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Please complete all three steps in your response this week:
Identify the author and the literary work you are focusing on for your research essay.
Share the thesis of your research essay.
Explain what specific kind of secondary source information you feel will support your thesis.
Identify the BMCC databases you have explored to date and what the results have been.
90 thoughts on “Week 9 Discussion”
The literary work my essay is centered around is “The Most Handsomest Drowned Man in the World” by Gabriel Garica Maruqez. In my essay, I will be discussing how Gabriel Garcia Marquez uses the theme of identity and transformation throughout the story and how that theme is reflected in the village and it’s citizens. My thesis states “ Through the genre of magical realism, Gabriel Garcia Marquez uses imagery to explore themes of identity and transformation through the village and its people.” The type of secondary source I think would best fit my essay is a literary critique about how Marquez incorporates magical realism into his short story. Gabriel Garcia Marquez uses fantasy elements within this story but it is still grounded in reality.
Serafina, This is a great choice of story, this theme of identity and transformation in the story is well reflected in the citizens of the village. They were lost and dull but this strange open a new world of possibilities. Your choice of secondary source fits your thesis since the author uses magical realism to bring his story into the minds of readers. Indeed, Gabriel Garcia Marquez uses fantasy elements in the story but in reality they have profound meaning for the villagers. These stories were all great and all of them have meaning to our lives in one way or another.
Serafina, you’re ready to go. This is great. I agree that a literary critique would serve your essay more than a biograpical entry.
Hi Serafina, I will also be focusing on Gabriel Garcia Márquez’s work, “The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World”. I think transformation is one of the main themes of this story, which shows how the drowned man transforms the world of the villagers by expanding their imaginations. Also, I believe that the author effectively uses magical realism by applying fantasy to ordinary events and using information about magical realism as a secondary source is a good idea.
My essay is focusing on “The Most Handsomest Drowned Man in the World” by Gabriel Garica Maruqez. In my essay I will talk about how the author Talks about the he transformation and the impact that happened with the village people in the story. One can argue that the women in “The Handsomest Drowned Man in The World” were eager to believe in something that they can not find meaning in which was the nameless corpse. This eagerness symbolizes humans desire to believe in something greater and extraordinary.
Hi Serafina, I also choose “The Most Handsomest Drowned Man in the World”. I also think that transformation is most important on in the story and how it change village peoples life. And using magical realism as your secondary source will support your essay strongly.
Hi Serafina, I like the story that you choose for your research essay, and the way that you will show and prove your thesis statement. The secondary source that you are going to use in the essay is going to help you a lot. The author Gabriel Garcia Marquez for the story “The Most Handsomest Drowned Man in the World” uses fantasy elements in the story but in reality they have profound meaning for the villagers, and how they act throughout their lives.
Serafina I agree with you the author Gabriel Garcia Marquez uses identity and transformation throughout his story. I liked how you compared your secondary source to the primary source.
My essay is about ”Salvation” by Langston Hughes. I will be discussing the author’s loss of faith and what caused him to experience this Epiphany. The thesis of my essay is ”Salvation” highlights the Epiphany of a young boy in church and his realization that Jesus is not real”.
I think I will use literary critique and biographical as my secondary source to show Langston Hughes hostility towards religion and disillusionment with religion. I have explored Gale Literature and I found an essay from Langston Hughes review ” Religion in the Life of Langston Hughes”.
Hey Treshel, your options for picking a secondary source for your essay sound good. Especially if the literary critique you found about Langston Hughes expands on his thoughts about religion and how that experience affected his view when he got older. His experience in the church would make any young boy lose faith, especially when he had built up such a high expectation about meeting God and speaking to him. If there were any articles of Langston Hughes talking about that experience would also help your essay. Good luck on your essay.
Hey Treshel, I will be doing the same topic and story. I feel this is a good choice because it’s a very realistic and relatable story to write a research essay on. Good luck on your paper and this is a very interesting story because of the many ironies that take place like lying in a church and believing god is going to save you when you can only save yourself.
