Length: 1400
Format: Double-spaced, Times New Roman 12-pt. font
Related Readings/Media: Analyze a literary text, use two non-literary texts to make your point.
Topic: (Choose 1 of these topics)
A. Analyze how a search for identity, and how the pressures and expectations of society influence one of the major characters in the story. How are a character’s actions, impulses and desires driven by these factors? How does he respond to these factors? How might he be transformed by them?
B. Analyze why people act cruelly when they are a part of a large social group or in the crowd? How does the society’s mood impact individuals? What are the texts telling us about ritual and blind faith? Can a person’s morality cannot be determined by their appearance?
C. Analyze the consequences of individual suffering. These consequences may include estrangedrelationships, bitter behavior, illness, addiction, or even death. Explore the ways that individual suffering ruins lives, particularly due to people’s reticence or inability to talk about their suffering.
Texts for each topic:
A. “A Doll House” by Henrik Ibsen
Introduction to “The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life”by Ervin Goffman
“I’ll Explain it to You” by Deborah Tannen
B. “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson
“Young Goodman Brown” by Nathanial Hawthorne
“A Good Man is Hard to Find” by Flannery O’Connor
C. “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman “Sonny’s Blues” by James Baldwin “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker
Your Research Paper should include
• An introduction that includes a thesis statement
• A nutshell paragraph (also known as a “nut graf”) that explains to your readers early in the paper what it is about and why they should care
• The body of the article– multiple paragraphs with quotes from the texts, well-researched evidence and analysis.
• A conclusion
chose one from A B C