Research Essay Assignment
You may choose any author from Volume B that you would be interested in researching.
(1) You must demonstrate how a previous author or group of people (Religious, Explorers, Settlers, etc.) from the Age of Exploration and Discovery, emerging genre, or emerging literary movement (Renaissance, Enlightenment, Romantic) influenced the writer you chose to research. You must use at least one work from your volume B author to demonstrate this influence. You could also choose a theme of a work and discuss the theme and the influences of historical period on its development. This paper could require you to situate the work in its proper historical context or genre, and you will be required to do further research to become knowledgeable about these aspects of the work.
(2) You may also want to include the over-all contribution of your volume B author to American Literature.
Examples:
(A) “Young Goodman Brown” was influenced by the Puritan Doctrine and Puritan writers, as well as the history of Salem and Nathaniel Hawthorne’s ancestors.
* The Salem witchcraft trials – What was Nathaniel Hawthorne’s relationship to this historical event? How might it be reflected in the story “Young Goodman Brown”?
* Research and discuss Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Puritan heritage. Did he accept or reject his Puritan heritage? How did his family background affect his writing? Use “Young Goodman Brown” as your primary example.
(B) “The Birth-mark” was influenced by the tenets of Romanticism. The story appears to have Enlightenment characteristics because of the Chemistry and Science experiments of Aylmer, but if you read closely the deeper message in the story demonstrates Romantic values instead. Remember Romanticism appeared as a result of a type of rebellion against Enlightenment views.
(C) I am sure James Fennimore Cooper (“The Last of the Mohicans”) was influenced by Early Native American histories or accounts.
(D) I am sure...