Treshel, good for you for finding that great source on Hughes and religion. Your thesis focusing on the epiphany at the heart of the story is excellent.
Hi Treshel, I also choose the same “Salvation” by Langston Hughes as you. This essay write that Langston Hughes has lost their faith and that it experienced Epiphany. Jesus also has experienced the event that he did not exist in his origin. It is also great to know that he can not meet God that you can meet God. From this experience, religion’s faith is very interesting how it is involved in life.
Hi Treshel Arokium, You choose a good story to write as your literary research essay. It is interesting to know how he did not meet God. Also your secondary source sound great as well. Good luck.
I could not find a good secondary source foe my essay.
The literary work I am focusing on is, “Araby” by James Joyce. The main purpose behind this essay is to show how lack of emotional needs or having a sense of missing something in life will impact one’s cognitive dissonance. Through my secondary sources, I will then contrast with the theory or the message behind James Joyce’s story, “Araby” along with my thesis statement. My thesis statement is, “ It is human nature to have the tendency to find an escape from reality just to live the life people seek for their sanity.” Now, to support my thesis, I have decided to use an online magazine and article as my secondary source information. I found one magazine article titled, “Why we all need (seek) psychological escape” which I strongly believe will support my thesis. With the help of the information I will be explaining and comparing why in general our human mind needs to find an escape and explore making connections to find out why did the boy in Araby lived in fantasy rather than reality.
Hi Prasika.
I just wanted to chime in hear and reply to you that the Professor added in week 9 updates that we should not use any wiki or online .com as a secondary source of information for this essay. I believe from what is posted we are to use the BMCC library as a credible source. I visited for my own essay, and they have a cool chat feature which can connect you directly to a librarian that can help you look for those sources. I hope you don’t mind me sharing this, I just would not want you to lose any credit because of an online secondary source. Best of luck with your paper, sounds like it will be interesting.
Thank You Janine! I am now aware. And all the best to you too!
My literacy essay is concentrated on “A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner. My thesis will be focused on how William Faulkner uses figurative language throughout the essay to establish an image and a substantive meaning of the main character for the reader. The various techniques Faulkner employs range from metaphors to images and symbolism, which helps paint the protagonist’s peculiar life through her death. These literary techniques are scattered throughout the story and each of them play an imperative role in the plot. The kind of the secondary source that will be suitable for my essay is a literary critique to demonstrate how figurative languages used by Faulkner plays a crucial role in many other forms of literature.
Fatu, this sounds great, but where is your thesis statement? Also, it’s a “literary” essay. This is a wonderful topic to explore with respect to “Araby.”
The Literary work I am using for my essay is “A Rose For Emily” by William Faulkner. I will be discussing Faulkner’s use of time and how he is able manipulate it and make it seem to the reader as it is happening at the same time.
My thesis – What Faulkner does in “A Rose for Emily” is present Emily’s life through flashbacks to specific moments in her life. By doing this Faulkner is able to present the past as well as the present as going on at the same time.
The type of secondary source that I believe will best support my claims would be a review on the use of time manipulation and the use of flashbacks and using it to best represent characters.
Hi Neil! I am also using “A Rose For Emily” for my essay and basing it off of the non-linear timeline fo the story. It makes the story unique compared to other stories and I agree that it does manipulate the reader. Faulkner also makes it seem as though they’re apart of the neighborhood viewing everything that is happening. I think your secondary sources are great.
Neil, you’ve got a good thesis here. I’m not sure where you are going to locate information about the manipulation of time in literature—ah, wait, you could use the literary article from the Week 4 page!—and flashback is an interesting element to explore.
Hey, Neil! Faulkner’s “A Rose For Emily” is such a good literary work for this assignment. It’s definitely the most unique piece of all the choices due to the nonlinear passage of time in it. Best of luck for your essay piece!
Gabriel, while giving compliments is nice, you also have to expand the discussion here in your responses to others.
