Write a 5 to 6-page research essay on one or more of the books that we have read in the class as of the due date of the paper: The Scarlet Letter, Billy Budd, or Age of Innocence.

Passing papers will use/cite at least one outside-source. "Outside sources" may include information about the author, the history of the time in which the text was written or set, other criticsí comments about the text, or information about literary stylistics in general. Any paper that does not cite any and all ideas or information borrowed from others will receive an F.

Here are three keys to success:

• Accurate use of textual evidence from both the novel and outside sources
• Thoughtful and persuasive analysis that teaches readers of the novel to see it in a new or clearer way.
• Clear and well-edited prose: the paper follows the demands of standard written English and the MLA-style formatting of citations and bibliographic information

Here are a few suggestions for paper topics but please feel free to come up with your own as writing about what interests you is your first step towards engaging the interest of your reader:

Laws Broken and Upheld: Analyze the idea of guilt, sin, innocence, and/or justice in one or more of the novels assigned for this course. What laws bind the characters? What laws can or should they break?

The Self in Society: What is the role of the individual within the society? What is the role or right of the society in shaping the individual?

Narrating History: All of the novels that we have read so far are set in a past that is some distance from the moment of writing. How does this shape the text? Why are they writing about the past? What does the novel seem to say about the (writer's) present? How do the requirements of historiography (veracity, evidence, etc.) affect the fictional narrative?

Nation and narration: Is all American literature about the conflict between "democracy and something else?" Analyze the construction/representation of America in the microcosm of a small American community or in the representation of ideas traditionally associated with American ideology abroad (for example, democracy and the "Rights of Man").

Sex: Analyze the construction of gender roles. You might also analyze the role sexuality or sensuality plays in the novel. How is attraction represented?

Speak! Analyze the thematic of communication. Focuses might include miscommunication, silence, or communication carried out by means other than human speech.