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(2015
midterm assignment) Sample Student Midterm Answers 2015 #4: Research Proposals |
LITR 4328 |
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Karin Cooper
Research Project Proposal: Two Research Adventures
The Rest of The Native American Story and The Friendship Between Literature and
Art in the American Renaissance
For my research project I thought the two smaller web reviews looked really
interesting, and I wanted to head in that direction. I wanted it focus on the
French and Indian war possibly. I was also interested in looking more into the
websites branching from the casino website that is run by the Mohegans. I am
interested in heading into this direction because although I have enough Native
American in me to actually be affiliated with a tribe I never have been, and my
parents did not really tell me about that part of my family. This is the reason
I have taken an interest in researching more of what happened to the Mohegans
specifically after The Last of the
Mohicans time period. I might come up with a different question as my
research leads me.
The second web research I wanted to do was looking more into the art of at the
time of the American Renaissance. I have not formed a specific question yet, but
maybe finding out if certain artist were influenced by writers of that time, or
vice versa. These two projects would not be connected to each other, and if I
find the first one to lead me in a different more lengthy direction than I
expected I might discard the second idea all together, but as of right now this
is my plan for the research project.
Tanner McLean
Research Topic
I think I would really enjoy doing my
research project somehow over Poe as an author and influence in the American
Renaissance, and more specifically over his gothic style and ultimately possibly
as the perpetual Byronic hero of the Romantic authors.
I believe this topic would be general enough to cover the length of the
essay, yet specific enough to be concise in my writing.
I also believe it would be easy to find solid research to back my view
here.
I believe option 1 would probably be my best
option seeing as it will most likely be an analytical type essay.
Cyndi Perkins
Research Proposal
Since
taking a course on African-American female authors, I have yearned to understand
more about the early American writers that were actually either freed slaves or
still slaves when they produced literature. I learned that some of these texts
were not discovered and published until later in the twentieth century, but
since then there have been many manuscripts found, verified and published. I
have chosen option 3 because I would like to expand my knowledge of this subject
and not be limited to only what would be pertinent to a thesis in a research
paper. The first post I plan to write will deal primarily with the history of
African-American writers beginning with texts written during slavery. From
there, I would like to trace the promotion of these writers by the
abolitionists, many of which I already know were writers themselves. I would
like to learn how the African-American writers created works during the Romantic
period and how, if at all, it furthered their endeavor to be free.
My
second post will develop from my findings. Since I will be looking specifically
for how these writers used elements of Romanticism, such as the sublime, gothic,
romance and transcendentalism, I am hoping that I can trace what influenced them
to how they influenced future American writers. Slavery, to say the least, is a
massive problem for a country that claims to believe in the unadulterated
freedom of the individual. I am very interested to see how past generations
sought to work this problem out through literature and how present generations
are continuing to treat the classism, racism and sexism stemming from this era
that is still present in our society today. Beyond literature, I will be
extending my research into the areas of the history of the abolitionist and the
pro-slavery movements including any information on the cultural beliefs and
values of both sides.