The literary work I am focusing on is, “A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner. In my essay I am discussing the weird time line and jumps on Emily’s age, that is shown throughout the story. I believe the secondary source that would best suit my essay is the one in week 04, granted by the professor itself. It’s a literary analysis, named, “Town and Time: Teaching Faulkner’s A Rose for Emily”. I believe this to best suits my thesis because it contains parts that will be helpful on my essay, aside that if Ms. Conway believe is good enough to add it to the week’s folder than I sure do too.
Jon, this is all good, but what’s your thesis statement?
Jon i think that A Rose for Emily is wonderful piece to write about for this literary essay, i too chose this literary piece, you can expand in your essay and thesis the different reasons why faulkner might have used this distorted timeline to tell the story of miss emily’s life. I think your secondary source is a great choice as well because this source shows Faulkner’s personal view towards Miss emily and explains his reasoning for using this distorted timeline
The author and literary work I will be focusing on for my research essay is “Salvation” by Langston Hughes. The thesis of my research essay is Langston’s epiphany happening due to situational irony. He thought he would’ve been saved by Christ but instead he lied to save his oneself. The secondary source I feel will support my thesis is a primary source on the biography of Langston since this story took place in his life. I have explored Gale Literature so far and there’s a few results on his life and outlook of what its like being an African American in his time.
Regina, I like your thesis for your essay and you using situational irony. What this young boy experience at church was not what he expected to happen. Your option of secondary source is good since the author had this experience himself and his biography will have interesting information that will back up your thesis. I like this story because it is relatable especially in Black churches and the pressures place on you to accept Jesus before you know what to believe.
Regina, this is a good topic, but what’s your thesis statement? Also, make sure your secondary source is relevant to your topic. Is the outlook of African Americans at this time relevant to your discussion of situational irony?
Regina, this is great. Can you share the actual thesis statement?
The literary work that I will be focusing on for my research essay is “Salvation” by Langston Hughes. I think that all the other stories have been interesting, but I found very intriguing the devastating experience that marks young Langston for life. The thesis of my essay is how the story addresses the ironic nature of the boy’s epiphany. I have to be honest, trying to find the secondary source information to support the thesis was a little more complicated than I thought, just by typing the author’s name the date base will give you many options to choose from, and it could be harder to pick one. So far, I manage to reduce my options to two “Looking for Langston: Themes of Religion, Sexuality, and Evasion in the Life and Work of Langston Hughes” from Gale Literature Resource Center, and “Langston’s Salvation: American Religion and the Bard of Harlem. By Wallace D. Best” from Oxford Academy. Both look very interesting but I probably only going to use one of them.
Kenia, your thesis is good, and both your sources are fantastic! Others might want to search for these too. But where is your thesis statement?
Hi Professor Conway, my thesis statement is “Salvation” shows with a sense of irony the overwhelming experience of a youngster that abandons his beliefs, because of his high expectations of being able to see Jesus, and the pressure of his congregation to declare that he was saved.
Hi Kenia,
I too found the secondary sources hard to come by outside of the wiki and .com. I think the main reason is because everything that seems to be coming up on the BMCC library are actually biographies of Langston and not so much of information on the “Salvation” story itself. I chatted with the librarian and she gave me pretty much to same sources as you. My thesis was not based on Langston as an author but on the story so that where i was a bit stumped, but then I though wait, Hughes is the actual boy character in the story so IS it ok to use biographical sources as a secondary source with my thesis based on the irony of the story? I hope this wasn’t confusing. I am posting this as a reply to you hoping Professor Conway will add her advise so we can continue to find the credible sources to support the thesis for “Salvation” I wish you luck with your paper.
Hi Kenia, My research essay also deals with Langston Hughes’ “Salvation”, and I also like the thesis of your essay. This story is quite ironic for the boy looking for “Salvation”, and this experience changed Langston Hughes’ view of religion. I had the same difficulty as you in looking for secondary sources. Most of the sources I searched were irrelevant to the thesis of my thesis, which made me a little frustrated. Fortunately, I still found the suitable secondary sources.
ENG 201 Sec. 0527
Kenia, I noticed that for your research essay you are going to work with Langston Hughes, “Salvation” and that we are taking similar directions. “Langston’s Salvation: American Religion and the Bard of Harlem” by Wallace D. Best is a great source. This is one of my sources as well. Best did a biographical study on Hughes and also put focus on religious aspects that I think can really put a good foundation in your research. You might also want to look into Josef Sorett who is the Professor of African American Studies at Columbia University, for two main reasons. Firstly, he had an interview with Wallace D. Best and discussed his literary work in some depth, also because he directs the “Center for African-American Religion, Sexual Politics and Social Justice”. I think you can find something interesting there. Lastly, if you don’t mind, I would like to look into your source, “Looking for Langston: Themes of Religion, Sexuality, and Evasion in the Life and Work of Langston Hughes”. It may help me out in my research. I am focusing on the Epiphany, but tying in Hughes’ views of religion due to the childhood event that occured in “Salvation”.
The literary work I chose to focus on is “a Rose For Emily” written by William Faulkner. The author uses a non-linear/non chronological narrative. It helps to create a sense of mystery and keep readers interested. Readers are kept from guessing at the gruesome ending of the story. The type of secondary source that I believe will support my thesis is a literary critique of the story to prove how the non-linear narrative effects how the reader views the story. It also shows how the reader reacted to it. I have used Gale and BMCC library databases to search information about the author and on the literary work itself.
Sheilaya, this exploration of “A Rose for Emily” sounds great, but where is your thesis statement?
The literary work my essay is going to. be based on is “A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner. My essay will be about the struggles women go through searching for approval from men whether it’s from dad, brother, or significant other. My thesis is The protagonists ending illustrates that searching for men’s approval can only drive you crazy. The secondary source I will be using is,” The Resisting Reader: A Feminist Approach to American Fiction” by Judith Fetterley and the quote ” The importance of Emily’s father is shaping the quality of her life is insistent throughout the story.” Personally, I agree that maybe not only the approval from men can drive you crazy but the constant need from approval from everyone, seems exhausting.
The literary work my essay is based on is “A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner. The thesis I am focusing on in my essay is how the author uses a nonlinear timeline in the story to represent how Miss Emily refuses to change with the times and has a disoriented perception of time. I believe the secondary source information that will best support my thesis is possibly a literary critique or an analysis to have a deeper look into why the nonlinear timeline represents Miss Emily’s lifestyle or even why the nonlinear timeline was chosen to be told by the townspeople.
I agree with you Emmalee because Emily never wanted to really face reality whether it had to do with the death of her father or the rejection she felt with Homer Baron. This leads her right next to Baron dead because of her inability to accept that he did not want her. Therefore, she does not allow time to help her grow.
My essay is based on the work “Salvation” by Langston Hughes. My Thesis is based on the irony of Langston going to the church service with Aunt Reed expecting to get saved, but does not really get saved. He does not experience anything Aunt Reed told him would surely happen, but instead experiences confusion, disappointment, and a whole host of feelings that are opposite of what he was told to expect. I have activated “Internet Archive” through the BMCC library and am researching “The Color of Christ: The Son of God – Saga of Race in America”by Edward J. Blum and Paul Harvey which have interesting information that I believe will support my thesis about the irony in “Salvation.”
Hi Janine, my literary work also will be about “Salvation” by Langston Hughes. Apparently, all of us that will be doing the research essay about this story, will be concentrating on the ironic aspect of the storyline. I like that you already found your secondary source to support your thesis, I’m still working on that since my two options have great information and I am not sure what to pick. Good luck with your paper.
ENG 201 Sec. 0527
My research essay will be on Langston Hughes’s literary work, “Salvation”, where I will focus on the literary element of epiphany. My thesis will discuss the traumatic events of his childhood and the epiphany that lead to his loss of faith, and becoming an atheist. My thesis is, this Epiphany left Hughes traumatized, changing his whole perspective on religion as an atheist exploring the irony of faith throughout his career in writing. I will point out correlations within his work and tie in the ironic or traumatic events that lead to his epiphany. I hope to achieve this by pointing out the hidden cues within the story and reflecting them to his questioning nature. I will apply information in my essay, from his memoir “The Big Sea”, where his views on faith are discussed.
The literary work I am focusing on for my research essay is “The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World” by Gabriel Garcia Márquez. In my essay, I will be discussing how the villagers gave an identity to a dead man by creating a story for him and thereby influenced on their own transformation that changed their lives and perspectives. The thesis of my essay is, In “The Most Handsome Drowned Man” by Gabriel Garcia Márquez, the author uses magical realism to demonstrate the theme of transformation. I think the specific kind of secondary source information that will support my thesis is a literary critique about how García Márquez uses magical realism in his short story. The author uses realistic things with little twists on them to make them look fantastic. Thus, the fantastic things in this story help the villagers transform into something better.
Hello Altynai, this is very interesting. I believe that Gabriel Garcia Marquez gave a little twist to the story as he added a bit of a mystical or majestic approach to the drowned man. This approach would be very interesting to once again go over the detail of how a drowned man was able to transform a village with only his presence and the rest was the imagery of the villagers as they themselves view how he would have impacted their lives if he was alive.
My research essay focuses on Langston Hughes’s “salvation.” In my thesis, his epiphany will focus on his thoughts and values of religious beliefs. He went to church with his aunt in his childhood, where an ironic event happened. The event changed his mind and his beliefs in his religion. So I will explore how his thoughts and ideas about religion have changed. I searched for secondary sources using Gale literature. Since there are many materials in Gail literature. So it was very difficult to find the material I wanted even if I entered the author’s name. Besides, it was hard to find out which material contained good information for my thesis. From that huge amount of material, I chose a secondary material called “The Embodied Freedom of Langston Hughes.” I believe this information is suitable for my treatise, so I would like to use this resource to discuss my thesis.
Rii, I will also be focusing on “salvation” by Langston Hughes. Your secondary source sounds very good! Good luck on your essay!
Nicole, your comments to others have to expand the conversation a bit!
The story I will be focusing on is, “Salvation” by Langston Hughes. My thesis for my story is The setting of this story helps the reader see the pressure the boy is under.The type of secondary source that will support my thesis, is a literary critique where it will go hand and hand with my thesis. I have not yet found my secondary source but I am looking for that too.
Professor,
My thesis for my essay are the figurative languages Faulkner uses such as : imagery, symbolism and metaphors
Fatu, what is your actual thesis statement?
Professor the literary work I am focusing on for my essay is “The Story Of An Hour” which is a short story written by Kate Chopin.I chose this story because I love the use of descriptive words used in the short story and the literary device of irony used in the story.The story is about a woman Mrs.Mallard who is living with heart disease and how she has to face emotions after learning her husband Brently has passed away.The story really input a image in my mind where I pictured seeing the woman being physical upset after learning this.
Michael, you must read the directions for this assignment (Activity 5, Week 4 page). “The Story of a Hour” is not on the list of topic options.
The literary work i am focusing on is “Salvation” by Langston Hughes. My thesis focuses on the quest for faith by a boy and his subsequent rejection of it after this attempt fails. The narrator discusses the high expectations that accompany religion in the essay and the crushing disappointment of failure to achieve those lofty objectives. The secondary source I am going to use would be on the BMCC database Biography in Context. I think his biography would support my thesis because its about his life.
Khadijah I like how your thesis explains why the boy in “Salvation” rejects faith because of the fact that when he tried to embrace it and give it a chance to prove itself it failed him. I also like how you were able to discuss the narrators expectations. Good luck on your essay.
Khadijah,
I really like your thesis and how you chose to talk about the expectations that were given to Langston Hughes about his experience with religion. An interesting point to be made, i feel, is how the church seems to employ indoctrination through attrition. They have the kids sit in a booth and pressured and coaxed by the members of the church and family until they fold. It seems like all the hope he was given to be saved of sin is let down when he see that everything they told him is a lie to get him to conform.
