ENGL 326: British Literature (Restoration to Romantic)
Professor E. Derek Taylor
Timed Writing Assignment Prompt
Posted 2-18-16
Due 2-21-16 (submit via email as an electronic attachment no later than 9:00 pm; please provide a start and stop time in your email upon submission)
Topic: Despite their many differences, all of the authors we have encountered thus far share an inclination to approach received wisdom with a skeptical eye. Rather than accept comfortable answers, in other words, they tend to ask uncomfortable questions; they poke, prod, and dissect ostensibly “obvious” truths, thus allowing room for new ideas, new “truths,” to emerge. Choose two of these authors and analyze each one’s deployment of skepticism in his/her writing. What purported “truth,” or cultural practice, or idea, or belief, do these authors choose to challenge? Why do they do so? How? What alternative views or ideas or suggestions do they discover in the process? You need not answer all of these questions in the course of your essay—but these will hopefully help orient your argument.
Instructions: Feel free to think, outline, pre-write, drink coffee, walk your dog, talk with others, peruse your textbook, etc., as much as you like prior to writing your essay. But once you decide to begin writing in earnest, set a timer: at that point you have 2 and ½ hours to complete your work. Aim for 650-750 words—roughly three pages (double spaced, 12-point font, Times New Roman). As a rule, use MLA formatting guidelines (i.e., cite quotations parenthetically)—but I do not need a Works Cited page for this submission.
Some key questions to consider:
Professor E. Derek Taylor
Timed Writing Assignment Prompt
Posted 2-18-16
Due 2-21-16 (submit via email as an electronic attachment no later than 9:00 pm; please provide a start and stop time in your email upon submission)
Topic: Despite their many differences, all of the authors we have encountered thus far share an inclination to approach received wisdom with a skeptical eye. Rather than accept comfortable answers, in other words, they tend to ask uncomfortable questions; they poke, prod, and dissect ostensibly “obvious” truths, thus allowing room for new ideas, new “truths,” to emerge. Choose two of these authors and analyze each one’s deployment of skepticism in his/her writing. What purported “truth,” or cultural practice, or idea, or belief, do these authors choose to challenge? Why do they do so? How? What alternative views or ideas or suggestions do they discover in the process? You need not answer all of these questions in the course of your essay—but these will hopefully help orient your argument.
Instructions: Feel free to think, outline, pre-write, drink coffee, walk your dog, talk with others, peruse your textbook, etc., as much as you like prior to writing your essay. But once you decide to begin writing in earnest, set a timer: at that point you have 2 and ½ hours to complete your work. Aim for 650-750 words—roughly three pages (double spaced, 12-point font, Times New Roman). As a rule, use MLA formatting guidelines (i.e., cite quotations parenthetically)—but I do not need a Works Cited page for this submission.
Some key questions to consider:
- Does my essay have a thesis?
- Are my paragraphs constructed around thesis-directed topic sentences?
- Have I supported my claims with carefully selected words and phrases quoted directly from the texts in question?
- Does my essay begin and end thoughtfully and deliberately?