ENGL 2112

Summer 2007

Take Home Essay Examination #1

Directions:  Please read these instructions carefully before beginning and follow them closely.  Failure to do so may be costly.    Choose two of the following questions and construct three to five BODY paragraph essays which answer each question.  Your essay should be fully developed.  Be sure to use quotations from the literature (properly cited) in your body paragraphs, as evidence to support your argument.  Feel free to use external research to support your argument; however, this research MUST be properly cited.  Any indication of plagiarism will result in, at the least, a failing grade for the examination. 

The draft that you turn in should be typed.  Be sure to save a “soft” copy in case you are permitted to do revisions.  You may do a “combined” works-cited page in which you list the works cited for both essays; however, it is critical that you properly cite all textual references in the body of your essay (you may use MLA, APA, or whatever citation style is appropriate for your chosen field as long as you are correct and consistent).

Be sure that you fully develop arguments within the body of the essay.  Remember that you are writing for a reader who cannot read your mind.  If I can ask you, “why,” after a sentence, then you need to tell me in your paper.  Support your arguments with textual evidence from the literature we have read by inserting appropriate quotations.  This not only proves you actually read the material; it helps to prove your case.  That’s your goal here, to prove to me that your thesis is correct.  There are no wrong answers, only poorly supported or poorly argued ones.

Finally, don’t be afraid to come and ask me questions.  People who do poorly on this make two mistakes:

1.      They guess instead of asking and

2.      They put this off to the last minute and try to write it the night before it is due.

Neither of these tactics are smart nor will they get you far.  Start now.  Ask me, either by email or drop by the office.  Read the literature.  Do some external research.  Think.  Write.

---Keith

Topics

1. When one compares Oroonoko, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, and Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl it becomes evident that the stories are all framed as quest narratives in which it is vital that the protagonist (hero) gain not only some sort of wisdom; but also the hero must realize that they are, in part, to blame for the troubles that they suffer.  Agree or disagree with that statement, use examples from all three tales to construct and bolster your argument, and fully develop that argument.

2. Heart of Darkness and Frankenstein are both frame stories in which a representative of a “pure” system is on a quest to find and, “deal with” a creation of the system which has gone astray.  Who are the seekers in each tale?  Whom do they represent?  Whom do they seek and why?  How will they deal with their prey?  What is the greater conflict in each story?

3. Heart of Darkness and (choose either: The Souls of Black Folk, Oroonoko, or The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano) are both tales which center around the battle between the archetypes of darkness and light.  Explain how these archetypes work and then compare and contrast how they are exploited by the authors in the works you chose.  Use specific examples and explain the importance of these examples and how they are used to create meaning in the narratives.