American literature
PURPOSE
This assignment is designed to help you focus on a topic from the literature we have read in Units 4 and 5 and develop an argument about that topic based upon one of the questions provided for you below.
SKILLS TO ACQUIRE
This assignment will help you master several important skills necessary to performing writing tasks in college and engaging with ideas and values that are foundational to a well-rounded university education.
Identify literary genres, major writers, and important schools of thought in American literature from the pre-colonial era to the mid-19th century.
Summarize, interpret, and analyze literary texts in relation to a specific argumentative claim.
Utilize and extend the reading, writing, and critical thinking skills developed in ENGL 1101 and ENGL 1102.
Identify the cultural factors that shaped American literature and define the common concerns and values of humanity as expressed through literature.
TASKS TO COMPLETE
Choose one of the questions below to answer for this assignment. Choose a question that you find interesting and believe you can answer in an engaging manner. Support your response not only with good logic and explanations on your part but also with pertinent passages (short quotations are best) from the texts that pertain to the question you have chosen.
Your response should be in the form of a typical essay (probably four to six paragraphs), with a short introduction, thesis statement, and supporting paragraphs with a conclusion.
Your essay should total at least 500 words. Use current MLA format guidelines.
This assignment will count 12% of your total grade for the course.
QUESTION FOR RESPONSE:
How and why does Harriet Beecher Stowe use sentimentality in the excerpt of Uncle Tom’s Cabin to show the brutal effects of slavery?
