ENGLISH 2328
Essay #2 (Take-Home Essay)
Early Modern Poetry and Fiction
DIRECTIONS: One way of thinking critically about literature is to connect two (or
more) works of literature and note similarities and/or differences. As you connect two
works of literature studied so far in our course, discover meaningful connecting points.
As you develop connecting points, you might want to think in terms of (1) literary terms
(2) critical approaches, and/or (3) literary movements within American realism. The
literary terms include such language as conflict, climax, static/dynamic, symbol, etc.
The critical approaches studied so far include (1) historical critique, (2) biographical
critique, (3) formal elements, and (4) feminist critique. The literary movements within
American realism include (1) frontier humor, (2) psychological realism, (3) regionalism,
and (4) naturalism. In this unit we also studied the Harlem Renaissance. Another resource
for connecting points is your own imagination!
Select one of the critical thinking topics from the list below. Develop one connecting
point in great length or develop two to four related connecting points. Respond in a 1,000
word thesis-controlled essay. Double space your essay in Times New Roman point 12.
Give your essay an engaging title and include an introductory paragraph with a thesis.
Use strong topic sentences for your body paragraphs.
As part of your paragraph development, include six (or more) judiciously selected direct
quotes (partial sentence, full sentence, or blocked format for quotes more than four typed
lines) for support and evidence and document the quotes with correct MLA in-text
citation and works cited entry. Up to 50% of your essay may come from your sources.
This essay requires that you document from only primary sources. There are some
exceptions for secondary sources such as class notes and author biographies if you
choose to use a biographical approach as one of your connecting points. You might also
want to include some material you find on the Harlem Renaissance to include in a
connecting point. You might also find feminist studies. You might also need to define
terms like “the blues.” These secondary sources MUST be documented. You should not
incorporate any critical sources (interpretative) in this essay.
Use the manuscript mechanics we noted on the sample essay on Mark Twain.
TOPICS (select only one):
1. Connect the lives and poetry of Langston Hughes and Robert Frost. (No more
than one body paragraph connecting their lives. Concentrate on connections you
see in their poetry. Be sure to refer to lines from specific poems.)
2. Connect Arna Bontemps’ “A Summer Tragedy” with Willa Cather’s “Neighbor
Rosicky.”
3. Connect Langston Hughes’ “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” with Arna Bontemps’
“A Summer Tragedy.”
4. Connect Zora Neal Hurston’s “The Gilded Six Bits” with Charles Chesnutt’s
“The Wife of His Youth.”
5. Connect Zora Neal Hurston’s “The Gilded Six Bits” with Kate Chopin’s “The
Storm.”
6. Connect Willa Cather’s “Neighbor Rosicky” with Robert Frost’s “The Death of
the Hired Man.”
7. Connect Stephen Crane’s “The Open Boat” with Arna Bontemps’ “A Summer
Tragedy.
8. Connect Robert Frost’s two poems “Design” with “Once by the Pacific.”
9. Connect Robert Frost’s three poems poems “Acquainted with the Night,”
“Design,” and “Once by the Pacific.”
10. Connect Robert Frost’s “Death of the Hired Man” with Arna Bontemps’ “A
Summer Tragedy.”
11. Connect Langston Hughes’ “Hey” with Robert Frost’s “The Pasture.”
12. Connect Langston Hughes’ “Dream Deferred” with Robert Frost’s “Stopping by
Woods on a Snowy Evening.”
13. Connect Langston Hughes’ “Let America Be America Again” with Sui Sin Far’s
“In the Land of the Free.”
14. Connect Langston Hughes’ “Let America Be America Again” with Hamlin
Garland’s “Under the Lion’s Paw.”
15. Connect Katherine Anne Porter’s “The Jilting of Granny Weatherall” with
Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper.”
16. Connect Mary Wilkins Freeman’s “The Revolt of Mother” with Arna Bontemps’
“A Summer Tragedy.”
17. Connect three poems by Robert Frost that reveal his “dark side.” How do you
define “the dark side”?
18. Connect three poems by Langston Hughes that reveal he is “an American
dreamer.”
19. Connect Langston Hughes’ poem “Harlem” with “The Negro Speaks of Rivers.”
20. Other?