ENG 241: American Literature II
Response Paper #1 [100 Points]
For your initial response paper, choose one of the following topics. Please note the change
in the due date from Sunday, January 31, to Friday, February 5. These are relatively
short response papers of 3-4 pages and 1,000 to 1,300 words, so be sure to narrow your
selected topic to a focus manageable in so short a space. Whichever topic you choose, be
sure to integrate quotations and discussion of specific examples from the assigned text to
support your claims.
While I initially devised topics for the three short stories as well as for the two novellas, I
have decided that each of you should write about one of the longer assigned texts to keep
things balanced. We will have short answer questions about the Twain, Wharton, Howells,
and Dreiser stories on the mid-term exam.
Choose ONE topic:
1. Watch the film of Daisy Miller, which is on reserve in the ISU Library, and write a
review of the film in which you judge whether or not the film adaptation is a
successful rendering of Henry James’s novella. Since Peter Bogdanovich’s 1974 film
is a rather close adaptation, you might consider issues like tone and character. At
any rate, you will need to narrow your focus to a particular aspect of the film. To
help you to introduce the adaptation, you should go to IMDB.com to locate a
complete cast and production crew [i.e. scriptwriter] list.
2. Focusing on James’s use of narration and point-of-view, discuss whether, in your
view, Daisy Miller is a “nice girl, “ or the mannerless coquette that Mrs. Walker and
others declare her to be.
3. Some critics claim that Kate Chopin’s work is naturalism, while others see her as a
social realist depicting local color and identify her with regionalism. Relying on our
handout definitions of realism and naturalism, state whether you believe The
Awakening is a realist or naturalist novella.
4. Discuss how setting functions in The Awakening, especially references to nature. Of
course, the sea and the “voice of the sea” are central to our understanding of Edna’s
awakening and her end.
Instructions for writing and submitting the paper:

Present your double-spaced, typed paper using times New Roman or Cambria 12
font; use 1" margins on all four sides of the page. Insert page numbers in the upper
right hand corner beginning with page one. You will need to re-set your margins if
using MS Word, for the Word default is 1.25" margins. You also need to use format
paragraph to eliminate the extra space [10 pt.] that Word automatically puts after
each paragraph. Put your name, the course, my name, and the date of submission in
the upper left hand corner of page one. Do not use a title page; instead, simply
center your title on page one just above your initial paragraph. Of course, paper
titles capitalize the first letter of each word [except for prepositions]; your title
should NOT be underlined or put in bold type or quotation marks.

Introduce the novella title, author, and year of publication in your opening sentence
or two. In other words, include a sentence like "Henry James’s Daisy Miller (1878)..."
early in your essay. Provide a brief plot overview keyed to the specific issues that
you will discuss. Your opening paragraph should end with a specific thesis
statement that explains or identifies the purpose of the essay, what will be proved,
and how it will be proved through identification of topics to be discussed.

Begin body paragraphs with topic statements, statements of opinions about story
facts (interpretations), and NOT with the next item in the story sequence and NOT
with a wordy delay phrase like "Another way that the concept that I am discussing is
shown in the way that the story was written is..." or "The reason...is because."

Italicize the titles of novels, novellas, or films and place quotation marks around the
titles of stories.

When you summarize plot, use present tense.

Introduce your quotations, establishing the speaker and context, and document
properly using the MLA format:
An early indication of the importance of the belly as an image of both
illness and healing occurs just before Tayo plunges a broken bottle
into Emo’s gut and Tayo realizes that “The space to carry hate was
located deep inside, below his lungs and behind his belly; but it was
empty” (63).
Additional examples of MLA documentation can be found in any undergraduate guide to
writing papers, like The Beacon Handbook. Of course, the majority of your writing should
be your own analysis and language, but you do need to support your argument by
presenting and discussing key passages in the novel. If the quote itself is a question, the
end punctuation remains inside the quotation mark. Periods, however, are placed after the
parentheses.

After presenting a quotation, be sure to discuss its significance or to explain how the
quotation furthers your argument, unless the quote is simply illustrating a point
made in the material immediately preceding the quote.

Indent and Block quotations that take up three or more lines of your text. Never end
a paragraph or an essay with a block quote, or any undiscussed quotation. Blocked
quotations do not use quotation marks unless the quotation marks appear in the
original text. In block quotations, the period goes before the parenthetical
presentation of page numbers.

Avoid the following wordy delay structures: In my opinion, I think, I feel, I believe,
There is, There was, There are....Do not open sentences with wordy phrasings like
"Another way that..." or "One of the reasons that" or any similar structures. Make
subjects act through verbs in the beginning of your sentences. Instead of "There are
many ways that Gillis affects the colony's chances for survival," write, "Gillis affects
the colony's chances for survival by consuming 20% of their stored food during his
32 years alone on the Alabama." Note that the second version of the sentence
includes specific details of Gillis's actions, while the "There are" opening tends to
lead into vague references to his actions--"many ways." List or name the ways
instead of writing general references.
Paper Length: 3-4 typewritten pages [1,000-1,300 words]; when judging your paper’s length, use
the word count function to determine whether you have written more than 1,000
words.
Paper Due Date: Friday, February 5, no later than 11:59 p.m.
Submit your paper as an e-mail attachment to my ISU e-mail address:
jake.jakaitis@indstate.edu
Title your MS Word file with your last name followed by your topic designation. For example, if
I were submitting a paper on Daisy Miller, my Word file would be titled Jakaitis.Daisy Miller
paper.docx.