Essay #1 Guidelines and Topics

ENG364Y, 20th-Century American Literature

Deadline: November 26th, in class (hard copy) and via the Turnitin site (electronically)
Length: 1250 1500 words
Your paper must:
- convincingly advance and defend a precise thesis in response to one of the questions listed
below (you must, of course, answer the given question and not some other question)
- demonstrate a thoughtful, sophisticated understanding of the work you are addressing
- be typed, double-spaced, use 12-point font, and conform to MLA style
- include a word count on its first page
Your paper will delight me if it:
- articulates a cogent and well-defended thesis
- employs a clear and concise style
- demonstrates at least a little adventurousness and originality
General advice:
- you may use secondary sources if you like, but I would strongly recommend that you avoid
relying on them for this paper; there is little space here to quote such sources at length, and your
focus ought to remain on your own argument; if you do use or consult secondary sources, they
must be included in your Works Cited and Consulted list
- as always, you will need to defend your argument with precise, relevant evidence from the text;
trimming quotations so that they include only necessary material is therefore very important
- proofread your work very carefully, eliminating any spelling mistakes or grammatical/logical lapses
- avoid relying on (shoddy) Internet sources; as Emerson recommends, Trust yourself!
- read over the plagiarism guidelines if you are unclear about the standards for proper citation;
the penalties for plagiarism are extremely severe
N.B. You are only allowed to write on a particular text once during the year (for instance, if you
choose to write on The Great Gatsby for Essay #1, you may not select that text for your Research
Paper).
Essay topics:
1. Fitzgerald is often lauded as a master prose stylist, with a remarkably distinctive narrative
voice. Paying close attention to two or three representative passages in The Great Gatsby,
explain, as precisely as possible, what the most significant features of this voice seem to
be. You may wish to focus, for instance, on such things as Fitzgeralds use of descriptive
detail, lyrical abstractions, and/or idiomatic dialogue. Your job, in short, is to account for
the stylistic features of Fitzgeralds writing that contribute to its distinctiveness. Put
another way: what is it about this writing that makes it sound, as it were, like itself? Be
sure to advance a precise argument.
2. Read over very closely the descriptions and the dialogue of George and Myrtle
Wilson in The Great Gatsby. What, exactly, seems to be the symbolic function of this
unhappy married couple? In defining that function, you may wish to consider, for

instance, the specific ways in which the Wilsons seem similar or dissimilar to the
Buchanans, and how these similarities or differences advance the broader themes of the
novel. Be sure to advance a precise argument.
3. Nick Carraway describes his last meeting with Jay Gatsby as follows:
We shook hands and I started away. Just before I reached the hedge I
remembered something and turned around.
Theyre a rotten crowd, I shouted across the lawn. Youre worth the
whole damn bunch put together.
Ive always been glad I said that. It was the only compliment I ever gave
him, because I disapproved of him from beginning to end. First he nodded
politely, and then his face broke into that radiant and understanding smile, as
if wed been in ecstatic cahoots on that fact all the time. His gorgeous pink
rag of a suit made a bright spot of color against the white steps, and I
thought of the night when I first came to his ancestral home, three months
before. The lawn and drive had been crowded with the faces of those who
guessed at his corruption and he had stood on those steps, concealing his
incorruptible dream, as he waved them good-by.
What does The Great Gatsby seem to suggest, finally, about the reasons behind
Nicks (seemingly conflicted) attitude toward Gatsby? What seems to account,
that is, for the mix of respect and scorn suggested in the above passage? Your
response here must pay close attention to this passage, while connecting it to
other relevant sections of the novel. Be sure to advance a precise argument.
4. Hemingway offers an outline of his writing philosophy in A Moveable Feast
while also putting it into practice. With close reference to two or three chapters
from the memoir, explain 1) what this philosophy seems to be and 2) how it is
reflected in the narrative itself. (You should be sure to quote here the relevant
section of the memoir in which Hemingway outlines his philosophy.) Be sure to
advance a precise argument.
5. In The Snows of Kilimanjaro, Hemingway represents a dying writer who laments his
failure as both a man and an artist. What, exactly, does the story seem to imply about the
relationship between writing and manhood? You may wish to pay particular attention
here to the storys figurative language and its relevance to notions of masculinity. Be sure
to advance a precise argument.
6. At a critical moment in A Streetcar Named Desire, Blanche declares: I dont want
realism. I want magic! [] Yes, yes, magic! I try to give that to people. I misrepresent
things to them. I dont tell the truth, I tell what ought to be truth. And if that is sinful, then
let me be damned for it! Dont turn the light on! Though Blanche is clearly disturbed
and delusional, her outburst here seems to suggest a kind of uncanny profundity. Does the
play seem, somehow, to endorse or sanction a desire for magic in spite of the
derangement of the character who expresses it? Put another way: how might we see this
play and its representation of Blanche as, in effect, a defense of magic over realism? Be
sure to advance a precise argument.
7. In OConnors Good Country People, Hulga and her mother, Mrs. Hopewell, hold
divergent attitudes toward religion (and humanity in general). What does this divergence
seem to illustrate about the broader themes of the story? Be sure to advance a precise

argument.