Essay #4: A Biographical, Historical, or New
Historical
Due: Thursday, 11-16
Length: 2-3 pages (500-750 words)
In the last couple of weeks, we’ve studied Biographical, Historical, and New Historical Criticism, we’ve discussed “The Yellow Wallpaper” and “Revelation,” and we’ve seen the kinds of research Stephen Lynn has done in approaching the work of Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Flannery O’Connor, and John Cheever from the perspective of a critic interested in authorial biography and cultural/historical context. Take a moment to refresh your memory by scanning Chapter Eight and Chapter Eleven.
It’s time for you to choose one of these three perspectives
and write your own Biographical, Historical, or New Historical essay. You’ve seen the logic
1) James Baldwin, “Sonny’s Blues” (379). Here are some useful websites about the story and the author: http://cai.ucdavis.edu/uccp/sblecture.html; http://falcon.jmu.edu/~ramseyil/baldwin.htm; http://www.storybites.com/baldwinsonny.htm. The first two sites offer a wealth of resources including biographies, bibliographies, criticism, e-texts, and lesson plans. The third is a site produced by Karen Bernardo, a freelance editor. It contains comments on this and many other stories. Please contact Bernardo if you desire to quote from her insightful commentary. Cultural and historical materials you might wish to learn about include “Horse,” or heroin; Louis Armstrong; Charlie “Bird” Parker; the G.I. Bill; the Blues.
2) Katherine
Anne Porter, “The Jilting of Granny Weatherall”
(534). The website for the Katherine
Anne Porter Society is at http://www.lib.umd.edu/Guests/KAP/.
Porter’s papers are held at the
3) Cynthia
Ozick, “The Shawl” (527). Links to some rich resources, including
reviews and essays by Ozick and of Ozick, are found at http://www.brothersjudd.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/reviews.detail/book_id/487/The%20Shawl.htm.
Also, you might find useful the website
of the
4) Amy
Tan, “Two Kinds” (548). An interview
with Tan, conducted when she was touring around promoting The Joy Luck Club, is online at http://www.metroactive.com/papers/sonoma/12.14.95/tan-9550.html.
A later interview is at http://www.bookreporter.com/authors/au-tan-amy.asp.
Of cultural/contextual interest might be
the
5) John
Steinbeck, “The Chrysanthemums” (541).
The webpage of The National Steinbeck Center is at http://www.Steinbeck.org/MainFrame.html. Ed Stephan’s page, a useful collection of
information and resources for Steinbeck studies, is available at http://www.ac.wwu.edu/~stephan/Steinbeck/.
If you’re Nature-challenged, you might wish to learn more about chrysanthemums;
you may also wish to learn more about
Your aim is to produce a reading of one of these texts from the standpoint of a Biographical/Historical/New Historical Critic. Focus on one of these approaches (though you may end-up mixing more than one), making sure to narrow your topic down to something you could handle thoroughly in a 3 page paper—some aspect of the author’s life or culture that illuminates our understanding of the story.
Giant caveat: I do not want a three-page biography of your author. Your aim is to produce a reading of some aspect of the short story in the context of the life and times of the author.
Lesser, but still quite intimidating, caveat: since you are writing about the life and times of the author, some research is necessary. After all, you want to show that the author’s life and/or culture produced the text. I’ve already done quite a bit of research for you, and you are welcome to find more websites and articles. But note that any research you incorporate into your essay must be documented—which means that this essay must include a Works Cited page and in-text, parenthetical citation of sources. On a separate sheet, list all sources cited—this will be your Works Cited page. Information on MLA format can be found here.