Assignments

1. Thematic Interpretation: Review William Deresiewicz’s “Great Expectations: What Gatsby’s Really Looking For”. Then try your hand at similarly describing a theme or issue explored in a literary or cultural work you particularly admire. Perhaps you have a take on Neil Gaiman’s Sandman series that you want to share or you view a more conventional work (Tom Sawyer; The Scarlet Letter) in ways that other readers typically do not. Because of its magazine audience, Deresiewicz’s essay is relatively short andhas no documentation. Your essay mightfollow the same format, but be respectfulin acknowledging sources informally.
2. Close Reading: In “Insanity: Two Women”, Kanaka Sathasivan does a close, almost line-by-line analysis of Emily Dickinson’s “I felt a Funeral, in my Brain”; then she compares the themes and strategies of the poem to those she finds in Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper.” For a project of your own, do either a close reading of a favorite short poem or song or a comparison of two works from different genres or media. For the close reading, tease out all the meanings and strategies you can uncover and show readers how the text works. For the comparison, be sure to begin with works that interest you because of some important similarity: They may share a theme or plot, or even be the same work in two different media — Game of Thrones in novel and television forms, for instance.
3. Analysis of a Visual Text: Photographers Dorothea Lange, Walker Evans, and Gordon Parks recorded images documenting the long-term effects of the Great Depression. In a short paper, describe the specific scenes you would photograph today if you hoped to leave as important a documentary legacy as Lange, Evans, and Parks. To make the project manageable, focus on your local community. Showcase your own images in a photo-essay.
4. Your Choice: Write a paper about any work of poetry or fiction that you wish more people would read. Use your essay to explain (or, if necessary, defend) the qualities of the work that make it worth someone’s serious attention.