Options:
1. Frederick Douglass writes his Narrative to convince Northern audiences to act to abolish slavery. Focus on his portrayal of two slave owners, Hugh and Sophia Auld: what does he argue about how slavery affects them, and why? How does this add to Douglass’s anti-slavery argument?
2. In “Ligeia” the unnamed narrator experiences a tragic loss. What does the ancient house or castle he buys and redecorates tell us about his state of mind? What do the details of his interior decoration, especially of his bedroom (the room where Rowena dies) tell us about Ligeia’s plans to reemerge?
3. In “Young Goodman Brown,” how does the title character treat his wife when he returns from the forest? What does he seem to assume about her? What does this in turn suggest to you about YGB’s own character? Is he acting in accordance with what we know about Calvinist beliefs?
4. Apply some of the concepts from Emerson’s essay “The American Scholar” to Walt Whitman’s descriiption of Lincoln’s funeral procession via train, and the reception he receives in each city the train stops in, and the descriiption of the nation’s response to the Civil War. Do you see Whitman fulfilling Emerson’s charge to express truths about this new nation? What does Whitman show us about America and its ability to both grieve and recover from loss?
Details:
1. You may not use any secondary sources (things written about the works). This is not a research paper: you are writing about the text, using your own ideas and class lectures/notes. 2. Don’t go online “just to get a few ideas.” Using uncited sources will lead to AIV proceedings, and could lead to failure for the assignment or the course.
3. Do, however, use details from our class lectures and your notes: it’s important for you to demonstrate that you understand not just the texts, but the historical/aesthetic context they were written in.
4. Also use textual detail from the work: quote from important moments to prove or illustrate your points, and cite using parenthetical citation with page number (p. 102).