The work i have chosen for my research essay is “A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner. My Thesis for the project is that Emily in the story is a metaphor for for the things the town wants to leave in the past. Emily is consistently drawn to look like she does no fit in the town and as they change she does not. The types of secondary sources i will be using analysis of setting and non-actions taken by Emily throughout the story. I have explored JSTOR, Literary Resource Center, and Academic Search Complete. Unfortunately, i have not found anything that is directly useful to my thesis but i will be widen my search and looking more directly for the articles i will need.
Elif I like your thesis a lot saying that you feel that Emily is a metaphor for the things the town wants to leave in the past because in the story her and her home are both representations of traditions and the past so I really like how you were able to combine that and form your own opinion based off what was given to you. Good luck on your essay.
The literary work I chose to work with is A Rose for Emily by William Faulkner. In my essay, I will be analyzing Emily’s father’s restrictive abuse and the outcomes of his abuse on Emily’s life even after he is gone. My thesis is, Emily becomes a forgotten portrait for the people of the town as she ages in her quiet place with no interest in the outside world because her fathers implemented restrictive abuse. The secondary source I will use is a literary analysis from the BMCC library that supports my thesis on Emily’s father. Transitivity analysis of A Rose for Emily by Zijiao song.
Interesting thesis, I like the way that you tie it to the abuse she got from her father as that was a reoccurring symbolic aspect of the book. The way that you use that concept of being a “forgotten portrait” in relation to her, her father, and the town definitely is creative to say the least. In terms of the secondary source, it definitely seems like your headed in the right direction, you should definitely be able to get a thing or two from it as it relates to what your taking about.
Junior, I’m not understanding your secondary source.
For my research essay I will be focusing on the short story “A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner.
My thesis statement will be focused on Faulkner’s choice to tell this story from an atypical point of view in order for us to get a better view on what kind of person Emily was and also his choice to use a non-linear timeline when discussing her life.
The secondary source I will be using will be the literary analysis of “A Rose for Emily” by professor Mary Ellen Byrne because she discusses how the town itself is a character and a voice with values which I believe is why Faulkner told the story in an atypical point of view.
(Please add to my thesis statement)
Faulkner choice to use a non-linear timeline to discuss Emilys life lets us get a better understanding of why Emily is the way she is. We are able to understand Emilys past because of his choice to use a non-linear timeline as well as what Emily had to endure while growing up.
Chayadevi, bear in mind that a thesis statement is one sentence.
Hi Chayadevi, I agree with your thesis that a nonlinear timeline aids in our understanding of Emily as a character. Your secondary source sounds really interesting, and could support your argument in a pretty interesting way. It seems like you’re really focusing on all the different aspects of the writing.
Hello Chayadevi, this is a very interesting part of the story to focus on. The timeline helps us better understand why Emily is the way she is in the present time. I was very interested in why William Faulkner decided to switch the orders of the story but we soon learned that it was a very particular way to engage the reader into the story, this allowed us the readers to focus on each interesting scenario while being unaware of the ending as we read.
The literary work I’m writing about is “Araby” by James Joyce. My goal is to show how Joyce uses imagery to portray a sense of hope in a bleak world. A secondary source that would support this thesis would be one that describes the imagery in “Araby” and what it represents. I’ve checked on the BMCC library and skimmed a few research papers. Most of them weren’t very relevant to my thesis or were too specific. I ended up using “A Post-colonial Study of the Short Story ‘Araby’ (1914) by James Joyce” written by Pedram Maniee and Shahriyar Mansouri. It provides more insight into some of the historical context and imagery, although I disagree with its claim that Mangan’s sister represents the English colonizer. It seems like there are many points throughout the story that contradict this. Regardless, I found the paper as a whole very insightful and I’m using it to provide a deeper layer to my thesis.
I am working on an essay based on “Salvation”, by Langston Hughes. My thesis is geared toward how the disillusionment in Salvation connects to the polarization in our world remarkably, through Langston’s interesting view on the status quo of religious institutions. I am looking for a literary analysis for salvation that looks at what caused the loss of faith in the religious institutions, or how it can connect to the growing political climate. So far, however, I haven’t found luck in Gale that satisfies this, so am still looking for something that works well.
