This assignment requires an argumentative essay analyzing at least two of the course readings listed, including Common Sense, Civil Disobedience, The Stolen White Elephant, Blue Vein Society, The Wife of His Youth, The Waste Land, Black Death, or Battle Royal. The essay must formulate an arguable thesis supported by evidence from the texts about trends across readings, elements unique to each text, and what each text reveals about its historical moment individually and in relation to the others.

1. 7 pages
This assignment is for an argumentative essay, NOT for a
purely informative essay. You should formulate an arguable
thesis that, when developed and fully supported, demonstrates
your comprehension of and critical thinking about the course
readings to date. You can focus on a single text and produce an
essay that argues for a specific interpretation of the text's
content, an argument that relates a text in a specific way to its
historical context, or an argument that addresses two or more
texts as they intersect with one another. What trends can you
identify that emerge in more than one of the readings? What
elements of each text make it unique in comparison with the
others? Finally, what does each text, individually and in
relation with others, tell us about the particular historical
moment from which it emerges?
Common Sense
Civil Disobedience
The Stolen White Elephant
Blue Vein Society
The Wife of His Youth
The Waste Land
Black Death
Battle Royal