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Identify the author and the two literary works you are focusing on for your research essay.
Share the thesis of your research essay
Identify the BMCC databases you have explored to date and what the results have been.
Please be sure to include your section number at the end of your response. There are 3 sections of students in our big discussion group!
Also, address comments to others by name so we can all follow along.
119 thoughts on “Week 9 Discussion”
For this writing assignment, I have chosen the author Sarah Orne Jewett to base the assignment on. The works being interpreted are “A White Heron”, which was assigned to us in class, and another popular work by her released two years previously named “Tom’s Husband”. After rereading these two works numerous times to find a similarity point between the two, I realized that Jewett focuses on female leads in her work and focuses on the way they interact in society. The perception of women during the time period in which these two works were written were much different than they are now. Women back then were stereotyped into being seen as if they are property to their husbands, therefore making them lesser human beings compared to men. Both of these works, however, fight this stereotype. Using this information, I came up with my thesis that Jewett uses women driven writings to change the mindsets on women as instead being strong and independent regardless of the obstacles that may lay in front of them. The BMCC database that I have primarily explored is Biography in Context. This database provided me with a lot of information about Jewett when it comes to how she lived her life and how much her surroundings inspired her work.
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Richard, the premise of your essay sounds very interesting. Your thesis is valid, and Biography in Context should provide information relevant to Jewitt’s feminist ideas and lifestyle.
Hello Richard,
I have also selected Sarah Orne Jewett. I really loved “A White Heron,” but unlike you, I chose to incorporate “A Winter Courtship” as my second piece for analysis. I’m unfamiliar with “Tom’s Husband,” so I really look forward to reading your essay given the opportunity! I also used Biography in Context and found so many helpful sources that I enjoyed reading: Jewett’s life was extremely interesting. I’m unsure if you came across the same issues as I did in your experience with the other BMCC literary databases, but I wholeheartedly agree that a biographical piece is a great secondary source to explore her lifestyle and beliefs on women’s issues.
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Hi Richard,
I also chose Sarah Orne Jewett and her two short stories “A white Heron” and “Tom’s Husband” . My thesis statement is kind of similar to you’re. I liked how you mentioned “Jewett focuses on female leads in her work and focuses on the way they interact in society” Yes, Jewett focuses on the female and girls are portrayed in society in this story. After exploring BMCC databases I learned about Jewett’s father who encouraged her to read books. I’m looking forward to reading your essay since we are both doing the same two stories.
My essay features Gabriel García Márquez’s “The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World” (from Week 1 of class) and “Chronicle of a Death Foretold,” a masterfully investigative short novella. The thesis of my essay is:
In his short works “The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World” and “Chronicle of a Death Foretold,” Gabriel García Márquez establishes a process of acceptance and transformation that societies encounter in their reflection on death and the deceased.
In other words, the deceased in Márquez’s works persist and live on in a way that leave deep impressions on the societies they leave behind. I’ve done my best to find suitably relevant secondary sources through the BMCC databases but have mostly come up short. I must say, I really like the Gale Literature database though – it certainly has a lot of material (I checked out a couple other topics to get a feel for the breadth of Gale) and I’m glad to have been introduced to it. In searching for literary criticism on Gabriel García Márquez, databases and basic google searches tend to reflect on either his most well-known work, “One Hundred Years of Solitude,” or some angle of his influence on Latin-American literature as a whole. I also ran into a lot of problems in searching for anything related to “death”, the center point of my thesis – much of what came from that related to obituaries from publications around the world (Márquez died in 2014). But something that I’m thinking of doing, as one way to tie my essay together is reflecting on Márquez as an example of one of his own (now) deceased characters. His view that life is able to carry on after death is not only evident in his characters and the way they influence the societies they leave behind but through the legacy of his own work, a true example of life persisting after death – in this case, Márquez himself. Perhaps this is kind of like an obituary?
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David, I’m sorry that you’re having some trouble finding suitable secondary sources, but I love your idea about how Marquez continues to live on after his death through the generative nature of his work. This is a very creative solution—and very valid! I’m reading “The Chronicle . .” by the way and enjoying it very much. I think I have about 40 or so pages to go.
Hi david, i noticed you chose the same book i did, chronicle of a death foretold. It was a great read, I thought. I liked what you said about Marquez believing in the effect of one’s life even after death. I’d be very curious to read your essay and maybe you could read mine? You seem to be a very good writer and I’d be excited to see what we both picked up on and missed.
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Hey James! Thanks for the compliment. I’d be more than happy to check out your work. It’s actually a bit of a relief to see someone else with the same choice of book as me because it’s been rather difficult finding good sources! Feel free to shoot me an email:
david.flick@stu.bmcc.cuny.edu
Hi David,
I have to say, I am absolutely fascinated by your thesis! I read through your post several times, how insightful to compare Márquez to one of his own deceased characters in how they influenced the societies they leave behind. In “The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World” the town that found the man based their speculations of their deceased visitor solely on his appearance (because, of course, they had no choice) and saw him through their own eyes as a reflection. It makes me wonder if that is how Marquez is being remembered, as you mentioned how many searches on him led to his influence on Latin American culture. Of course his work is his legacy, but there was so much more to him as a whole, but what we see is a reduced version brought down to only a few points by what we can still see.
I enjoyed “The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World” and now am looking forward to reading more of his works. Given the opportunity, I would love to read your essay upon completion. Thanks for your great comments, I enjoy reading each week!
Ashley
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Hi Lauren! Thank you for your great points and compliments! You should definitely check out more Marquez – he had been one of my favorite authors for a long time and so I figured that picking him for my essay would be an easy no-brainer on my end. Although Chronicle of a Death Foretold is only about a 70 pg short story – its full of classic Marquez: an investigative journalist smack center in a world of contradiction. But, yes you are spot on with what I had in mind and also added some thoughtful discourse to that – I appreciate you!
