ESSAY #1:
THE WORLD IN WHICH THEY LIVED
DUE THURSDAY, MARCH 25, 2010,
AT 12:00 NOON EST
ESSAY TOPIC: The World in Which They Lived
ESSAY TITLE: ESSAY #1: THE WORLD IN WHICH THEY LIVED
ESSAY CRITICISMS: Biographical/Historical
Biographical / Historical criticism takes its name from where emphasis is placed when trying to understand the true meaning in a work of literature. The word Biographical comes from the emphasis placed on the author, while the word Historical comes from the emphasis placed on an age or era that the author lived in. This is also known as genetic criticism because of the idea that the author and his/her work are the offspring of an age. Studying the age in which an author lived can be helpful in understanding the author's intention of a work. The purpose of this type of criticism is to be as accurate as possible when trying to locate meaning in literature. To write about the Biographical / Historical criticism one must ask what the author meant when he/she created a particular piece of literature. It is the search for the author's true intention, whether conscious or unconscious.
ESSAY STRUCTURE: Research and analysis
ESSAY COMPONENTS (You will choose from the following and research and write about one author/story):
© Ambrose Bierce and “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge”
© Herman Melville and “Bartleby, The Scrivener: A Story of Wall Street”
© Nathaniel Hawthorne and “Young Goodman Brown”
ESSAY QUESTION (choose from one of the following):
ESSAY QUESTION OPTION 1: AMBROSE BIERCE AND “AN OCCURRENCE AT OWL CREEK BRIDGE”
© Provide a brief biography of Ambrose Bierce (150 words, more or less)
© Provide a brief historical summary of the American Civil War (100 words, more or less)
© Discuss three of the following (no more, no less) within the context of historical/biographical criticisms:
© The story’s setting.
© The decorum and the manner in which Peyton Farquar’s sentence of hanging was carried out.
© The significance of the North’s control of a railroad bridge behind Confederacy lines.
© Why Peyton Farquar felt “chafed under the inglorious restraint, longing for the release of his energies, the larger life of the soldier, the opportunity for distinction” and why he was willing to risk his life and considered “no adventure too perilous for him to undertake if consistent with the character of a civilian who was at heart a soldier.”
© How easily Peyton Farquar was tricked by the Union scout (disguised as a Confederate soldier).
© The significance behind the statement: “Mrs. Farquhar was only too happy to serve him with her own white hands.”
© The details in Bierce’s physical descriptions of the pain in Farquar’s body as a result of the “escaped hanging” and the 30-mile trek back to his plantation.
© The significance of the statement: “The wood on either side was full of singular noises, among which--once, twice, and again--he distinctly heard whispers in an unknown tongue.”
ESSAY QUESTION OPTION 2: HERMAN MELVILLE AND “BARTLEBY, THE SCRIVENER: A STORY OF WALL STREET”
© Provide a brief biography of Herman Melville and his relationship with lower Manhattan (150 words, more or less)
© Provide a brief historical summary of Wall Street in the 1850's (100 words, more or less)
© Discuss three of the following (no more, no less) within the context of historical/biographical criticisms:
© The story's setting.
© The role of the scrivener in mid-19th Century Manhattan.
© The significance of Melville's mention of the September 1841 murder of Samuel Adams by John C. Colt
© The significance of Melville's mention of "Priestley on Necessity" and the lawyer's decision that his troubles "touching the scrivener (Bartelby), had been all predestinated from eternity, and Bartleby was billeted upon me for some mysterious purpose of an all-wise Providence, which it was not for a mere mortal like me to fathom."
© The class differences between the lawyer and his scriveners
© The similarities between Wall Street in the 1850’s and the Wall Street of 2010
© The significance of Trinity Church in the life of the lawyer
© Peer pressure and the expectation of conformity
© The analysis of Bartleby as an allegorical “everyman” of the mid-19th Century
ESSAY QUESTION OPTION 3: NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE AND “YOUNG GOODMAN BROWN”
© Provide a brief biography of Nathaniel Hawthorne (150 words, more or less)
© Provide a brief historical summary of Puritan settlers' beliefs/lifestyle in the second half of the 17th Century (mid-to-late-1600's) (100 words, more or less)
© Discuss three of the following (no more, no less) within the context of historical/biographical criticisms:
© The story's setting.
© The significance of dream vs. reality (did Goodman Brown fall asleep and dream the events, or did they really happen?)
© Hawthorne's personal connection to the Puritans and the Salem Witch Trials.
© The significance of Brown's initial conversation with the "traveller."
© The significance of the ongoing double entendre with Goodman Brown's wife's name, "Faith."
© The significance of Brown's meeting-up with Goody Cloyse and Deacon Gookin?
© The significance of a trek into the woods at midnight.
© Hawthorne's motivation for writing to an early 19th Century audience about a mid-to-late 17th Century Salem.
ESSAY VALUE: 100 points (125 points with extra credit; see below)
OPPORTUNITY FOR EXTRA CREDIT:
Discuss four items from the option list, increase the word count to 1,000 words minimum (1,200 words maximum) and earn up to 25 extra credit points.
ESSAY GUIDELINES: Be sure to follow the guidelines for preparing and submitting your essay. Essay guidelines are available at this link:
