Discussions in own words

Answer at least four discussion questions. Write at least 800 words. If you need to answer more questions to reach 800 words, you can do that, but the answers that get the most credit will demonstrate depth of detail.

Your answers should be your own. Your writing should be your own. You will submit this discussion test in Canvas, and it will be run through Turnitin. If you have copied anything from sources, you will be given a 0 for the grade, which means you will probably not be able to pass the class.

Remember that this is a test. You are supposed to work on it on your own. Your answers should reflect your knowledge of the literature you have read this semester. You may discuss the topics with tutors, but you may not get help writing your answers.

You may look up quotes from the reading assignments to help with your answers, but you should use only a minimal number of quotes in your answers. For the most part, paraphrase and summarize what you have read. These discussions should reflect your own writing and your own reasoning process.

Don’t forget that you need to answer the questions, and you need to be analytical. Use summary from the stories to show that you know the stories, but go beyond summary into analysis to show that you understand the importance of the ideas in the stories.

Note: You will write individual answers to the questions you select rather than one essay. In order to keep up with your word count, though, please don’t repeat the questions. Just number your discussions to correspond with the questions.

Discussion Questions

1. How does Hawthorne define the conflict between science and nature? How do we see this conflict in “The Birth Mark”? How does this relate to some of his other themes like good and evil?

2. What’s Stephen King’s explanation for why we crave horror? How can this apply to an Edgar Allan Poe story such as “The Tell Tale Heart”? What are the elements of psychological horror in this story or in other stories by Poe or Irving that could be considered early examples of horror fiction?

3. Pick a poem that you have read for class this semester by Emily Dickinson to explicate (analyze line-by-line). Analyze the meaning of the lines, how they relate to the overall meaning of the poem, and how they relate to what you know about Emily Dickinson and her poetry overall.

4. Explain what transcendentalism is and how you have seen it displayed in the writings of Thoreau and/or Emerson. Why is transcendentalism important to the story of America and its history? What influence did transcendentalists like Thoreau and Emerson have on later movements in American culture?

5. What does Frederick Douglass have to say about the importance of education and the reason slaves were denied education?

6. Why does Harriet Jacobs say that slavery is harder on women than on men? How does Harriet Jacob’s account of slavery demonstrate this belief?

7. Analyze the text of Abraham Lincoln’s “Gettysburg Address” and/or his “Second Inaugural Address.” What are the most important concepts in these speeches?