ENC 1102 Essay 1 - Romanticism / Realism

ENC 1102

Essay 1: Romanticism / Realism (1000 words)

1. Description

You will write a thesis that answers a question and that you will support with text-based evidence.

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, which you should have seen in 1101. 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.

The “paper” will be 1000 words. 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 20% 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. The essays must be based on the texts assigned in class. A paper that relies only on foreign/extraneous texts or does not use the texts we have read for class will not achieve anything above a D+.

3. Topics

You are required to answer one of the following prompts or, alternatively, to develop your own topic. In all cases, make sure your thesis statements are clear. (Remember that a thesis is a sentence or two in answer to these questions, and should demonstrate your attitude.)

? The realists often prioritize talking about social and natural issues. But they also talk about love. How is love characterized in Balzac, Joyce, Chekhov, and/or London? Is Love a failure? If happiness is in love and love is constantly eluding us, are we destined to be unhappy? Use at least 2 stories from the above Realists to support your argument.

? Compare the writing styles between one Romantic story and one Realist story. How is the writing different? Make sure you look at language, grammar, syntax and/or rhetorical devices.

? Do people really have a dark side? Or is this imaginary? Can people be intrinsically evil? Use the two stories by Edgar Allan Poe and Nathaniel Hawthorne as support for your argument.