Literature Essay

ENG 272-0

Objective: The purpose of this essay is to make an analytical argument about connections across texts, time periods and cultures, and to situate this argument within the context of the existing critical discourse.  You will need to select 3 primary texts to actively analyze in order to develop an argument of your own; you should make an argument about, not simply summarize, the primary texts.  For the primary texts, choose one (1) work from each of the three (3) columns below. 

Prompt: Based on Harper Lee's Pulitzer Prize winning book of 1961, To Kill A Mockingbird is set in small-town Alabama, 1932. Atticus Finch (played by Gregory Peck) is a lawyer and a widower with two young children, Jem and Scout. Atticus Finch is currently defending Tom Robinson, a black man accused of raping a white woman. Meanwhile, Jem and Scout are intrigued by their neighbors, the Radley’s, and the mysterious, seldom-seen Boo Radley in particular. The story features a number of “mockingbirds”—those who are scorned by society unfairly, and makes timeless insights about the nature of humanity and what it means to be human.

Option 1: Reflect on the film’s assertions, and then construct a thesis and write an essay that directly cites from a minimum of three (3) different texts considered in in this class, a minimum of one from each of the three columns below.

Option 2: With Lee’s story in mind, discuss and reflect on the following questions. What are the basic rights and liberties of a human in a social democracy? What effect does dehumanization have on the victim and the perpetrator? What is society’s role in facilitating the happiness and prosperity of its members? What role does conformity and blind adherence to tradition play in perpetuating inequality? Your response should directly cite from a minimum of three (3) different texts considered in ENG 272, a minimum of one from each of the three columns below.

· The essay must be 4-6 pages (1000-1500 words), typed, double-spaced in Times New Roman 12 pt. font with 1-inch margins.  Include your name, the course #, the date, and an original title on the first page (standard MLA format).  You are to use no sources other than the assigned texts from the table below; therefore, a Works Cited page is not necessary!!!!

The Enlightenment	Revolutions	Modernity
Kant-“What is Enlightenment?” Descartes-“Discourse on Method” Diderot-Encyclopedie Wollstonecraft—“A Vindication of the Rights of Woman” Paine-“Common Sense” Paine-“Age of Reason”	Jefferson: Declaration of Independence Jefferson: “On Equality” Declaration of Sentiments Declaration of Rights DeGouges: The Rights of Woman Douglass: The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass	Kafka: Metamorphosis Whitman: “Song of Myself” Selected Dickenson poems Wordsworth: “The World is Too Much with Us.”