Would also love to check out your work too! Thanks again Lauren
For the research essay, I chose the writer Langston Hughes, and his short story “Salvation” which we read and discussed in the second week of our class. Langston’s second work I chose was “Po ‘Boy Blues.” This is a four-stanza poem. After carefully reading both writings I quickly realized the great similarities that exist between both writings. In “Salvation” Langston uses irony to express a traumatic religious experience. In “Po ‘Boy Blues” Langston uses explicit language to tell the poor and sad story of a boy. Based on this I decided to opt for an emotional thesis. Langston uses frustration and bitterness to endnote a tragic event in the lives of the protagonists. The BMCC database that I have explored is Biography in Context.
In this database, I have found absolutely everything related to the life, death, and literary works of Langston Hughes in detail.
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Raquel, I’ve posted a private reply.
Raquel, I have also chosen Langston Hughes to write my essay on. Although we did chose different second pieces of work by him. I think your thesis is interesting! Very different from the thesis I chose for myself, which is obviously acceptable due to the fact that we aren’t writing on the same thing! I love that you have done the research on not only Langstons’ works, but his life as well.
For this research essay, I chose Langston Hughes as my author of focus. “Salvation” (from Week 2 of class) and “Goodbye Christ” are the literary works from Hughes which I centralize my attention on.
My thesis for this research essay goes thus, “In the short story, “Salvation” and the poem, “Goodbye Christ,” by Langston Hughes, the use of biblical references and religious beliefs is implemented. These texts present a theme of disillusionment and perceived falseness of religion. It also showcases a voice of anger and frustration towards a towards a supreme being (God, Jesus, Christ).
I will be honest and say I didn’t really explore the use of any BMCC databases so far in my research but that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t since I still have more essays to write. However, from my general research (using google) I have come up with the understanding that Langston Hughes poem “Goodbye Christ” feels like a more mature and conclusive decision on his stand on religion compared to his young encounter discussed in “Salvation.”
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Hello Ebube. It is interesting to see how Hughes wrote more than one work about the topic of religion. I wonder if this disillusionment he has with the topic, as you stated in your thesis claim, has to do with all personal experiences or experience of those he might have seen being disillusioned with religion around him. Your thesis is strong in my opinion, though I recommend you look into the BMCC databases, specifically the Biography in Context database as it may help you learn more about Hughes and answer this question of the disillusionment of religion he writes about.
Hello Ebube,
I was really intrigued with Langston Hughes when reading his work in class and have chosen the same bodies of work. I did use BMCC database but would like to research more on google for I believe there would be more to reference. Langston Hughes, who was a part of the Harlem Renaissance, has a landmark in my neighborhood and I will be sure to visit after researching his work.
Arlene (and others), I know it’s hard to find much literary criticism on Hughes on the literary databases, but please try to avoid Google unless you can locate an academic source. I’m going to post a few links to articles. Just let me locate them!
For my essay I chose Gabriel Garcia Marquez as my author. I also chose as reading “The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World” from week 1 and then I choose “A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings” from the internet. My thesis is “In “ The Most Handsomest Drowned Man” which was published in 1968 and “A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings” published in 1955, Gabriel Garcia Marquez in both texts uses imagery to illustrate in the reader mind what’s being said by his protagonism.” I have not yet visit the Bmcc databases but I will do so this week and the followings to have a better homework and understandable. However I did do my research on the internet on certain sources
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Hi Jeidy, its cool that we picked the same author! One thing notable about Marquez is that over the course of his life, his work seems to be a development on a series of specific themes rather than free-for-all filler novels – in other words, there isn’t much that he wrote that doesn’t have some deeper level or meaning. Writings in the earlier parts of his career resemble his later works – Marquez just had a distinct style that only had developed as he got older. In your thesis, are you using the years of when your works were published as a means to illustrate this particular facet of Marquez?
Hello Jeidy Diaz,
we both have the same author and same short stories. The reason I chose Gabriel Garcia Marquez is the fact that I liked “ The Most Handsomest Drowned Man” we read early on in class, I think it is a good story that opens your imagination. Like the way they were describing the body of the “The Most Handsomest Drowned Man,” makes me wonder, how big exactly is he, to make them use a knife to cut his nails? or maybe “The Most Handsomest Drowned Man” had a normal human being size and the villagers t were too small?
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Jeidy, you and I have had some private conversations about this. Please do visit the BMCC library database when you are able. That secondary research is the next piece in the development of the research project.
Hey Jeidy,
I enjoyed reading your post as we have chosen the same two stories. I find that Gabriel Garcia Marquez both in “The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World” and “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” shows transformation as stated in my thesis and imagery which you mentions. I hope I get a chance to read your work, it would be interested to compare the same two stories and their similarities.
Hey Jeidy,
That’s nice to see we chose the same stories! I really enjoyed reading them both, and I think exploring the connection between the two is very interesting. I really enjoy my research, are you?
I agree that Gabriel Garcia uses imagination elements, which by the way are referenced as “Magical Realism”.
What is your thesis?
Let me know if we can assist each other in the research, and Good Luck 🙂
Shai and Jeidy, this is an excellent idea to share sources and ideas.
Whats up Jeidy, it seems me and you have decided on the same author, Gabriel Garcia Marquez. As I continued to read your post I have chosen also “A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings” which I also found from google. I would like to add how much of an impact magical realism adds to both of these tales. I as well have not been using the BMCC data base but instead use google as it is a more understandable website. Let me know what you think, I’m glad we chose the same stories!
Thank you,
David,
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The author that I will be focusing on for this research essay is Langston Hughes. During week two, we discussed the short story “Salvation,” which has a focal point surrounding Hughes’ religious experience. I found the story fascinating and began researching his other works. Soon after, I came across the poem “Goodbye Christ.” It contains many of Hughes’s strong thoughts on religion. The thesis of my essay is “In both the short story “Salvation” and the poem “Goodbye Christ,” Hughes presents his innermost thoughts of skepticism and mistrust surrounding religion.” I gathered that Hughes felt a bit of deception from the church as a child and as an adult.
The BMCC database that I have explored is Gale Literature. I read a few critical essays about Langston Hughes. Even though I did explore my options on BMCC’s A-Z list of databases, I found it a little confusing. I may have to take my time and really look into it.
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Hello Faith, your comments are interesting because we both chose the exact same works from Langston Hughes. I agree with your idea of “mistrust surrounding religion” as we can see from all the perspectives
of his writing. I also feel that “Goodbye Christ” gave us a broader but more defined lens into the man Hughes and become. His ideas surrounding religion became that of an illusion and whatever “Salvation” he had in mind was never received.
Hello Faith,
I’m also using “Salvation” and “Goodbye Christ” as well for my research essay. But I was planning to focus more on how he uses irony in his works to display that mistrust of religion like you said. Rather than Gale Literature, I tried using OneSearch to look for secondary sources on Hughes and his works. But it sounds like both databases are confusing for everyone here that’s using Hughes for their essay. Were you able to find anything specifically about his works on Gale Literature?
Hello Faith,
I am also exploring Hughes’s work, but focusing on a different aspect. I think your choice to explore his “skepticism and mistrust” is a gold mine. There is so much to expand on with religious practices that take advantage, and are corrupt; both here in the United states, with Baptist and others claiming Christianity, and with the institutions like the Roman Catholic Church. I’m not sure if classmate essay’s will be available towards the end of the semester to view but I’d definitely be interested to view this one.
For this research essay, the author I choose is Marquez, Gabriel Garcia, with his two short stories, “The Most Handsome Drowned Man.” and “A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings.” After my research, I maintained this thesis: “These stories are similar because they both feature strange, vulnerable characters who will be at the mercy of the villagers with whom they come in contact.” The BMCC databases you have explored to date my work is Biography in Context. With this database, I was able to find the second short story of Gabriel Garcia Marquez. I read it to see if there were similarities and points of comparison. These two stories have a lot in common and can be compared since they both happened in remote villages where the people see that the strangers are very different from them but will not reject them instead they will try to understand what is it about even though they two main characters will not receive the same treatment but they will stay in the village for a while. After that, I started working on my introduction, until I found the best version of my essay that I will be developing now.
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Souadou, I can attest to how hard you have worked on shaping this good thesis. Your next step is to get started with your seondary research.
Hi Souadou, you and I are both working on the same author and works. I think it’s really cool that both our thesis are focusing on the interactions among the “strange, valuable” characters and villagers. I like how you worded these interactions with “at the mercy of the villagers” because I think it’s a good way of describing their relationships. However, it is somewhat the opposite of where I’m going with my paper since I view the interactions as the villagers being at the mercy of the “strange, valuable” characters. I’m interested in seeing where you go from here.
Hello Souadou,
Although, I did not choose Gabriel Garcia Marquez, I am familiar with his work. I read his book “One Hundred Years of Solitude.” He is a great Colombian writer and I am sure you will find a great secondary research for him. I chose to write my research essay on Langston Hughes. I was very intrigued by the honesty in his work. I also really love work written by influences in the Harlem Renaissance, which Hughes was a part of, as well as James Baldwin and musician Louis Armstrong.
Hey Souadou
You have great thesis, I think there is a lot to work off of with both stories. I don’t think it will be difficult to correlate the similarities between the passages. There are many ways to compare the stories from the strange character, the villagers and more.
Summer Gonzalez
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I will be focusing “Salvation” & “Goodbye, Christ” by Langston Hughes.
My Thesis statement focuses on Religion and identity. I believe Hughes is frustrated with the way humans use Religion to manipulate people, and politics. He often expressed his frustrations with religion in works like “Salvation” & “Goodbye, Christ “. Hughes work is truly transcendent, he is still a big influence in American literature, religion, and politics.
I have been exploring Gale Literature on the BMCC database. So far I like “Langston Hughes”
Date: Dec. 21, 2017 From: Contemporary Heroes and Heroines Publisher: Gale. Currently I am developing
This particular piece of literature help me understand all the amazing thing Langston Hughes was a part of.
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Hey Kevin, I chose to focus my research essay on Langston Hughes as well. We are using the same works, “Salvation” and “Goodbye Christ.” I like the way your thesis surrounds Hughes’ frustration on how people use religion to manipulate things. My thesis is a little different, but my essay touches on your point. Thank you for sharing what you’ve found on the Gale Literature database. I will use it to read up more on Hughes.
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For this writing assignment, I have chosen to focus on the author Langston Hughes. His works “Salvation” is the first work that we discussed and worked in class. The second work I have chose is “Who But the Lord”. I have read both of these works to help develop a thesis that would be best to relate the similarities between the works. I have come up with the thesis that abandonment from a higher power or even just someone you treasure and put everything into, can change your life in many ways, negative influences or positive. So far I have used centerforfiction.org but am looking forward to continuing research for this paper.
Hi Claire. I’m glad you choose a Langston Hughes short story/poem, I did as well too. To be honest Hughes have a lot of poems that are centered around religion and biblical references and it makes it very easier and simple to pull fact and similarities for your essay.
Good luck.
Taheed, to receive full credit, your posts must meet the length requirement.
Hello Claire,
I, too, have chosen Langston Hughes. For the second work I chose a different poem called, “Goodbye Christ.” I would like to read, “Who but the Lord,” as well. It seems he wrote several pieces on this topic of religion and the Higher Power. You can tell that it was a deep rooted issue for him and one that consumed him. I have never heard of the website, centerforfiction.org, I hope to use it as a research tool.
Hi Claire
I like Langston Hughes’s literary works. Both of your readings that you are working with is related to religion. These literary works are similar to each other so, you made a good choice. Your thesis is very strong I love it. When a special person abandons you it is going to have a great impact on our lives. As you said it could be negative or positive. Centerforfiction.org is a great website to find information.
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The author that I am focusing on in my paper is Gabriel García Márquez. I’m writing about his two works, “The Handsomest Drowned Man” and “A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings”. My thesis is, “Through the use of magical realism, Marquez uses otherworldly characters to change the lives and hearts of the characters they meet.” In both these works, Márquez uses these characters that only exist in fantasy and drops them into the real lives and struggles of the people that experience them. In both these works, there is a focus on the changes these real people go through after they meet these unreal individuals. The database that I’ve explored is Gale Literature. I enjoyed exploring this database because there’s an abundance of secondary resources on my author as well as his works for me to use. It’s just a matter of going through them and determining which one is the perfect fit for my paper.
