People in this class have found an amazing array of things to write about. Some people have chosen texts that will allow them to explore in greater depth some of the issues that have already arisen in class (anticatholic prejudice, education, mobs, democracy....), other people have ventured far afield into other kinds of issues (pirates, transubstantiation, ears, hoop skirts, masturbation, infanticide, beer...).
On Friday we'll be working on the specific challenge of coming up with a thesis statement that will allow you to write an insightful and well-grounded paper on your chosen subject. For that reason, you should bring to class with you a copy of your preliminary assignment (please feel free to modify what you originally handed in if you have some new ideas), which will probably be read by two or three other people in the course of the class.
This assignment has some conceptual overlap with the second paper assignment, yet it has some important differences. Among other things, the assignment requires you to write about texts without the support of previous class discussion on them or the help of footnotes and modern editing, which presents a different set of problems.
In preparation for Friday's class, please respond to this post by articulating what you see as the particular obstacles or difficulties posed by this assignment.
Deadline: Friday (11/13), start of class.
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8 comments:
What I think might be difficult about this assignment is the task of creating an original idea that is not too absurd or plain. I understand that some of the best ideas come from the simplest of observations, but it is occasionally challenging for a person not to strive to be unique even though it is only in a minute way.
I found it hard to narrow down one article. With it being so open-ended, there were many possibilities to chose from and I found it difficult to pick. I also found it hard like Alonzo said to pick an original idea.
First, I must agree with Cara and Alonzo in that choosing an original way to frame the essay has proven problematic. Along that same vein, I have found it difficult not straying into the purely historical side of the paper and forgetting the literary analysis side of things.
I started by searching for one topic, but somehow ended up with a poem about beer. And I now want to write about beer, but I can't help but feel that the paper will focus more on society/class... with beer as a sort of... undertone or device rather than the topic. I'm afraid that the paper will be too stream of consciousness and just be too much of a summary/interpretation of the paper.
I picked an old trial that was held at the Old Bailey, and now I am worried that I will focus too much on the historical aspect of the account and not be able to garner much insight from the text itself... by analyzing the account of what happened, I will be able to understand more about what happened historically but I know that the purpose of the paper isn't just so that I can present a history lesson.
I chose the topic of “pirates,” and even though I have a general idea of what their lifestyles entail, I’m having a hard time trying to connect pirates to the Enlightenment Era. I think it is ultimately due to the text I chose. In this text, it talks about pirates who are about to be put to death. However, rather than reminiscing on their adventurous lives, they reflect on how they have strayed from God, and call for others not to make their same mistakes. I think such discrepancy between what I believe pirates should be thinking and how they are portrayed in this text is what is so difficult about this assignment.
I'm finding it difficult to narrow in the focus of the text into a thesis statement that can effectively be addressed in a 3-4 page paper. There are so many ways to approach the assignment that creating a concise and still valid argument has proven to be challenging. Also, as in the 2nd paper, avoiding the tendency to summarize the text is a slight challenge.
It's been difficult in trying to focus on a specific article with purposes to hashing out a solid thesis on my own. Granted it's meant to take careful observation and big picture synthesis of either works we've read in the past in order to grapple a foreign work from the 18th century but with the breadth of topics we've discussed it's been hard trying to decide which angle is appropriate in trying to lay out a finite argument that not only makes a point but goes in depth, beyond the surface summary.
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