My Essay is centered around the literary work titled “The Most Handsomest Drowned Man in the World” by Gabriel Garica Marquez. Marquez’s story follows the happenings of a village when they have a chance encounter with a drowned body. I’ll be examining the impact of the drowned man’s arrival on the villagers and the changes that occur due to that. For my secondary source, I believe the best option would be a literary article that can assist me in dissecting the theme of transformation and add to it.
The literary work around which my research essay revolved was Langston Hughes’s “Salvation”. In my essay, I will focus on the boy’s Epiphany and how the author’s childhood trauma influenced his view of religion. My thesis statement is “Langston Hughes’s Epiphany caused by the trauma he suffered in his childhood made him realize the hypocrisy of religion and thus lost faith”. It was difficult to find secondary source, and many of the ones I found in the BMCC library were not relevant to the topic of my thesis. The secondary source I found that I thought was most suitable for me was Gale Academic Onefile’s “Religion in the Life of Langston Hughes”by Arnold Rampersad, a literary review that describes Langston Highes’s views on religion and the role of religion in his life and art. I will associate it with my essay.
My thesis is centered on the story “Salvation” by Langston Hughes and how he describes the intensity of the setting that persuades Langston to submit to being saved. My thesis is “The vividness of the setting depicted by the narrator illustrates the powerful pressure that influences him to be “saved.” I think that both a literary critique and a bibliography would suit well for my essay. The literary critique would provide more insight and depth to the setting and the bibliography will explain more how he felt through the ceremony. However, the literary crique would provide a more solid foundation for my thesis.
Megan, thank you for including the actual thesis statement! Most respondents have not done this.
The literary work my essay is going to speak on is “The Most Handsomest Drowned Man In The World” by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. In my essay, i’ll be speaking on the change that occurred in the village, with events surrounding the drowned man. The transformation in the lives of the villagers was significant and it shows their admiration towards the drowned man as a somewhat god or idol, having to change everything they normally did in order to accommodate that drowned man. My thesis is “ Their imagination through Esteban, someone they could look up to, someone in their best interest, almost like a God to them, since they cannot fathom what it is to be one. This myth they created changed their lives forever and shows what having an imagination can do to people.” The author used a combination of some realism and magical occurrences to best narrate the story and send of a message for us to dictate, which is what I will be doing in my essay.
On my research essay I would be focusing on a “Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner. The thesis of my research essay would be “ A life a women is hard enough and man keep trying to make it more harder. Emily should’ve had the freedom to decided who she wanted to have a life with. Her dad controlled her enough after he was dead.”An article from the BMCC database would help me support my thesis. I would also write about William Faulkner to show how he didn’t waste anytime write novels, and this shows how he had the freedom to do so. So, I have explore the biography of Faulkner on the database and in one of them they show all the novels he has written.
Aylin, keep in mind that a thesis statement is one sentence.
For my essay, it’s going to be about “Salvation” by Langston Hughes. The main thing that I will be talking about is how the author lost faith and what caused him to lose his faith, especially in church. The young boy went to church with his aunt, and how he was told that he will be “Saved by Jesus”. The thesis in my essay is the epiphany that is happening to the author from the situational irony in the story. The secondary source that I will support my thesis is a biography of the author because the story happened in his life. I chose the religion in the author’s life to support my thesis, The Color of Christ The Son of God Saga of Race in America” by Edward J. Blum and Paul Harvey, he discusses religion and peoples’ race living in America. In order to support the irony in the story Salvation in the author’s life.