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Hi Chad,
I am also writing about Gabriel García Márquez and his two short stories “The Handsomest Drowned Man” and “A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings”. My thesis is a little quite similar to yours since I am writing about magical realism and how both of these stories share a common theme about a stranger coming into town and changing the people around them. I also found a lot of useful information in Gale Literature as well.
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Chad, as you can see, a number of students are using these two works. It will be interesting to see how many different perspectives emerge.
In my Research essay, I choose the writer Langston Hughes and two of his most successful and relatable short stories. “ salvation” (from week 2 discussion in class) and “ Goodbye Christ” which caught my attention by a research I did in the BMCC English and literature center. They’re both two structured short stories by Hughes. The two stories by Langston Hughes focuses on religious belief and Experience. Both stories duplicates biblical references which I find very skeptical and misleading.
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Taheed, I’m telling you again so that you can receive full credit: your posts must meet length requirements. See “information about Discussion Boards” in COURSE INFORMATION.
I suggest this article from BMCC library: “Religion and the Poetry of Langston Hughes
https://www.jstor.org/stable/274384
Taheed, “Goodbye Christ” is not a short story! Also, your thesis statement is too general. To write that the works are related because they focus on “religious belief and experience” is extremely vague. What religious belief? What experience? Aren’t the works connected in a much more specific way? Also, please make sure your posts meet the length requirement. I’m trying to help you get full credit!
For my research essay, I will be using the literary works of Langston Hughes. I will be comparing, “Salvation” and “Goodbye Christ.”
My thesis statement: “In his short story, “Salvation” and his poem, “Goodbye Christ,” we see the genesis of Hughes’ unbelief in a God that abandoned him when he needed him most.”
BMCC’s database brought up “Gale In Context,” with different references, images, essays and audios but I did not find anything specifically on the works I have chosen for my research paper.
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Hi Celeste Conway. Professor, I would like to know what your opinion is about the thesis that I chose and the writings because recently I changed the author for the comment you made about the introductory paragraph. I would appreciate your help, Thank you !!
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I chose to write about the author Gabriel García Márquez and his two works of literature, “The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World” and “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings”. My thesis for my paper is how Márquez uses magical realism to develop a common theme in both stories about how a mysterious stranger with an odd appearance appearing within a community and impacting the people around them. I like the Gale in Context: Biography database that includes information about the authors background and history and in Gale Literature I found a critical essay by Rena Korb on “The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World”.
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Good choices, Angela. Your post is a little short this week!
Hi Angela
Gabriel Garcia Marquez is a great author I like his literary works. I am also working with this author and with the same literary works. I like magic realism because it is related to fiction and I like to see how the characters in the story react living those strange moments. As well as the magic realism keeps the reader’s attention and the story becomes interesting. Your thesis statement is very good for these two stories. When strange things happen and it impacts people around them.
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Angela, I think you have a very good thesis statement here. It is very detailed and I think it will be a good start to your research essay. Have you done any personal research on Gabriel Garcia Marquez? I think if you did, it might help develop that idea even more. All together I like where this sounds like it is heading!
For my Essay I chose Marquezs’ short story “The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World” and his short novel “Chronicle of a Death Foretold”. In reading these two pieces of work I noticed how Marquez related death to the living and death to a community, and so for my thesis I decided to focus on this aspect of Marquezs’ writings. For my thesis i worte “A close knit community facilitates death in so many ways, spiritually, violently, premeditated, and extemporaneously, making death the most meaningful aspect of a community’s existence in that it affects each constituent as they relate to the whole, thus unifying the community around that one category in which all—during this moment of loss—are members: the living.” I believe Marquez is speaking to some sort of philosophy he perhaps believed, in that we have a destiny and that sometimes the darkest moments of humanity are needed to appreciate the light.
For secondary sources I have explored Gale in Context and the BMCC library, though I believe I will look further for more equally reliable information. I’d like to find more interviews with the author, that hopefully have questions which relate to his philosophies on religion, death and community.
I’ve greatly enjoyed getting to know Marquez through his work, and i’m excited to read “100 years of solitude” once the semester is over and i have a bit more free time.
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Hey James! We’re both basically on the same page in our view of Marquez’s use of death between these two works. Your thesis feels like it could be broken down into at least a full paragraph – you bring up a lot of solid points, each of which could receive its own level of support and analysis. I would stick to a more formulaic thesis: one that at the least tells the reader who the author is, the names of the works, and the relationship between them (what your essay is essentially about). I replied to your comment under my post in which I included my email for you to reach out if you’d like.
Sarah Orne Jewett is the author I selected for my research essay. I found an extremely intriguing relationship between her works, “A White Heron” and “A Winter Courtship,” and selected these two pieces to address and explore my thesis: In order for a woman to realize true liberation, she must reject the narrative perpetuated by society that male needs must take precedence over all other aspects of life. She tends to highlight the submissive tendencies of the Nineteenth-Century female experience and the heavy obligation to conform to wifely-diligence and servitude as the final objective, and Jewett expresses her discontent with these ideals through her writing. I found that one character rejects her societal obligation while the other doesn’t, but both illustrate this same message. I attempted to explore Gale Literary Sources and OneSearch, but was fairly dissatisfied with my results. There weren’t as many secondary resources that support my thesis as I had hoped, so I moved on to explore Biography in Context. This was my pot of gold: I found so many sources and finally decided on a biographical document written in 1997. It encapsulates everything I’d hoped to find and addresses much of her young life that reaffirms her feminist beliefs and rejection of marriage.
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Emily, thank you for the good post. Your choices of works should provide the basis of a very good essay. I also appreciate the brief chronicle of your research efforts. I’m so glad you found that “gold mine” you were seeking!
Hello Emily, I also have chosen Sarah Orne Jewett. She tends to write a lot about her experiences during the nineteenth-century. She describes the way women were neglected and underestimated by men. Women were often controlled by men and most often their own husbands. Women were comfortable in being dominated but Sarah Orne Jewett writes how women start to come into realization they have the strength to be more.
