English 491: History of Literary Criticism Paper Prompt and Suggestions Al Drake | 520 Hum. Tu/Th 1:30-2:30 | ajdrake@ajdrake.com Formal Prompt: Choose two authors and, focusing on one main issue you find relevant to an understanding of both, write a 5-7 page essay that is clear in its thesis, structure, and language. Your essay must follow MLA (Modern Language Association) style -- this means, among others things, that you must observe the following formatting rules: observe proper
margins Tips: The point of a college-level comparative essay isn't to offer a rigidly structured and exhaustive "back-and-forth" list of unconnected similarities and differences. Rather, the point is to examine your two authors in some detail on the specific point or points you want to write about, developing a clear, structured picture for your reader of the authors' basic views as well as of their main agreements and disagreements. Even more importantly, your reader wants to be informed throughout the paper as to why those agreements or disagreements should matter to someone who is interested in literature, art, history of criticism, etc. For example, why is it significant that Kant's version of the sublime differs substantially from that of, say, Longinus? Or why should I care about Aristotle's disagreement with Plato concerning the truth-status or social value of art? Or who cares if Baudelaire and other symbolists and aestheticists "denigrate" nature in favor of artifice, whereas most earlier authors do no such thing? What kind of broad intellectual shift from one age to the next does your paper lead us to register, or what striking variety even within the same era does it uncover, or what fundamentally insoluble point of contention does it underscore, and so forth? That is the sort of stuff that really keeps readers interested--you want them to know you're leading them to just such insights based on a patient, well-structured analysis of particular passages and points of comparison in your chosen texts. Your essay should make me want to go back and reread the texts you're writing about -- not necessarily out of fawning admiration for them, but simply because you've made it an interesting proposition for me to do so, for whatever reasons you have explored. What am I going to do with the rough drafts? I am going to read them carefully and offer substantive comments. I prepare continually and intensively for all my courses, which is how I can help everyone in the most meaningful way. I don't have time to make detailed corrections to grammar, and in general, after many years of teaching, I suspect that doing so encourages students to turn in hasty drafts so I can "fix" them. I'll help with substance and structure; unless you ask specifically for help, grammar is your responsibility. What eventually makes a good writer is a patient reader with a fine eye for stylistic detail and the willingness to keep writing until some real progress occurs. My "fixer-upper markings" would be a poor substitute for the reading and writing students must do to improve. Still, I have prepared extensive study guides on style and grammar -- please see the syllabus page guide links. Why don't I provide you with several already-worked-out paper prompts? I have found that "going minimalist" with prompts results in better papers -- more variety in topics, more insights, etc. I don't want a batch of cookie-cutter-style papers on the same three topics, even if they're flawless. I would rather have you read your way towards what interests you most, and then write about that. With this aim in mind, I provide prompts that explain the basic patterns and goals appropriate to the subject matter of the course. Hit me with an idea for a paper -- I'll respond promptly by email or in person. Some Possible Points of Comparison: The author's emphasis or combination of emphases in the Hazard Adams "four coordinates" scheme would be a good place to start: that is, are your authors mainly concerned with the relationship between text and world (mimetic or representational), text and author (expressive), text and audience (pragmatic), or text and itself (formal)? Sometimes you'll find that two emphases go hand-in-hand -- for instance, a mimetic emphasis often involves pragmatic concerns, and an expressive emphasis may also have strong pragmatic implications (cf. Wordsworth and Shelley). Any of the major issues we shall discuss could be the subject of a fine paper. Some of them will be as follows: the sublime; the significance of metaphor, figurative language, poetic language, etc.; the definition and value of "beauty"; the social and/or moral purpose of art -- art as educative, regenerative, integrative, corruptive, revolutionary, as reaffirmative of political power and ideology; etc.; the relationship between art and nature; the status of "genius," etc. Please look over some of the materials on writing available via hyperlinks on the "Syllabus" page. "Deductive Essays" is particularly recommended because in it I comment on the basics about structure and purpose in college papers. Another set of handouts deals with how to introduce and cite a literary text properly -- that is certainly something every writer needs to know.
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