Over the Weekend: June 7–8

Your final exam for the course (Monday and Tuesday; schedule posted here) will be a 60-minute, in-class essay that asks you to put forward a thesis on the American Dream or American culture that makes use of the literature that you have read this year.

You must choose at least three of the following texts on which to support your larger claim about the American Dream:

Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Sonny’s Blues by James Baldwin
“The Snows of Kilimanjaro” by Ernest Hemingway
Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? by Joyce Carol Oates
A & P by John Updike
Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller

Respond to one of the following prompts:

Consider how your view of the American Dream has changed or stayed the same in light of the reading we did this year. Compare your view of the American Dream to the view portrayed in some of the works we read this year. Does the reading support or disagree with your outlook? Cite at least three works to support your thesis.
This semester we discussed which is stronger: the individual or society? Explore which is the great influence in achieving the American Dream: economic factors of having or not having wealth or an individual’s will and drive to achieve? How important is money in achieving the American Dream? Cite at least three works to support your thesis.
Defend a thesis of your own creation. The American Dream does not have to be the focus, but your essay should still make some sort of claim about the meaning of American culture or society. Again, cite at least three texts from the list above.

Come to class prepared with an outline. 1 page max.
Choose quotes from your texts that will support your argument.

Posted by Justin Wells : 06/06/2008