Final Essay Topics: Light/Darkness. Party of Hope (Thoreau, Whitman, Douglass, Dickinson) vs. the Party of Doubt (Poe, Hawthorne, Douglass, Melville, Dickinson). Why is this writer optimistic or pessimistic (or divided) about American culture at this time? What is this writer responding to in his/her culture? Focus your essay on one writer. You may reference others if you choose to do so. (5 pages. 3 sources.)  HOPE: Thoreau: Civil Disobedience, Walden. Focus your essay on Thoreau's response to conformity and his belief in individualism and Transcendental thinking. Can an individual make a difference in a society in which "most men lead lives of quiet desperation"? Whitman: Song of Myself, Crossing Brooklyn Ferry, selections from Drum-Taps. Why did Whitman believe so strongly in the Union, despite the impending doom of the Civil War? How did he use Transcendental thinking to show his belief in himself and all others to follow him? In Between: Which way seems most convincing? Dickinson: selected poems. How did she create a society in her poetry? Why did she find salvation in nature and community? How do you understand her doubts about death? Douglass: Narrative of the life. How did this writer use education to triumph over enslavement and take control of himself? What is the role of violence is his story? How does Douglass reveal the horrors of the system and yet his belief in himself? DOUBT Poe, selected stories. How did Poe's stories reveal the darkness and complexities of the human mind at war with itself? Why was he reacting against the logic and order of the previous generation? Hawthorne, selected stories (Young Goodman Brown, My Kinsman, Major Molineux). How does Hawthorne display the anxiety of the individual facing the community? What happens to his characters who seek to be self-reliant? How does sin alienate characters from others? Melville, "Bartleby." Why was Melville so skeptical about the individual standing up independently against society? How was self-reliance portrayed in this story? Is individuality a choice in a capitalistic culture? INSTRUCTIONS: --You may choose one of the writers or more and write about it! --Does not need to be anithing really well done i just need a average papper! --it has to be write in MLA format and instead of work cited page it can be a short bibliografy! -- Do not use to any fancy worlds  -- NO PLAGIARISM .

1. Final Essay Topics: Light/Darkness. Party of Hope (Thoreau,
Whitman, Douglass, Dickinson) vs. the Party of Doubt (Poe,
Hawthorne, Douglass, Melville, Dickinson). Why is this writer
optimistic or pessimistic (or divided) about American culture at
this time? What is this writer responding to in his/her culture?
Focus your essay on one writer. You may reference others if
you choose to do so. (5 pages. 3 sources.)
HOPE:
Thoreau: Civil Disobedience, Walden. Focus your essay on
Thoreau's response to conformity and his belief in individualism
and Transcendental thinking. Can an individual make a
difference in a society in which "most men lead lives of quiet
desperation"?
Whitman: Song of Myself, Crossing Brooklyn Ferry, selections
from Drum-Taps. Why did Whitman believe so strongly in the
Union, despite the impending doom of the Civil War? How did
he use Transcendental thinking to show his belief in himself and
all others to follow him?
In Between: Which way seems most convincing?
Dickinson: selected poems. How did she create a society in her
poetry? Why did she find salvation in nature and community?
How do you understand her doubts about death?
Douglass: Narrative of the life. How did this writer use
education to triumph over enslavement and take control of
himself? What is the role of violence is his story? How does
Douglass reveal the horrors of the system and yet his belief in
himself?
DOUBT
Poe, selected stories. How did Poe's stories reveal the darkness
and complexities of the human mind at war with itself? Why
was he reacting against the logic and order of the previous
generation?
Hawthorne, selected stories (Young Goodman Brown, My
Kinsman, Major Molineux). How does Hawthorne display the
anxiety of the individual facing the community? What happens

2. to his characters who seek to be self-reliant? How does sin
alienate characters from others?
Melville, "Bartleby." Why was Melville so skeptical about the
individual standing up independently against society? How was
self-reliance portrayed in this story? Is individuality a choice in
a capitalistic culture?
INSTRUCTIONS:
--You may choose one of the writers or more and write about it!
--Does not need to be anithing really well done i just need a
average papper!
--it has to be write in MLA format and instead of work cited
page it can be a short bibliografy!
-- Do not use to any fancy worlds
-- NO PLAGIARISM