The Nature, Identity, and War sections

American Literature End-of-Semester Essay—SP 20-21

Instructions: For your final paper, you will think about the readings in the Nature, Identity, and War sections, and you will wrestle with how these writings reflect a change in thinking in U.S. culture and society from the origin to today. This is an argument paper, and you can assume your audience is someone who has not explored American literature but wants to hear your thoughts on how American Literature can show us a development (or lack of development, if you believe that) in U.S. culture over time. You will pick multiple works, then make an argument to what your audience can get from exploring the land, identity, and wars of the U.S. through literature. To make it easier on you, you can think of this in multiple ways, and one of the easiest might be thematic. Start by asking yourself questions like these:

How have these readings shown us a change in human rights and equality?

Are these readings reflective of a clear ethical development in how we interact with nature and our place in it?

Has American Literature reflected a deep connection between everyday society and war, or does it reflect a fracturing of everyday society and those who fight in wars?

Ask yourself questions to figure out what you would like to write about and say, and what answers you could come up with in the readings. I am not looking for one specific answer here; I want to see you engaging with the readings and original ideas that come from your own questions and answers, all backed by examples in the texts.

Your Paper Will: ? Use multiple (3 or more) readings from our class to argue a deeper understanding of the

works ? Have a clear thesis that is making an argument that sticks to the prompt ? Show your argument through specific ideas from texts and scholarly sources (cite

examples), so consult any readings from our class and any credible outside sources you choose

? Demonstrate a clear understanding of your thinking and argument ? Use 2 outside sources

Minimum Requirements: In order to receive a grade of 60 (D) or higher, your paper must:

? Conform to MLA formatting (including all sourcing requirements, i.e. in-text citations) ? Discuss at least 3 works of varying time periods and consult at least 2 outside sources

? Offer 4 full, legible pages ? Provide a Works Cited page (so this is the fifth overall page, not the fourth)

No late work will be accepted, so make sure your paper is in on time.