For my research essay I chose the author Gabriel García Márquez and his two great literary works; “The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World” which we read and discussed in week 1 of the class and “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” which I found and read on my own time.
The thesis from my essay is: “The two contrasting villagers in Marquez’s stories, demonstrate the polarizing sides of humanity – those who choose the path of light or and those who choose the path darkness – and attempt to understand how the whole of humanity is capable of taking such divided paths.”
I found it very easy to establish a connection between these two works as they in a way are almost the same but with different characters. Both stories also heavily rely on magical realism.
I honestly do not use the BMCC data base for finding books, mostly google, as I find it easier to navigate. The main point I believe Marquez is trying to get over is that humans have a evil or kind path to choose.
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Hi David, I had done this topic for my Essay 1, which is using these two story to compare the bright and dark side of the story. It such as a good story that I had never read it before. An author writes two different stories. Is the protagonist facing human kindness or evil? How to make the protagonist change the essence?So I think you chose the right decision because the two stories can make obvious comparisons and perspectives, they are also very easy to understand.
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Hi David! I really like your thesis, it’s actually similar to my own. I think it’s really important to explore how Marquez explores not only the way humanity would react when these fantastical phenomenons were to occur to them, but to show the traits these events would bring out in them. The characters in both of these stories are almost polar opposite. One group of characters go for the humanization of the person that just magically showed up on their doorstep, and the other group dehumanizes. Very different, but both still authentically human. Two different sides on the same coin, if you will.
For this research essay, I have chosen the author Langston Hughes of the model short story of “Salvation” (on week 2) and the poem “Goodbye Christ” by Langston Hughes. In both of these story has similar which is the “Salvation” is Langston hope Jesus will save him for his sin and the “Goodbye Christ” is wished he would return to save humanity, which was in dire need of saving, as it could not save itself. At this point, both of them are very similar to each other. The difference between them is the difference between the rescued characters. Although this has something to do with religion, it does not hinder the development of the story. Instead, it adds interest to the story to attract readers’ attention. My thesis stament is that religion brings hope and salvation to people, but at the same time it also makes people do things against conscience.
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Mei Yan, please rethink the meaning of the Hughes works. Your thesis statement does not quite work. Both works convey a negative attitude towards religion. One work be said to be the starting point of the author’s concern with what he sees as the falseness of religion; “Goodbye Christ” seems to be a development of this disdain.
I suggest this article from BMCC library: “Religion and the Poetry of Langston Hughes
https://www.jstor.org/stable/274384
The author I’m choosing to focus on for my research essay is Langston Hughes. I will be using two of his works, one being “Salvation” and the other “Goodbye Christ”. My thesis will be the comparison between the two works and how Hughes utilizes irony in both to express the skepticism he holds towards Christianity. I used OneSearch to look up Langston Hughes and his works but it’s a bit confusing. For example, I found a journal through OneSearch called “The Langston Hughes review : official publication of the Langston Hughes Society”. But despite it saying that it’s available online, the links only take me to an “About This Publication” page. One article I found called “The Embodied Freedom of Langston Hughes” covers Hughes as a whole from his sexuality, his experimentalism, and to his views on religion. Like others here have already said, it’s difficult to find literary critiques of his works.
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Johnson, could you post the link to the Hughes article “The Embodied Freedom of Langston Hughes?”
Here’s another link that might be of help:
“Religion and the Poetry of Langston Hughes
https://www.jstor.org/stable/274384
Sorry for the late response Professor. I found it through OneSearch. Here’s the link: https://go-gale-com.bmcc.ezproxy.cuny.edu/ps/i.do?p=AONE&u=cuny_mancc&id=GALE%7CA611023318&v=2.1&it=r
For the research summary; If I choose to use “Religion and the Poetry of Langston Hughes”, what do I write for “State which BMCC database the secondary source comes from” ?
For my research essay, I will be writing about “Salvation” and a poem called “Theme for English B” which are two pieces by Langston Hughes. The two pieces explore themes such as race, identity, and belonging. These are common themes in a lot of Hughes’s writing. For my thesis, I’m going to be showing how these themes are portrayed in these pieces and their purpose, and effect specifically on the African-American community. Hughes was an author during the Harlem Renaissance which was a powerful movement using art, music, and writing to grow the African American community of Harlem and so for this reason, Hughes’s writing was very influential. I’ve found a few pieces from the BMCC database for my essay one of which is by The New York Times written by Stephen Kinzer in 2002 titled “For a Poet, a centennial appreciation”. This article talks about Hughes’ dreams of becoming a major figure in American Literature and being recognized for his work. It goes on to talk about his personal life and how it may have related to his writings. Another article is called “Vicious Modernism: Black Harlem and the Literary Imagination” from African American Review written by Linda Hamalian in 1992. This article compares the white media’s dark image of Harlem to the lively amazing scene it was. I’ll use these articles to show the relevance of the ideas in the two pieces by Hughes.
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Zubaida, I’m not sure that race is an issue in “Salvation” though it is a concern in much of the work of Hughes. I think “Salvation” is an account of a personal experience with the loss of faith. However, I do see how the themes of belonging and identity might be shared by both these works. Thank you so much for mentioning the sources you have found.Would you be willing to post the links in the Db?
I will be focusing on Gabriel Garcia Marquez. I am comparing two of his short stories. “The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World” and “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” In my these I state the following similarity in themes.
Both “The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World” and “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” share a theme of transformation. As the readers, we notice that one character, be it the “dead body”, or the “angel” has a large impact on two different communities. They react in different ways, yet are transformed one way or another by the mysterious protagonist.
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Hi David,
Gabriel Garcia Marquez is a wonderful author. I would be interested in reading your essay as I believe the topic of transformation is extremely captivating. I am curious as to what “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” is about and how the two stories relate to one another. I believe that having a protagonist with a mysterious entity ultimately adds to the excitement of transformative stories due to it being both an expected occurrence, yet you aren’t entirely sure what will happen next.
