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 4-5 pages.

Choose one of the following:

1) Many of the poems in The Bean Eaters are, as we have seen, brief vignettes that describe the life of an individual character or two, and in doing so address larger social or human concerns. Choose one of the poems from The Bean Eaters of this type that we have not discussed in class and show how Brooks uses the portrait of an individual to make a larger point about society or human nature.

2) "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 "Beverly Hills, Chicago" (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 should 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) As we saw in class, 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, interpret it, 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. (Alternatively, you could choose a short, self-contained story from another part of the book and do the same things with it, but if you choose this option clear it with me in advance.)

5) The literal center of Dispatches, and arguably its centerpiece, is the chapter "Khe Sanh." Assuming that this particular place/event/campaign is somehow representative of the war in general for Herr, what point do you think he was trying to make by choosing to feature Khe Sanh and not someplace else? (You will of course have to do some research if you choose this question to find out what happened at Khe Sanh and how it was perceived; choose reputable sources and cite them in your paper. Just as importantly, since this is potentially a huge topic--there are no doubt many reasons why Herr might have chosen Khe Sanh--narrow this topic way down to a single specific aspect of it that you think is important.)

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, but to discuss the evidence on both sides of the question you formulate about that specific topic.)

7) Journalists usually try to be or claim to be "objective" about what they report. Has Michael Herr abandoned the attempt to be an objective journalist? If so, what claim to journalistic integrity takes its place? If not, what kind of objectivity does he engage in, given that he frequently expresses his opinions and places himself within the story he writes (things that traditional print reporters try to avoid)? Either way, why does Herr take the particular approach to reporting the war that he does?