Essay Assignment: Slavery as Theme in American Literature
For this essay, you will be working with at least three of our readings (including Uncle Tom’s Cabin) in order to discuss the thread of slavery in early American Literature. Your goal is to look at Stowe’s novel through the lens of slavery in the U. S. I would encourage you to use some material from the 1619 Project to help with this lens (providing a foundation or context for your discussion). You might also look at some of these types of questions:
· How does the American presented in Irving’s work and/or the essay “What is an American?” relate to that shown as American in Stowe’s novel? Who is included in these definitions of American and who is left out? How does the novel approach the different groups?
· How might Stowe have used Emerson’s challenges to Americans in his philosophy of Pragmatism to inform her novel? What can you see of “Self-Reliance” in the actions of Stowe’s characters?
· Consider the approach of the Founding Father’s to the questions of liberty and slavery. Here you might look at Patrick Henry’s famous speech ending with “give me liberty or give me death!” Henry says that to refuse to fight British rule is the same as to accept slavery – how out of touch was he from the enslaved Americans? You might also recall that Jefferson regularly used a slave for his own sexual satisfaction, leading to a number of descendants. And, perhaps most obviously, note how enslaved Americans are considered only 3/5 human in the U. S. Constitution. How does Stowe embody the liberating spirit of the Founders while discrediting their approach to slavery?
· The essay I would write is this one: How does Stowe’s novel work in conversation with Douglass’ address “The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro”? Is his address more or less threatening to the status quo than her novel? Why?
· And feel free to come up with your own approach to the essay.
Technical requirements
· Write a minimum of 1200 words analyzing the thread of slavery in early America as ultimately shown in Uncle Tom’s Cabin.
· Include a minimum of three readings from our class list, one of which must be Uncle Tom’s Cabin (and another of which should probably come from the 1619 Project).
· (You are not required to use any outside resources. If you do so, be sure to cite them in a way that your instructor can easily find them – include links where possible.)
Specifications
· Acceptable Length: 1200+ words.
To get a top score, your paper should
Have a clear thesis statement
Support the thesis with clear, well-developed paragraphs, each of which includes quotations and paraphrases from the literature
Rely extensively on your own analysis
Be relatively free of mechanical errors.
Be complete.
Put your name, course and section number, and assignment title clearly at the top of the document.
(You are encouraged to use MLA format, but do not focus on the formatting. Focus on getting your ideas across to the reader as clearly as possible.) https://owl.excelsior.edu/citation-and-documentation/mla-style/
To Submit
Using a word processing-program, save the document with a filename that includes the assignment title, your first initial and last name in MS Word (.doc) or in rich text format (.rtf)
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