David, these are good stories to analyze together. Many others have chosen this pairing, as well. Please just be sure that your thesis is not too general. When you write that the villagers “are transformed one way or another,” are you really telling the reader enough? Can you try to shape a thesis statement that is a bit more specific? Also, be sure your posts meet the length requirement.
For my research essay, I chose two literary pieces by the author, Sarah Orne Jewett. The two literary pieces by this author that I chose to research are “A White Heron” and “A Caged Bird”. Both pieces tend to focus on the author’s attraction and respect for nature and how the protagonist yearns for independence and freedom. My thesis statement is the following:
“In these works of literature, Jewett creates a common theme that focuses on an individual’s independence and freedom. Both Sylvia and the bird experience their own form of suppression and their need for a connection to nature. Sarah Orne Jewett also uses these pieces of literature to emphasize her undeniable respect for nature.”
After using the BMCC database, I was able to find a variety of content that includes a compilation of stories and biographies. I believe I will have little to no trouble learning about the author’s life as there were upwards of 9 biographies available to read and reference.
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Soraya, you have chosen an interesting pairing for “A White Heron.” However, a thesis statement is one sentence, not two. Can you try to work these good ideas into a single statement that identifies the connection between the works?
For my writing assignment, I chose Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Aside from the story we read in class, I chose to compare it to “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings.” I chose this because it’s very similar to “The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World” in the sense of both stories have a central similarity of someone or something appearing to a group of people and they all have some hope that this creature will in a way save them from their own issues. My thesis is mainly on how Marquez’s use of magical realism “…Marquez places unrealistic personas in realistic places and with the use of symbolism he teaches valuable life lessons.”
While in the BMCC Database I went to JSTOR and found the perfect response and analysis from Arnold M. Penuel. He talks about the symbolism in “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings,” and how the angel affects the reality of those who meet him. Though their is no actual translation to the quotes, I’m lucky enough to understand Spanish. I also found a piece by Scott Simpkins, “Magical Strategies: The Supplement of Realism” which focuses on authors who use magical realism and goes into depth about what it really and what is should be.
Though they could both work to support my thesis, I think the first one that focuses on symbolism can help wrap everything up. The link is https://bmcc.ezproxy.cuny.edu/login?url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/43802973
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Nathaly, first, thanks for generously supplying the link to your source! I think others may find that helpful. Your thesis statement needs some tweaking though. Your focus on symbolism is fine, but the “valuable life lessons” is so generic that it could mean anything. What specific lesson do you find in these paired stories? What connects these stories?
For my research essay, I choose Sarah Orne Jewett as my author to focus on “ A White Heron” ( from week 3 of class) because the way Sylvia talks about her feelings towards nature and how they make her feel. I chose Sarah’s poem because she is very descriptive in her writing style. Her poems are full of imagery and metaphors that help me understand what she is feeling. I’m comparing “ Tom’s Husband” with “ A White Heron”. My thesis statement for this research essay In both “Tom’s Husband” and “ A White Heron” Sylvia and Mary are both going against the way they are expected to act as women/girls. The idea of women finding freedom. The BMCC databases I have explored about Sarah Orne Jewett I found very interesting that “Her father, a distinguished obstetrician, encouraged her to read widely in his library, and she accompanied him on his visits to patients in the countryside” I didn’t know this before. On databases I found Sarah on magazines A White Heron and Other New England Tales (Vol 90, Issue 16). This is my first time using BMCC databases. I was a little confused with it but I will explore more for my secondary research.
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For my essay, I decided to use the story “The Most Handsomest Drowned Man” written by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. It was such a mystical story. I enjoyed the story so much so that I wanted to look more into Marquez’s’ life and other pieces of work. That is when I came across the story “The Very Old Man with Enormous Wings.” Another amazing story!
My thesis and paper itself talk about how both stories share the same theme of a “surprise” visitor showing up to their villages and even though both sets of village people share different reactions, they both have the same end result which is that these two visitors left some kind of impact in the lives of the people that encountered them.
The secondary resources that I will be using in my essay are in Gale Literature. There is a lot of information there that will help tie my essay together beautifully.
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Senia, you seem to be going in a good direction!
For my first essay, I chose the author Gabriel Garcia Marquez. I chose this author because this is a Latino author and I like his literary works. The literary works that I chose are: “The Most Handsome Droned Man” and “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings”. The first story we read at the beginning of the semester you probably know very well about this. The story “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” is about an old man with big wings that appears in Pelayo’s house (backyard). The people thought that he represents an angle. The magic in this story are: a blind man who grew three new teeth, a paralytic who almost won the lottery, and a leper whose sores sprouted sunflowers. Both stories emphasize magic realism. The thesis that I chose for this essay is the following. “The Most Handsome Droned Man” and “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” relates how the appearance of strange visitor change the way of leaving for people in a community. The BMCC database that I am working with is Biography in context in which I find everything to do this assignment.
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Miguel, this sounds like you’re on the right track. Just please be sure that stay focused on your central idea. I am not looking for any big discussion on the genre of Magical Realism unless the observations are directly relevant to your thesis.
The author that I have chosen for my research essay is Gabriel Garcia Marquez. The two works I have chosen for my essay are “The Handsomest Drowned Man In The World” and ” A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings”. So for the thesis for my essay, I wanted to explore how Marquez uses magical realism to illustrate how significant events in our lives can bring out the best, or the worst, in human nature. I wanted to address the best and the worst of human nature due to the fact that I feel that the events that transpire from the inciting incident cause very different reactions from the characters in these stories, and I wanted to explore those similarities and differences. The two secondary sources I will be using for my essay will be an Overview of The Handsomest Drowned Man In The World, written by Dean Rader, and an overview of A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings by Regina James. The first analysis discusses the journey the characters in the story go through when they find the drowned man, and the second article discusses the morality of the actions the characters take when they find the old man.
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Caleb, this sounds good. I’m glad to see that you have already located some secondary sources that you feel will be of help. I just want to reiterate the comment I made to Miguel above, which is that I am not looking for encyclopedia-like discussions on the genre of Magical Realism. I am interested in your own ideas, and any facts about Magical Realism should be relevant to your thesis. I hope that makes sense (to you and everyone).
