LITR 4232 American Renaissance 2012 Student Midterm Samples #4. Research proposal (2+ paragraphs)

Two Strong Research Proposals

Valerie Mead

Research Proposal: The Negative Perception of Strong Female Characters in American Renaissance Literature

          I am going to choose the research paper option, as opposed to the journal option.  I would like to write my paper on the topic of how strong women in American Renaissance literature are viewed in a negative light when compared to their more docile female peers.  This negativity is seen by both women and men as characters in the works, and also must come from somewhere within the author.  It also speaks to the social and cultural mores of that time and place, which I find extremely interesting.  This negative attitude about strong women is personified in many characters from many differing works from the American Renaissance.  Specifically, I will be looking at the characters of Dame Van Winkle (from Irving’s Rip Van Winkle), Cora Munro (from Cooper’s The Last of the Mohicans), and Aunt Fortune (from Warner’s The Wide, Wide World).  Dame Van Winkle had a husband who would not work on their farm; she lived a life of poverty and hunger for her and her children while her husband went gallivanting off and helping others.  She tries to put things in order as best she can (even though it is truly not enough), which makes her stronger (and perhaps more masculine in this world), and because of this, her husband cannot stand her and she is viewed as a shrew by a great deal of the people in their near vicinity.  Cora is seen negatively because she is a strong character, one that goes against what society dictates she should behave and look like (and possibly because she is much smarter than the men around her who make the decisions).  Even though she is smarter than most and her voice should be heard, she is viewed negatively because of this and her other actions.  Aunt Fortune is seen as a mean and frugal person because she has the guts to live alone and do things for herself.  She does not rely on the money that was given to her, but she wants to prove to the world that she knows what she is doing and can successfully do so.  However, this comes with the consequences of running a farm on her own (like Dame Van Winkle), which is extremely stressful, and could affect her attitude and how she is seen.  Strength and independence are not virtues that women of this time prided themselves on; the women I will be researching were ones that did pride themselves on this.  As a result of their violating the social and cultural norms, they were viewed in a negative light as compared to their female peers or their male counterparts.  These characters are all seen negatively by their female peers and male counterparts within the works, and they also have some sort of reflection on the society and time in which they were written, as well as the author who wrote them.  They are viewed negatively even though they are just trying to be strong for themselves or those around them, which makes it a fascinating topic for me.

Ashley Rhodes

The Feminine Pen

                    Feminine literature has always interested me because of their minority. Strong literature by women like Emily Dickinson and Harriet Beecher Stowe represent much more than just The Antebellum Women’s Movement but also signify how courageous these women must have been in their time period. That is why I have chosen to do Option 2 on topic; The Rise of Popular Women’s writing. I plan to research on a variety of topics but relate them all back to feminine literature.

·       Domestic Romances

·       Early Women’s Rights Movement

·       Dickinson

·       Stowe

·       Fuller

·       Stanton

·       Women’s Fictions and Novels

There are many options for me to go in this subject but overall I would like to have my readers understand the significance of the rise of women’s writing and why it is so important to educate yourself on such movements like this. My journal will be reliable because I have studied women’s rights and know most of the struggles women were facing at the time. Hopefully I can give these incredible women justice as I research their lives, works, and activism in women’s writings.