Instructions for Essay #2 (first draft due Oct. 8)

Choose either option and follow the instructions below:

Option A: Analyze an argument

Elizabeth Cady Stanton’s “Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions” from the first woman’s rights conference of 1848 patently follows the form of The Declaration of Independence, composed more than 70 years previously by Thomas Jefferson. Analyze the rhetoric of the two pieces, carefully noting the differences as well as the similarities. Does modeling her “Declaration” after Jefferson’s serve Stanton’s argument? Base your position on several specific passages from the text.

Option B: Analyze a narrative

Character development is a driving force of many stories, fictional and otherwise, including “Cathedral” by Raymond Carver, “Me Talk Pretty One Day” by David Sedaris, “A Good Man is Hard to Find” by Flannery O’Connor and “Araby” by James Joyce. Choose one of these narratives and analyze the ways in which the protagonist (main character) changes over the course of the tale. Does the character’s attitude or outlook change between the beginning and the end of the story? How do the character’s views relate to the theme(s) of the story?

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For either option, you may cite other textual sources in addition to the stories themselves, though this is not required.

The first draft essay will be due at the start of class on Wednesday, Oct. 8. At the top of your first page, include your name, my name, the name of the course (EN103) and the date you’re turning it in. Be sure to label it “first draft.” Bring three copies –- one for me and two for classmates who will critique it during class. Your draft should be 2 to 5 typed, double-spaced pages long. The pages of each copy should be stapled together.

You will revise your essay based on feedback from me and the classmates who read it. The final version must be 3 or 4 typed, double-spaced pages long. You will turn in one copy of the final, revised essay at the start of class Wednesday, Oct. 15.