History 371H
Devine
Paper
Assignment #1 Option A: Mark Twain, Puddn’head Wilson
This essay is due Monday, September 22nd by 11:59
pm. 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 choose not to do this assignment, you
may complete Option B (due October 6).
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 only
on the assigned course reading. Come up with your own ideas and arguments,
don’t regurgitate whatever you find on Spark Notes or other online sources.
Don’t forget to put your name at the
top of page 1 of the essay before emailing it. (People actually forget to do this.)
How to cite?
If you are quoting directly from Twain or Fishkin, 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, otherwise you
are plagiarizing. It is not necessary to include a works cited page.
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 adequately 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 three questions:
1.
How does Mark Twain use the
characters, plot twists, and descriptions in Pudd’nhead Wilson to ridicule the both
the southern code of “honor” and the provincialism of small town Americans?
2.
Throughout the novel Pudd’nhead Wilson, how does Mark Twain –
through the clever use of humor and irony – level a profound critique of white
supremacy (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?
3.
How does Mark Twain’s Pudd’nhead Wilson address the old debate of
“nature vs nurture”?
To Twain, is nature (“blood” or “race” or biology) more important in
shaping who a person becomes than nurture
(one’s environment, what one is taught, one’s upbringing)? How does Twain try to confuse his readers as to what he really
thinks?
Regardless of
which prompt you answer, be sure to cite specific evidence from the novel or
from Fishkin’s article to support each point you
make.