ENG 220: INTRODUCTION TO LITERATURE
Lights Body Ink
IMAGINATIVE SPECULATION RESEARCH ADVENTURE ESSAY #1
Dr. William A. Nericcio
 

Borrowing somewhat from the intellectual imagination of Gore Vidal (and one can easily borrow ideas from lesser sources), one’s search into the fabulous history of the word "essay," an etymological foray into the labyrinth of essay’s past, will yield another word one might not have expected to run across. That word is "attempt." You see, most people think of an essay as a finished product?a dull, lifeless, inert textual body with a static introduction, an "A-B-C-D" body, and a clear let’s-tie-up-all-the-pieces conclusion. You will not write this kind of essay, opting instead to produce something that is less product and more process. That’s right, I am asking with no little nostalgia to return to the origins of the essay. Your only task is to make a sincere attempt to produce a set of ordered reflections, a group of carefully arranged tasty words which respond in some way to the novels, films, short critical treatments and lectures you have worked through and will continue to work through in the coming weeks. Are you writing for Bill Nericcio, Monika Hubel, Eddie Rosenberg, Shelley Scott and Jonny Holt? In a way, of course you are. But in order to do well on this assignment, you must forget about your peculiar if affable intellectual guides and mentors. The only people who really count are the readers you write for: the audience for your paper. Who are they? Well, they are a lot like you. They are impatient and easily bored. They like specific details; they love direct, succinct quotes woven carefully into the fabric of an essay. If you are going to write about an image, they want to see a reproduction of that image. They hate misspellings and passive verbs. They like tangy language which is fresh and not filled with clichés.

You should take no less than 4 and no more than 7 pages (double-spaced typed, carefully proofread, with a dynamic, suggestive title) to complete your task. No cover sheet or folder-cover is necessary and late papers will NOT be accepted; you are not COMPELLED to do secondary research for this first formal challenge; however, if you do, PLEASE cite your sources using the MLA Bibliography stylesheet--another good start for research is here: http://libweb.sdsu.edu/subject_databases.html#Multi. The completed essay is due under my office door, Adams Humanities 4117 on Friday,  March 8, 2002 at noon, but you are free to turn it in on Thursday, March 7 in class, to save you a trip to campus on Friday. You are welcome and encouraged to show us a draft of your essay before the due date for comment and assistance. Recall that Bill Nericcio’s Office Hours are Tuesdays and Thursdays 12:50 to 1:50 in AH4117.

Please throw yourself into the pleasure of writing this paper!  Take chances and don't hold back--the best A+ essays will probably be efforts where the student, that's right YOU, adapts, warps, refracts, and/or re-imagines the questions provided.
 

Select one of the following challenges:

Women on the Verge Department
Write a sustained, ironic and dynamic essay exploring women as caged beings in Gilman, Wilder and Faulkner.

Settings Department
Explore the role of setting in the work of Wilder, Faulkner and Tanizaki.

Writing Woman Department
Contrast Tanizaki's Ikuko with Faulkner's Dewey Dell--both women are highly sexualized and intellectual, yet one might argue that Tanizaki's vision of women and that of Faulkner are at odds.  Explore this conflict in your essay.

Psychoanalysis and Literature Department
Page through the collected works of Sigmund Freud in Love Library. Find a brief piece, lecture, note, or essay by Freud that allows you to yoke together the work of Charlotte Perkins Gilman and William Faulkner.

Film and Literature Department
At first glance Addie Bundren and Norma Desmond would seem to have absolutely NOTHING to do with each other, yet a patient subtle inquiry reveals that the work of William Faulkner and Billy Wilder share some curious overlaps--using specific examples, explore this connection in your essay.

Mad LIT Department
Explore the theme of insanity in the work of three of the following artists: Junichiro Tanizaki, Billy Wilder, Charlotte Perkins Gilman and William Faulkner.

The Politics of Language Department
Using Elaine Hedges essay in the Feminist Press edition of Gilman's "The Yellow Wallpaper" as a template and aid, contrast the mix or art and politics to be found in Gilman's short story and the poetry of the Taco Shop Poets.

Death Sucks/Death is Curious Department
Contrast the representation of death in the work of Tolstoy, Kahlo, Rivera and Faulkner.

Art/Photography/Film/Literature
Combine any two works you have worked on through March 7 with an artist, photographer, director or writer we HAVE not seen/read/screened together in this class.  You may focus on any theme, motif, issue, overlap or contrast that you deem fit, necessary, interesting and provocative.

Design Your Own Thesis Department
Submit a typed, one paragraph description of a research project of your own design. It must incorporate at least two of the required works from our class, and both must be works you did not address in your first paper. Your typed proposal must be submitted for Professor Nericcio’s approval by Thursday, February 28, 2002.