Core Humanities Seminar, fall 2001

Scott Black

Paper 2

For this paper you have a choice. You may either use the Quest Tutorial to further explore one of the topics that Behn, Equiano, or Franklin raises in her or his book, or you may do a close reading of a passage from Franklin’s Autobiography. (If you choose to do Option 2, you still will have to do the Quest Tutorial.)

Option 1:

This is the "contextual" choice, an exercise in situating a book in its larger historical or cultural context. Select a topic that is raised by one of our texts and do some further research on it (the Quest Tutorial). The exact topic is up to you (what we talked about during our conferences). You should first set the scene, based on your research, and then explain how the text fits into the broader context, or how it comments on it, or even how it changes it. While your focus does not have to be on the text, you should discuss its relationship to your topic.

Option 2:

This is the "textual" choice, an exercise in close reading. Select one passage from Franklin’s Autobiography to discuss in depth. Your analysis should be centered on a central claim that begins and organizes your discussion. You should pay close attention to the details of the passage; it may help to think about how the passage develops, how it accomplishes what it sets out to, and how it relates to other parts of the book.

You may choose your own passage, or use one these suggested ones:
55 (top paragraph), 78 (bottom paragraph), 81-82, 93-94, 105 (top paragraph)

     Papers should be 3-4 pages, in standard font, with standard margins. Title pages are not necessary.
     Rough drafts are due in class Friday, October 5, when we’ll have an in-class editing workshop.
     Final drafts are due in class Wednesday, October10.