Select one of the following three options for Essay 2
The comparative approach: Compare and contrast treatments of a theme in two to three texts from our assigned readings in Units 3 or 4. Successful essays
will explore broader implications of the themes and utilize key literary terms in their discussion of the texts. For example, Frank X. Walker’s “Homeopathic”
and G. E. Patterson’s “The Natural World” both address the idea of nature and what it means in urban spaces, but to very different ends. Exploring the
similarities and differences in these two texts could lead to a productive discussion about what the idea of nature means to people in different settings.
The historical approach: Select one text from unit 3 or 4 that is connected to a specific historical event, period, or mindset. For example, Woody Guthrie’s
“This Land is Your Land” connects to the Dust Bowl as well as anti-Communist attitudes in the United States at the time, or Terry Tempest Williams’ “The Clan
of One-Breasted Women” connects to nuclear testing in the American Southwest in the mid-twentieth century and cancer clusters.
