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LITR 4231 Early American Literature 2012 Student Midterm Samples Sample Research Proposals for Research Posts |
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Veronica Ramirez
First Research Post: As stated in my Midterm Essay #3 “The Importance of
Women’s Education in Early American Literature,” I was excited about Sor Juana
Inez de Cruz and I would like to continue the research into Sor Juana’s works.
One of the most interesting things about her was the fact that her works,
reached out beyond literature and into music. We have been looking at music
during this semester and I thought this would be a natural continuation of the
course.
Second Research Post: I don’t know much about fashion, current or
historical, but I do believe that the culture will dictate the norm in fashion.
I can see the way that the puritan way of thinking, could influence simple and
modest dress. For my second research post I want to I want to explore the
fashion, especially of women, as the periods move through from the Renaissance,
Religious Reformation, Enlightenment and then through the Romantic era.
Elizabeth Eagle
Jonathan
Dickinson's Journal:
A Captivity
Narrative from Another View
After reading the two captivity
narratives required for this course, I became intrigued as to other captivity
narratives that developed around the same time as those of Mary Rowlandson and
Mary Jemison. After a simple search for “captivity narrative”, one of the first
to pop up was the story of Jonathan Dickinson (1663-1722), a Quaker, who along
with his family and others were shipwrecked in Florida. The ship was originally
intended to land in Philadelphia where those on board wanted to settle. After
the shipwreck, Dickinson relates the story of their captivity by the Jaega
Indians.
What follows is the intense journey of Dickinson and his family along
with the survivors of the shipwreck and their abuse by the Jaega Indians as the
Jaega move them toward Saint Augustine. The survivors are eventually freed and
allowed to continue their journey to Philadelphia where the Dickinson family
thrives. Jonathan Dickinson goes on to become the mayor of Philadelphia twice
before dying in 1722.
Like the stories of Rowlandson and Jemison, Dickinson's story is seen as
a well written and factual account of the events that took place. I am
interested in reading a captivity narrative not only from the male perspective
but also from the perspective of a Quaker. It will also be interesting to
understand the differences, if any, in the treatment of the English at the hands
of Native Americans from Florida and not the East coast. The similarities and
differences among the views and attitudes of the Native American groups interest
me just as much as the similarities and differences of the narratives do. I have
not yet read any part of Dickinson's story but I look forward to doing so.
Research Post Topic
For my research post, I was thinking about writing about the Indians who
occupied Galveston Island (Karankawas?); the ones
De Vaca mentioned in La Relacion.
This may sound silly, but I did not know that Indians occupied Texas until I
took this class! Now I am really interested in finding out more about them.
I am not sure what aspect I want to cover. I may want to talk about the
rise and the downfall of their tribe. I also might talk about how they reacted
to the Spaniards/ Christians. It really depends on what information I can find
out about them
Jillian Norris
Research Plan
For my
research posts I would really like to continue learning about the Baroque and
Plain Styles. I really enjoyed everything that I learned and read about in
class, but I feel like there is so much more that I can learn about them. For
example, I would probably pick two or three specific contributors to each style
outside of the ones that we've already discussed in class(maybe one artist, on
architect, and one author) and discuss how they're work fits into that style.
