Core Humanities Seminar, spring 2002

Paper 1

For this exercise, you have a choice. You may either address the issues raised by the in-class rewriting exercise, or write an analysis of passages from Behn and Equiano.

Option 1: write an account of what you did in our "translation" (rewriting) exercise today (Monday). You should explain what you changed and why, using evidence from the texts (quotations from Behn’s Oroonoko and Equiano’s Narrative) to support your account of what you did. (I changed this sentence from Equiano to that because Behn does this: …) As this is not a regular paper, you do not need an introduction or conclusion, but should just jump right in to your analysis.

Option 2: Compare a passage from Behn’s Oroonoko to a passage from Equiano’s Narrative. Suggested passages are below, or you are welcome (even encouraged) to choose your own passages. (These may extend work you’ve done in either your reading journal or your response papers.) As this is not a regular paper, you do not need an introduction or conclusion, but should just jump right in to your analysis.

Think about the paper in three parts: a detailed discussion of each passage (approximately a page each), followed by a comparison (about a page). For each passage, it may be helpful to think about what the author means to convey, and how she or he goes about doing this. You should be addressing both the main claim (the goal, the "what") of the passage, and the techniques (the means, the "how") of the passage, and considering how these two aspects of the passage relate to each other. In the comparison section, you should then compare the two ways the authors achieve their effects.

Suggested passages:
Oroonoko: p. 33 (bottom paragraph, to top 34), p. 39 (bottom paragraph), p. 61 (top paragraph), 76 (bottom paragraph, to top 77)
Equiano’s Narrative: p. 56 (middle paragraph), p. 83 (middle of page), p. 104-5, p. 139

Papers should be double-spaced, in a standard font, with standard margins, etc. Title pages are not necessary.

Due in class Monday 2/4.