ENGL 371 (Schedule #26725)
Virginia Commonwealth University
Spring 2012
Tues-Thurs 11am-12:15pm :: 429 Hibbs Hall
Prof. David Golumbia
Office: 324D Hibbs Hall
Spring 2012 Office Hours: Tues 12:30-3:00pm

American Literary Beginnings

FINAL SHORT PAPER ASSIGNMENT

The first short paper assignment is due Tuesday, May 8, at 4pm. The paper should be sent electronically to me at dgolumbia@vcu.edu.

The paper should be a work of literary analysis of 6-7 pages or about 1500 words. Word count is more important than page count, so if you have any questions, use the word counter in your word processing file. Within reason, there is never a penalty in my class for handing in too many words, but a paper notably under 1500 words will fail to meet the minimum requirement for the assignment and will have difficulty receiving full credit.

The basic rule for all assignments in the course is simple. You are to produce a short essay of literary interpretation about one of the works we read in class, or another closely related work chosen in consultation with me during my office hours or via email. It is not a research paper, and there is no expectation that you will do extensive outside research for the paper.

Nevertheless, because of the unusual and historical nature of the texts in this class--because they are not conventional literary works like novels or poems--and because they are implicated directly in a long series of historical events, there are many ways in which you may choose to use a small amount of outside research in your papers. Some of the essay prompts below hint in this direction; I encourage you to consult with me directly about any ideas you have for the paper, especially if they do not fit neatly into one of the assigned prompts.

Your paper should include quotations from the primary work you are interpreting. It amy also include quotations from any secondary sources you discuss or whose ideas you mention. Every one of these citations or references must be clearly indicated in any standard reference style. Failure to properly cite these sources constitutes plagiarism under VCU's guidelines and standard research guidelines. You may use footnotes, endnotes, and/or a bibliography. In each case, the essential thing is to clearly indicate which work and which page number you are referencing. For online works such as Wikipedia without distinct page numbers, simply indicate the reference source without page number. If you have any questions about proper citation procedures please contact me either after class or via email.

You are welcome to try to cite older works so as to indicate both their original composition/printing date and the modern edition you are using, although I do not require you go into quite this much detail. For example, here is one very complete way you might accurately cite the Brief Destruction... by Las Casas:

There are a total of three written assignments for this class. This is the final short paper, due during the exam period for the class.

Essay prompts

  1. Open topic: any topic on the literary interpretation of the texts we have read for class that was not covered in class discussion. You may also consult texts not on the syllabus in consultation with the instructor via email or in person prior to handing in the paper.
  2. Compare specific sections of Gaspar de Carvajal's log of Orellana's journey ("Carvajal's Account") with the related parts of Aguirre, the Wrath of God. Why does Herzog use Carvajal's material? Why does he keep what he keeps and change what he changes? What kind of interpretation of Orellana's story and of the colonial project in general is Herzog offering in his film?
  3. Compare specific sections of Gaspar de Carvajal's log of Orellana's journey ("Carvajal's Account") with the relevant parts of Oviedo's account of the journey (available in the secondary documents area of Blackboard). What biases, orientations, and uses of language do you see in the two different versions of the accounts? What is each writer trying to persuade his audiences about? What is the evidence for these persuasive projects?
  4. Read and provide a literary interpretation of Cabeza de Vaca's 1542 Report on the Unknown Interior of America (English translation online here; there are also copies in Cabell library). You may choose to compare the written narrative with other narratives we have read, and/or to reflect on its presentation as the fourth episode, "All the World Is Human," of Michael Wood's Conquistadors (of which we watched the other three episodes--Cortes, Pizarro, and Orellana--in class).
  5. Read and analyze one or two of the Women's Indian Captivity Narratives in the volume on reserve at Cabell Library (Kathryn Zabelle Derounian-Stodolas, ed., Women's Indian Captivity Narratives, Penguin Books, 1998, Course Reserves E85 .W85 1998 24 hour Loan), or another copy of the texts (any version is acceptable; the Derounian-Stodolas volume is just a good recent edition). You may choose to compare one of these texts with another of the texts we have read this Spring.
  6. Compare and provide a literary analysis and interpretation of the presentations by Captain John Smith of the Jamestown story (or another story of your choosing) in more than one of the several narratives included in the John Smith, Writings volume (in addition to the "True Relation" and the Generall Historie we read for class, these also include The Proceedings of the English Colonie in Virginia and The True Travels).
  7. Closely analyze the forms of authority represented in one or more of the texts we have read for class. "Authority" here means many things and you are free to choose those meanings that are most resonant for you with the texts you examine: the authority of the writer of a text ("authorship"), political authority in various forms (practical authority over a group of people, and/or formal authority via government), popular vs royal authority, religious authority. What are the means and mechanisms via which authority is demonstrated in the texts? What kinds of authority do the writers acknowledge or understand in the various groups of people of whom they are part and/or they meet in their travels?
  8. Carefully compare some of the texts John Smith utilizes in Book One of the Generall Historie with some of the texts he edits/adapts for that book (Hariot, Barlowe, & others in the same WRitings volume). What does he change and why? What do his changes mean for our reading of the text?
  9. Select some chapters from Edward Gray's New World Babel or Gordon F. Sayre's Les Sauvage Americains and apply it to texts other than those which Gray or Sayre discuss in their criticism.
  10. Read the chapter "Gender and the Discourse of Discovery" from Margarita Zamora's Reading Columbus and apply it to the parts of John Smith's Generall Historie that we did not read for class.