Renowned poet and writer Langston Hughes is the author of the short story “Salvation” and the poem “Let America Be America.” The theme highlighted in both of these two pieces of literature is disillusionment. In “Salvation,” Hughes proclaims that, “I was saved from sin when I was going on 13. But not really saved.” This statement is contradictory and will eventually lead to disappointment and tears. Similarly, in “Let America Be America Again,” Hughes expresses his disappointment in being a part of a land that is referred to as “Homeland of the free,” yet the freedom for him is elusive and even nonexistent. This is evident in his questions and rhetorical response, “The free? Who said the free? Not me.” Salvation and freedom are always achieved easily.
The BMCC data that was explored was mainly one search. I was able to find both the short story “Salvation” and the poem “Let America Be America,” by Langston Hughes. The results showed different journal articles based on Hughes’ work.
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Kendra, you have an interesting choice of works here. You are going to have to walk a fine line as you work through this essay. You can’t make the essay into an overly general discussion of struggle and disappointment. You need to get a sharp focus on the idea that in both works, disillusionment comes from the realization that commonly held assumptions can be false. The narrator in “Salvation” was presented a false set of ideas about religion (at least he feels this way). Similarly, in “Let America Be America,” idealized notions about America are passionately disputed. I’m not saying that you will devolve into a generic discussion; I’m just saying that I can see the danger of that happening when you are discussing works that on face value seem quite different from each other. So take care! I think you meant to write: “Salvaton and freedom are NOT always easily achieved.”
I have chosen the works of the well distinguished author James Joyce “Araby” and “Evelyne” for our writing assignment because I find his writings very sensible and soul touching. It is very obvious that his stories are inseparable from author’s own life experiences.
I am trying to build my writing around the thesis of suffering and affection which are both present in both “Araby” and “Evelyne”. As primary source of information I am using the author’s works themselves, and as a secondary source I am searching the BMCC library online to learn more about Joyce’ biography and literary critiques as well.
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For this class essay, I chose to write about Gabriel Garcia Marquez.
Garcia is a Colombian writer who lived in Colombia between 1927-2014. His style is very particular, and he usually writes short stories and novels. His works are recognized with a special literal style called magical realism. The two literal works I chose to explore in my essay are “The Handsomest Drowned Man in The World” (1968) and ” A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” (1955) and will compare the way Garcia Marquez uses elements of magical realism in order to represent the power of compassion and the different approaches each community takes towards a stranger event.
Unfortunately, I haven’t use the BMCC database as much as I would like to, and so I did my research mainly using the internet. I do intend to explore more of the database provided by BMCC, and I am sure it will help me a lot to improve my research.
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My Essay “A Broken Compass” is on Langston Hughes. His works “Salvation” and “Crossing Jordan” will be the two points of comparison I focus on. The thesis of my essay deals with Identity as this was a recurring theme in Hughes’ works.
The theme of identity in both “Salvation” and “Crossing Jordan” by Langston Hughes link past and present in the African American’s search for acceptance and cultural understanding in modern society.
I believe this could be an important point of research and exploration for myself as a means of growth and understanding in today’s societal turmoil.
I’ve found some interesting secondary sources in both Gale in Context & Academic Search Complete. I believe I’m going to focus on a Academic Journal piece “What is Africa to Me Now” written by Caryl Phillips where he discusses Identity and African-American relations, citing several poems, one of which is “Afro-American Fragment” by Langston Hughes.
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Hey Patrick, I like both of your choices, I also used Langston Hughes ¨Salvation¨. I was having a convocation with my son about ¨Salvation¨ and he said the same thing happened to him at one of the Christian summer youth champ it was him and his cousin.
The secondary source you mention sounds interested I will research it see if it will work for me.
Great thesis, in this new world we are living in some people feel there are being forced to accept a modern culture and religion and they are losing their identity.
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For my research writing, I am focussing on author Langston Hughes and the two literary are the poem ¨God¨ and short story ¨Salvation¨. I am still working on identifying the BMCC database for my work.
My thesis: Centuries-old religion like Christianity and Judaism emphasizes the omnipotent nature of God and the innate dependence people have towards him. Author Hughes wouldn´t be a good fit in this atmosphere as many of his works emphasize the loneliness and lack of hope that silently crowds the church pews. In Langston Hughes short story ¨Salvation¨ and his poem ¨God¨ we see a vivid theme of isolation and disdain that Hughes has towards religion. From childhood trauma with aunt Reed in ¨Salvation¨ about an atmosphere of godlessness.
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Hi Syndoll,
I am very curious to read your final work since your thesis was very interesting to me. I had a different understanding of the story Salvation.
Based on my limited knowledge of Hughes’s works, I think he has a strong feeling toward religion and not necessarily god.
If I recall correctly he mentions in the story Religion that he wanted to believe and have faith but despite the pressure on him to feel like others he cannot.
I think being lonely or godless is not his choice, but he cannot feel what others do and that is the root of many issues for him. His desperate attempt to lie about what he felt in the church is a sign of his true desire to “be like others” but that doesn’t happen for him.
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For my essay I chose Gabriel Garcia Marquez. I found his stories very intriguing. I’ve discovered very interesting facts about his life and some context behind his stories through the biography database. My thesis is as follows:
Marquez is a master of the art of Magical Realism. In his short stories, “The Most Handsomest Drowned Man in the World” and “A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings” the setting and the plot have nothing to do with each other. However, both stories have elements of what Marquez does best: sprinkling magic into the strangest of places. The “Handsomest Drowned Man” is a god-like, towering, robust man that was three times the size of the average villager. The “Old Man” is a dysfunctional angel, confused and forgetful of how to use his gigantic wings after he lands on Earth accidentally. Both are two things your brain would conjure up after a feverish dream. The differences between his stories may be striking, the similarities between them are evident. A little magic can turn even the simplest of stories into a fantasy. Marquez shows us through his stories that magic is very real, and it sometimes is literally right in front of us.
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Hi Gezelle I really like your choices and I really like how you described the stories and how you say they both are liked something a fevered dream would conjure up.
