History 371
Devine
Fall 2014
Paper Assignment #1 Option A: Mark Twain, Puddn’head Wilson
This essay is due Monday, February 17th. You may email
your essay to me as an attachment (the preferred method), turn it in to the
History Department office (Sierra Tower 610) during business hours, or hand it
to me in person.
If you are submitting this essay as
a draft and intend to work
with a writing tutor on a revision of your essay, please indicate in the
subject line of your email or on the first page of the hard copy of your paper
that the document you are submitting is a draft. Your final version will be due
ONE WEEK after your appointment with
the writing tutor. To make an appointment, call the History Department at
818.677.3566.
All students are welcome to make an
appointment with me to go over a draft before submitting a revision and
the same deadline will apply.
How
Long?
• Papers MUST be 1500
words and no more than 1900 words.
Format?
• Typed, double-spaced, 12-point font with one-inch margins
all around.
• Please remember to number your pages.
• Give your essay a title that indicates what the paper is
about. (Something more revealing than “Essay #1” or “Twain”) Clever titles will
be duly noted.
• Base your essay entirely
on the assigned course reading. You do not have to (nor should you) draw on any
outside sources. Don’t go to the
internet to do your thinking for you. I am familiar with all the
material on Puddn’head Wilson that
can be found on the web, so I will know you’re just regurgitating someone
else’s ideas and your grade will reflect that.
Don’t forget to
put your name at the top of page 1 of the essay before you email it. (People actually forget to do this.)
How to cite?
If you are quoting directly from a
source, cite the author and page number in parentheses within the body of the
text, i.e. (Twain, 47). All direct quotes MUST be in quotation marks and must
be cited. Paraphrases of ideas drawn from the book MUST also be cited.
How
will I be graded?
You will be graded on:
1) focus (do you have a thesis statement and does it answer the
question asked?)
2) evidence (do you back up your argument with specific information
from the reading?)
3) coherence (is your argument consistent and understandable throughout
the piece?)
4) scope (does your paper deal with the question in appropriate depth
and breadth?)
If you have any questions or are in
any way unsure about what you are being asked to do, be sure to speak with me
via email or in person.
THE
ASSIGNMENT
Answer
ONE of the following questions:
1.
In Pudd’nhead Wilson, Mark
Twain satirizes various aspects of late 19th Century American
society. Explain how Twain uses the characters, plot twists, and descriptions
in his novel to ridicule TWO of the following:
a)
Americans’ racial prejudices
b)
The small-mindedness of small town
America
c) The southern code of “honor” and the
pretensions of would-be American aristocrats
d)
The American legal system
In answering, give specific examples or quotes from the book
to show how Twain using satire.
2.
Write an essay explaining how Pudd’nhead
Wilson addresses the old debate of “nature vs nurture.” What does Twain’s message to his readers seem
to be? To him, is nature (“blood” or “race” or biology) more important in
shaping who a person becomes than nurture
(one’s environment, the social context one lives in, one’s upbringing)? Does Twain try to confuse his readers as to
what he really thinks? If so, how? Cite
specific evidence from the novel to support each point you make.
3.
In the novel Pudd’nhead Wilson,
how does Mark Twain – through the clever use of humor and irony – level a
profound critique of racial hierarchy (specifically the notion that whites are
inherently superior to blacks)? How is
he able to do this without directly insulting his contemporary readers – many
of whom may not have shared his enlightened views on race?