Essay 2: Modernism (1500 words)
Other
1. Description
You will write an argumentative essay in which you develop, support, and provide evidence to a well-developed thesis responding to the topics below.
Remember that in any paper you write, you will try to persuade the reader of your point. To do this you must exercise the three appeals: logos, pathos, and ethos. Similarly, persuasion will require you to take a stand, so be sure to have a strong thesis that encourages the reader to adopt your point of view.
In order to support your paper, you must support your arguments with direct quotations. Unsupported statements weaken your argument. Failure to support your statements with direct quotations, even where you show proper knowledge of the material, will not result in a passing grade.
The paper will be 1500 words and will be turned in no later than March 25th in class. I will not read late assignments, but I will be very available to you until then. If you need Office Hours let me know.
2. Grading
This assignment is worth 30% of the overall class grade. I will be grading grammar, spelling, and punctuation judiciously. I recommend that you have someone you know read your paper to see if they understand the arguments made. I will be reading these in close and hurried succession, so do not trust that my patience will be great; if I do not understand what you are saying, it will not be scored. You must use the MLA or APA format, which includes a Works Cited page even if only one book was used. I encourage you to use foreign sources to support your statements.
3. Topics
You are required to answer one of the following prompts or, alternatively, to develop your own topic with my permission. In all cases, make sure your thesis statements are clear and that you support your statements using texts that we have discussed in class.
-How is Time manipulated or represented in Modernist literature? How important is it for the Modernist writer? Discuss the issue of time with reference to at least three texts we have discussed in class.
-Modernists, by and large, were concerned with renovating literature. Nevertheless, they have very interesting relationships to the past. How does the past appear in Modernism? How do they change it? Use three stories to support your argument.
-We have talked of the five important thinkers of the 19th and 20th centuries which influenced the Modernist literary minds. Please write an essay in which you explain how their ideas are visible in at least three Modernist stories.
-In Realism and Modernism, we come across very interesting styles of writing. Discuss the writing styles. Why do you think they are more difficult? What were the artists trying to accomplish. For this question, you can compare and contrast modernist stories with realists ones, as long as you can provide a strong thesis.
