Topics for First Paper

For this assignment, I will grade primarily on what I consider the basics of literary argument:

• THESIS and STRUCTURE. Is your paper focused around a specific thesis? Do all the parts of your paper support that thesis? Does your paper progress in a logical way, with each step of the argument following clearly from the previous step and leading clearly to the next? Are your paragraphs unified and coherent, with specific topic sentences to guide the reader easily through the argument?
• ARGUMENT. Do you back up every claim you make with evidence from the text (specific quotes, or paraphrases or summaries of longer passages)? Does your evidence logically support your claims? Do you interpret the evidence for your claims persuasively, rather than just quoting a passage and assuming that your reader sees the same things in the passage that you do? Have you taken account of all the passages in the text that might tend to discredit your argument?
• INTERPRETATION. Does your paper offer an original argument about the meaning of the text (as opposed to the text's literary merit, your own views on the ideas and issues raised in the text, the characters in the text as if they were real people, etc.)? Does your interpretation take account of the text's subtleties and complexities as they pertain to your topic? How ambitious are you in going after difficult, complex issues?
• I will also grade on MECHANICS AND STYLE, but this will count for less than the three other categories above. Is your paper free of grammar and punctuation errors? Is your control of language such as to give the paper an articulate and compelling voice?

Use of secondary sources is not forbidden, but I don't recommend them for this paper unless you choose question 3. Do cite all sources, including the book you are writing about, correctly (MLA parenthetic style is preferred.)

Length is less important than quality of thought, but you should aim at a length of 4-5 pages.

Choose one of the following:

1) Discuss Brooks' poem "pygmies are pygmies still, though perched on Alps," in Annie Allen, as a poem about ordinary people and the possibility of heroism or heroic vision, then connect those ideas to the the rest of Brooks' work in one of two ways: either a) bringing the ideas of the poem to bear on the extensive thematizing of heroism and vision in Annie Allen ; or b) bringing the ideas of the poem to bear on one or more of the poems about "little people" in The Bean Eaters.

2) I noted in class that "Beverly Hills, Chicago" (section VIII of "The Womanhood" in Annie Allen) is often considered a companion poem to "I love those little booths at Benvenuti's" (section VII of the same poem): one describes the view of some white people visiting a black neighborhood, while the other describes the view of some black people visiting a white neighborhood. Compare the two poems, using the comparison to make an interpretive argument about "booths and Benvenuti's" (the focus should be on that poem rather than the other, because we have discussed the other in class).

3) "The Chicago Defender Sends a Man to Little Rock" ends with the line, "The loveliest lynchee was our Lord." What does this reference to Jesus have to do with the newsman's reaction to the people of Little Rock and the events of Fall 1957? (If you choose this question, you will have to do a little research to figure out the historical references, such as what happened in Little Rock in 1957, what the Defender is, and so on; be sure to use reputable sources and cite them in your paper.)

4) The "Illumination Rounds" chapter of Dispatches consists of a series of unconnected short narratives. Presumably these are analogous to illumination rounds for a mortar, which when fired eject a flare attached to a small parachute that temporarily illuminates the ground below. Pick one of these narratives which we have not discussed in class (or more than one, if they are closely related), interpret it or them, and trace the idea suggested by the small narrative(s) through other passages in the book as a whole to show how the narrative illuminates its subject.

5) In class I have suggested that "City on the Edge of Forever" offers a mainstream view of the Vietnam War "from home," as it were. Briefly explain the episode's argument about the war, then use that as a springboard for talking about Herr's view of the war in Dispatches. (This topic will probably work best for students who believe that Herr would strongly and specifically disagree with the episode's claims; at the very least, you will need to identify a very specific point of comparison between the two.)

6) Near the end of the "Colleagues" chapter of Dispatches, photographer Tim Page is quoted as saying, "Take the glamour out of war! I mean, how the bloody hell can you do that?" Given the way that war and warriors are represented in the book, would Michael Herr agree that war is glamorous? (This is potentially an enormous topic, so you will need to narrow it down, but you also want to make sure that the argument you make isn't one-sided. One way to do both would be to write about one specific type of glamour or one specific aspect of war that might be considered glamorous--for example, the way that war is so often described in the book in sexual terms--but to discuss the evidence on both sides of the question you formulate about that specific topic.)

6) Devise a topic of your own choosing pertaining to Selected Poems or Dispatches. If you choose this option, you must negotiate the topic with me in advance. In all cases, your argument must be original--you cannot simply parrot class discussion, for example--and you must write literary criticism (as opposed to, for example, history or sociology; that is, your purpose should be to develop an interpretation of what the work means). Because plagiarism is a greater danger in an open topic, if you choose this option I ask that you attach to your paper all of your notes, outlines, drafts, and so on. I will grade your paper by the criteria listed above.