but also pay attention to word usage or repeated images. Do you notice that the author keeps using a specific word? What could that say about the novel as a whole or about a particular character or situation? Mark these patterns when you start to see them. Alternately, if a certain scene strikes you as being out of touch with the rest of the novel (the wolf scene in My Ántonia is probably the most egregious example of this in anything we will be reading), why is it there? Digressions often serve to reveal the hidden nuances of the main plot. You can write on anything, so long as you have a debatable thesis.

These readings are generally due on Tuesdays, but consult the Course Schedule for the specific due dates. I will provide extensive feedback on these papers, often in the form of an audio response, as I am interested in working with each of you to grow your abilities to read and write critically.

Investigation (20%)

During the course of the semester, you will be asked to complete a more in-depth investigation of the novels we have read. You may complete this investigation at any point during the semester, however it has to be turned in by the noted due date on the Course Schedule. You may choose to complete any of the three investigations below to satisfy this requirement. Additionally, if you feel strongly about completing your investigation on a particular book, you are encouraged to complete it immediately, while the knowledge is still fresh.

Investigation 1: Mapping the American Novel

One of the major themes in this class is the production, management, and description of the American landscape. Each novel, in it’s own way, deals with a specific space and the ways in which each author’s characters move through that specifically encoded space. In this investigation, you will be challenged to produce a visualization of this space using publicly available map-making software.

Mapmaking as Criticism

How can mapping a character’s interactions with space change our understanding of their actions? What other ways might we think about a character in this fashion? For this assignment, you will produce an annotated Google Map charting the action of one of the novels we have read. You will need to “pin” between 15 and 25 locations. Additionally, you will need to briefly annotate each “pin” with some explanation of what occurs at each location

You may have to focus your analysis on a specific episode or a specific character in order to produce a map that isn’t completely chaotic.

Turn-ins

1. The Link To Your Map
2. A 1-2 Page Statement Detailing What You Have Mapped and What You Think It Reveals

Making a Map

1. Visit the Site
2. Click on “Create New Map”
3. You Can Search For Locations, Drop Pins, and Draw Maps
4. Set up the Share Settings:
   1. Click “Share”
   2. Under “Who Has Access,” Click the “Change…” Link
   3. Change “Private” to “Anyone Who Has the Link”
5. Copy and Paste the link under “Link to Share.” Submit this link with your essay.

Here’s a Map I Created

Investigation 2: Contextual Presentation

In this investigation, you will be challenged to create a multimedia presentation detailing some aspects of the context in which a novel we have read occurs. For instance, you could provide some context regarding reconstruction in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn or background on Newport, RI in The House of Mirth. In any case, you will be required to research the context you have chosen to explore in some depth (utilizing sources beyond Wikipedia), as well as finding visual or auditory examples to support your argument.

Having assembled this background, you will produce a 5-10 minute video presenting your findings. You will more than likely need to produce some kind of narration explaining what viewers are seeing and also you will need to explain how all of this context relates to the book by discussing some brief instances in which it occurs in the novel.

Note: Students accepting this investigation are strongly encouraged to consult with me about both topic and methods for completing this assignment.

Turn-ins

1. The video. This can either be hosted on a site such as Vimeo or uploaded in MP4 format to Blackboard.
2. A brief document outlining sources (for research as well as for images and videos) used in the presentation.

Possible Tools

• If you have used Prezi before, you can read more about adding narration here.
• You have access to Camtasia Relay, a screencasting tool that can be used to simultaneously record Powerpoint slides and narration.

Investigation 3: Comparative Analysis

Continuing on the idea from the Thematic Readings we are doing throughout the semester, this investigation challenges you to perform a longer comparative analysis of two of the novels we have read. Do you notice, for instance, a shared or a contrasting treatment of money in Great Gatsby and The House of Mirth? Rather than a reading of one novel, this investigation asks you to read related patterns in two novels in order to show how the texts make similar arguments or argue about a topic differently.

This investigation will take the form of a 10 page, double-spaced, thesis-driven paper. You will offer a brief introduction that states your thesis, individual readings of at least two moments in each novel, and some concluding discussion that explains what we can learn from looking at this theme across these two novels.

Turn-ins

1. The essay, formatted as specified on the Policies page.