Maryam,
I remember when I read “Salvation” by Langston Hughes, it evoked feelings of sadness when I realized how affected the young child Langston was by his loss in faith. I felt able to relate to being in a situation where I have lost faith and what it meant for me; this way I was able to empathize with the character deeply. I wonder what the epiphany that Langston had as a child would mean for the direction his life would take in the future. It is interesting your secondary source talks about religion and race in America which is a fascinating sociological subject.
the literary work I will be focusing on for my research essay is “A Rose For Emily” by William Faulkner. I will be discussing in my essay why William Faulkner chose to write this story in a distorted timeline and what that meant for the reader as well as the townspeople in the story. My thesis states that an author might write a story with a distorted timeline in order to not reveal huge events to the plot building up suspense throughout the story keeping the reader engaged. A secondary source that i think might best fit my thesis would be a literary critique of William Faulkner’s A Rose For Emily seeing how he uses the timeline distortion in his story.
Hey Reuben, honestly that thesis seems like it’ll be a great essay or at least has the potential to be. A rose for emily is the perfect story to talk about time distortion and maybe it has the ability to connect with the narration itself, you know like how the story is told from the perspective of multiple people. I do remember when reading about that particular story I read something about how Faulkner uses time and correlates it to revelations, I don’t remembe what was exactly said but good luck on your essay.
The literary work my essay is centered around is “The “Pseudocommando” Mass Murderer: Part I, The Psychology of Revenge and Obliteration” by James L. Knoll IV. In my essay, the point that I am making is that you can rarely tell what kind of person, one truly is or if one will choose to show their true colors. The secondary source information that I feel will support this thesis is that the human mind can sometimes be corrupted by certain elements in life such as jealously or loneliness that can very well drive people towards a breaking point where they end up committing unspeakable acts.
The piece of work I am working with is Salvation, author being Langston Hughes. In my essay my thesis revolves around the concept of peer pressure and how it plays out within Salvation. To be a little more precise my thesis is how with salvation you see the effects peer pressure typically has on individuals, being negative. I am currently not 100% sure as to what specific kinds of secondary sources would support my thesis but I do have some ideas. Topics typically dealing with other Langston Hughes works may be beneficial into understanding how he incorporates peer pressure into salvation, also I’d look for analysis’ of Salvation itself and see what literary scholars are seeing with the work.
The literary work my essay is focused on is “The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World” by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. In my essay I will be speaking on how this story shows you how different things use to be back then and how much situations back then were really important to others even if they did not know who you were. My thesis is basically how much I felt this story and how I can relate to it because of the people in the village. I think that the secondary source that will support my thesis will be another different article or even or a newspaper that can show how times have changed and how people don’t care for others the same way they did in this article (Not sure yet)…
My essay will focus on the short story “A Rose for Emily” by William Faulker. The thesis of my essay is: Emily Grierson is an allegory for the experience of the post-Civil War era, in which the loss of the Confederacy brought on many social adjustments faced with reluctance from Southerners; and like Emily Grierson, failing to adjust results in dissonance to the times.” I choose this topic because I thought researching more on this time in U.S. history would be very interesting and eye-opening. I have a fascination for history in general so this was a good opportunity for me to make this assignment more entertaining. The kind of secondary source information that will support my thesis is a literary critique that relates how there is a historical connection with Ms. Emily’s plot and the context of the reconstruction era of the South, which is the setting the story takes place in. I explored the Gale Literary Sources and I found a source that was very articulate and detailed related to my thesis.
ENG 201 Sec. 0534
The literary work on which my essay is based is “The most handsome drowned man in the world” by Gabriel Garica Marquez. In my essay, I will discuss how drowning is used as a tool for people to change their way of seeing life around them. My thesis statement says: “The arrival of Esteban into the town causes the villagers to create a mythical story they all try to live up to. The villagers become more curious about life and other people after this”. The secondary source that fits my essay could be an analysis, followed by a brief comment about what the town was like before and after what happened there.
The essay I’m writing on is “Salavtion” by “Langston Hughes”. The thesis on my essay is the author Langston Hughes uses irony to reveal how the character, who has a strong faith in seeing Jesus, at the end loses faith and realizes he could have waited his whole life for nothing. The secondary source I used for this assignment is “A Historical Guide To Langston Hughes” edited by Steven C. Tracy. It goes in depth of Langton Hughes past and I will be comparing to my thesis. I found the Bmcc databases a great place to find books for my secondary sources.