The author of the two literary works I’m am writing about is James Joyce and the two stories are Eveline a story about a women who is trying to decide if she should go to Italy with her lover and Araby a story about a boy who goes to the bazaar in hopes of getting a gift to a girl he has feelings for. I haven’t really use the bmcc archive because I’m taking sources from the sources and i hope it isn’t mandatory to add that. To finish off I will say that i am really having trouble trying to make this essay. Part 1 of my essay submission was extremely poor and I find it really difficult to build a sentence to make it sound good especially since i need to make it long enough to achieve the minimum requirement for the submission which in the end has many errors that even I didn’t know were there. To conclude I’m hoping I can get through this and succeed at making something worth good credit especially where my grade is at.
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I chose to base my assignment on two works by Gabriel García Márquez. “The Handsomest Drowned Man in The World,” and “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” are short stories by Márquez that use magical realism to discuss concepts such as faith, change, and the influence of a great person. The magical realism theme allows the writer to explore the reality of the world with his hopes and dreams in a short story. Elements like a mythical figure, spider women, and enormous wings for a man are the writer’s tools to create his magical world, but he uses more realistic settings that can be familiar to the readers. In both stories, a man arrives from an unknown place. The reactions to the new arrival are Márquez’s expectations from human beings. From transformation that is brought to the village by Esteban to people’s reactions to those who are different from them in “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings.” I found many sources on the BMCC library that are going to be a great help with this assignment. There are 10 biographies, and 10 academic journals besides videos, audios, and more so I think it would be fairly easy for me to pick my secondary source from the BMCC library.
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Hi Afsaneh,
Though I didn’t choose Marquez as my author, I find his work on Magical Realism intriguing. I’ve read a lot of non-fiction, and looking back now, I wonder just how much of it was magical realism. Had I known the style I may have been able to choose Marquez and break his works down with more accuracy and emphasis. The path for you seems well lit, and I hope it turns out well.
The two works I’ve chose to write about are “Salvation” and “Goodbye Christ” by Langston Hughes. After reading both works the similarity between both involve Hughes views on religion throughout his lifetime. In “Salvation” which was assigned in class, it was about a time where he was younger and he felt like he wasn’t saved by Christ. Where as in “Goodbye Christ”, Hughes goes into how he doesn’t need Christ because he feels that its a burden and a lie made up as a way for people to get money and power, like preachers and popes.
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Brandon, please be sure your comments meet length requirements.
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For this assignment, I choose the author James Joyce. The two stories that I choose are “Araby” and “The Sisters”. After reading both of these short stories, I came to the conclusion that James Joyce usually uses young man to depict a lose of innocence. I have not many sources that would help me further develop my thesis and essay but I will continue to look for more. I will also be including parts of other short stories that Jame Joyce wrote to help make sure that my thesis is sound and valid.
Goodafternoon Class,
For this writing assignment I choose to focus on the great Langston Hughes. The two works that I choose to talk about are Salvation and Goodbye Christ. After reading both poems both literary devices point out similar themes of religion. The overall thesis of both poems is the idea that Langston Huges points out the hyprocrisy of modern day religion and how it plays a role in human nature. In the BMCC database, I formed a lot of informative research on the Biography of Langston. This helped me to understand his religious standpoint and views.
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Isis, these are two good works. But does hypocrisy play a role in “Salvation?” Both works do reflect a negative attitude towards religion by the author, but as written, is your thesis, in fact, true? Also, your post falls far below the length requirements.
The author I’m writing about is James Joyce and I’m focusing on “Evaline” and “Araby”. Both main characters formed an epiphany at the end that can best be said as: the mundane and the uncontrollable will always be in the way of love, so after all that I’m giving up.
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Because the work is chosen to make the comparison with “Salvation” it was not a good choice I did a new search and this time I chose “Goodbye Christ” by the same author Langston Hughton. My thesis I propose is that Langston uses disappointment to express his loss of faith. The truth is that I have had problems making the connections but I keep working on that. Thank you very much Professor Celesty Conway for the help.
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Raquel, you’re on the right path now!
For my research essay I have chosen to focus Sarah Orne Jewett’s short stories “A White Heron” and “A Neighbor’s Landmark” and how she uses a forest setting to evoke emotions in her characters, encouraging her protagonists to be guided by their moral compass rather than outside influences.
I loved the story “A White Heron” upon first reading and was excited to be able to choose a topic related to the work. Her use of nature as a character and the bond between human and nature was striking. As I read through her other works, I found the story “A Neighbor’s Landmark” and noticed several similarities, namely parallels between the desire of the protagonists to protect nature that they had befriended, even when it financially did not behoove them.
The primary database I have used from the BMCC Library is OneSearch. It has been hugely helpful, especially in finding articles on her work that support my thesis.
Note: One of the most interesting things I found was an article on Willa Cather Editing Sarah Orne Jewett. While it was not what I was looking for as support for my essay, it was a really good read!
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So sorry!
The author I am focusing on is Sarah Orne Jewett. The work I have chosen is “The courting of Sister Wisby” and “A White Heron”. The thesis for my research essay is empowering women to overcome men domination. Women often get treated less than men because of gender. Women are treated less and during the time Sarah Orne Jewett wrote this man was often seen as the “the men of the house”. Men often got the last word and was never to be mistreated or disrespected by a woman. Woman were afraid to speak up for themselves since the ignorant mindset of a men was to overcome women. In both stories Sarah Orne Jewett includes examples of strong women characters .
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The two literary works I will be focusing my thesis on are Salvation and Goodbye Christ by Langston Huges
My thesis is Hughes does not have any religious beliefs.
In my search of BMCC database, It was difficult for me to get a good understand of who to work the database but I believe with some help and time I will be able to find information relevant to his denouement of religion and more evidence that he does not believe in Jesus, God or any type of “higher power.” Hughes is a known writer I know there is literature work that will support my thesis that he does not believe religion.
I do want to add to my thesis that he believes in the power of self. He hints to that in “Goodbye Christ” by mentioning there is a new god and its himself. Hopefully I will find something to support my theory.