American Literature 1820-1865 -- (NAAL, Volume B) -- Short Paper Assignment

Option #1: Read the historical and literary-historical background section listed below, and then write one page, word-processed and double-spaced, summarizing what you consider to be the most important information found in one of these sections.  For this summary, you do not have to cover everything; instead, focus on those parts that are most essential or interesting to you.

• American Literature 1820-1865 – pages 957-977

Option #2: Read one (1) writer not listed on the course reading schedule (see list below), approximately 10 pages, and then write one page, word-processed and double-spaced, briefly summarizing and then mostly reacting to, analyzing, or evaluating the selection.  Perhaps highlight what you consider to be significant about the selection, or make connections between your chosen writer and one or more of the writers on the course reading schedule.

• James Fenimore Cooper – A Chapter from an Early American Novel
• Caroline Stansbury Kirkland – Two Chapters from an Early American Novel
• Lydia Maria Child – An Anti-Slavery Letter to the Editor
• Abraham Lincoln – Three Speeches by the President (Anti-Slavery)
• T. B. Thorpe – A Short Story (perhaps an early “Tall Tale”)
• Louise Amelia Smith Clappe – Two Selections from a Travel Narrative about the California Gold Rush
• Bayard Taylor – America’s First Professional Traveler on the California Gold Rush
• Louisa May Alcott – A Short Story (perhaps about Transcendentalism)
• Harriet Prescott Spofford – A Short Story (perhaps about a ghost)
• Emma Lazarus – Poetry

Extra Credit Option: Write two (2) papers as described above, instead of just one.

Short Paper Due on Monday, November 3, 2003