Resource Author
SchactResource Description
Paper #1
Essay Prompts
Option 1: Using your response paper for inspiration, discuss the connection between the quotes Cooper uses at the beginning of chapters (or a chapter) and the content of the chapters (or chapter). Obviously, you should expand on your response paper, which you may either do by including other chapters that are thematically related, or by going into greater depth about the chapter and the work from which the quote is taken.
To successfully write a paper for this option, you should be familiar with the work from which the quote is taken. If it's a poem, you should fully understand the poem and what it's saying; if it's a play or other longer work, you should have at minimum skimmed the text and have a good sense of the overall plot and themes.
For this paper, please also turn in a copy of your original response paper.
Option 2: Compare the treatment of religion in Cooper and Apess, particularly in regard to the relationship of Native Americans and religion. You may consider some of the following questions: what role does religion play in daily life? Who is religious - and who is not? Is religion racialized? How closely is religion - or religious community - tied to national community?
To successfully write a paper for this option, you should understand the primary religions and the historical moments represented in these authors' texts: American Protestantism and East Coast Native American religious traditions (Pequot and Mohegan in particular). Be sure to avoid the assumption that religion today is the same as religion in the 1820s - or that any particular brand of religion is "right" or "wrong"! You will also need to do close readings of passages from each text - don't rely merely on what is said about religion on the surface.
Option 3: In William Apess's autobiography and his sermons, he makes frequent use of the term "brethren." Sometimes "brethren" refers to his coreligionists; sometimes it refers to other Native Americans, regardless of religion. Using his shifting use of this term as your starting point, consider what community means in Apess's work. What kind of community is he addressing - and what kind of community is he constructing through his words? Remember that many of his works are public sermons, and that his audiences vary in terms of their racial, class, and religious background; the audiences he addresses may or may not be the same as the community he wants to create.
Option 4: Is there a topic you've found particularly interesting and think you'd like to write about? You may propose your own paper topic - just convince me that it will make a good topic and will lead you to an interesting paper.
This paper - which counts for 20% of your final grade (the topic proposal is included in that percentage) - should be a minimum of four pages long, and a maximum of seven.
The paper must have a original, arguable thesis; without a thesis, you don't have a reason to write a paper. It requires research: use a minimum of 3 scholarly sources, two of which must be print, not online, sources. (Yes, that's right, you will actually have to physically enter the library!) It should also have a title - and please, try to be more creative than "Religion in Apess's and Cooper's Work"!
You must turn in a topic proposal regardless of which option you choose to do.
Topic proposal
Please answer each of these questions. Your topic proposal must be approved before you continue; I will not accept papers without an approved topic proposal! (If you wish to change your topic, you need to submit a new topic proposal.)
Topic proposals help me to identify strengths and weaknesses of your essay before you start; it's much easier to go back to the drawing board at the topic proposal stage, rather than after you've already written a draft!
1. Which essay option are you planning to write?
2. What is your working thesis/hypothesis? (Your thesis may change as you do more research, but you should have some idea of what you might argue as you begin this project.) (Your answer should be one or two complete sentences.)
3. How do you plan to support your thesis? Both textual analysis of primary texts, as well as possible secondary sources, should be mentioned here. (Your answer should be a short paragraph.)
Other requirements:
* Your paper should incorporate close reading and textual analysis, as well as secondary sources, in order to support your claim.
* Syntax, grammar and vocabulary should be error-free - so proofread! (Do not rely on spellcheck or, worse yet, grammar check.)
* The paper should include a minimum of three critical sources, only one of which can be found on the web.
* Papers should include a "Works Cited Page"; all sources need to be quoted correctly and cited using MLA format.
* As with all class assignments, you should use a standard, 12-point font (such as Garamond or Times New Roman; do not use Courier or Arial), double-spaced, and use 1-inch margins all the way around the text.
* No extensive headers - your name and the date are all I need - or half-page titles - if you have a long title, use a separate title page. Do not use drop spaces (i.e. a blank line of space to separate paragraphs), as that is inappropriate in academic papers.
* In order to be considered on time, the paper must be turned in on the due date at the beginning of class. No excuses.