1. Option 3: Might Benjamin Franklin’s aphorisms, Walt Whitman’s catalogs,
Emily
Option 3: Might Benjamin Franklin’s aphorisms, Walt Whitman’s catalogs, Emily Dickinson’s
“brief flashes of insight,” and Edgar Allan Poe’s insistence that a poem be short enough for
the reader to apprehend its “totality of effect” in one sitting be considered precursors to
modern American culture’s ever-shortening attention span and “thirty-second soundbite”
mentality? If so, what are the connections? If not, what are the fundamental distinctions? In
your response, be sure to cite specific examples from the works of at least three of the
authors we have studied as well as from current American practices and trends. Outside
Sources: For Essay3 integrate into your text information and/or ideas from two secondary
scholarly works of literary criticism pertaining to the author(s) and or text(s) in question.
Following correct MLA format, you must cite (quote and/or paraphrase) each source at
least once in the body of your essay and document each source at the end of your essay on a
separate Works Cited page. Here is a list of the authors and the pieces, that we have studied
so far. Pick the ones that you think fits best with what you have in mind for the essay. Some
have links to their pieces. John Winthrop; “A Model of Christian Charity,” 1630 Anne
Bradstreet; “Before the Birth of One of Her Children,” 1678 Samuel Sewall; “The Selling of
Joseph: A Memorial,” 1700 Benjamin Franklin, The Way to Wealth,” 1757 “Information to
Those Who Would Remove to America,” 1782 “Remarks Concerning the Savages of North
America,” 1784 (462-466) The Autobiography [Part Two], 1783 Samson Occom From An
Account of the Montauk Indians, on Long Island, 1761 A Short Narrative of My Life, 1768
Hector St. John de Crevecoeur From Letters from an American Farmer, 1782 Thomas
Jefferson From The Declaration, 1776 From Notes on the State of Virginia, 1787 First
Inaugural Address, 4 March 1801 (https://jeffersonpapers.princeton.edu/selected-
documents/first-inaugural-address-0) Letters Between Thomas Jefferson and the Danbury
Baptist Association, 1801 (https://billofrightsinstitute.org/founding-documents/primary-
source-documents/danburybaptists/) Letter to Dr. Benjamin Rush, 21 April 1803
(https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/01-40-02-0178-0001) Letter to John
Adams, 28 October 1813 (https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/03-06-02-
0446) Abraham Lincoln “Farewell Address at Springfield,” 1861 “First Inaugural Address,”
1861 Matthew Pinsker: Understanding Lincoln: First Inaugural Address (1861) “Second
Inaugural Address,” 1865 Frederick Douglass Frederick Douglass: From Slave to Statesman
Frederick Douglass: From Slave to Presidential Advisor Frederick Douglass: From Slave to
2. Abolitionist Narrative of the Life, Chapters I-IX (pp. 1-58) Walt Whitman Short Bio A Guide
to Walt Whitman’s “Leaves of Grass” “Leaves of Grass,” Still Growing After 150 Years–Billy
Collins Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 Preface to Leaves of Grass “Song of Myself” U of Penn Lecture on
Song of Myself Emily Dickinson Bio Dickinson Poems I hope this helps. If you have any
further questions, let me know. ~Elle
![Option 3: Might Benjamin Franklin’s aphorisms, Walt Whitman’s catalogs,
Emily
Option 3: Might Benjamin Franklin’s aphorisms, Walt Whitman’s catalogs, Emily Dickinson’s
“brief flashes of insight,” and Edgar Allan Poe’s insistence that a poem be short enough for
the reader to apprehend its “totality of effect” in one sitting be considered precursors to
modern American culture’s ever-shortening attention span and “thirty-second soundbite”
mentality? If so, what are the connections? If not, what are the fundamental distinctions? In
your response, be sure to cite specific examples from the works of at least three of the
authors we have studied as well as from current American practices and trends. Outside
Sources: For Essay3 integrate into your text information and/or ideas from two secondary
scholarly works of literary criticism pertaining to the author(s) and or text(s) in question.
Following correct MLA format, you must cite (quote and/or paraphrase) each source at
least once in the body of your essay and document each source at the end of your essay on a
separate Works Cited page. Here is a list of the authors and the pieces, that we have studied
so far. Pick the ones that you think fits best with what you have in mind for the essay. Some
have links to their pieces. John Winthrop; “A Model of Christian Charity,” 1630 Anne
Bradstreet; “Before the Birth of One of Her Children,” 1678 Samuel Sewall; “The Selling of
Joseph: A Memorial,” 1700 Benjamin Franklin, The Way to Wealth,” 1757 “Information to
Those Who Would Remove to America,” 1782 “Remarks Concerning the Savages of North
America,” 1784 (462-466) The Autobiography [Part Two], 1783 Samson Occom From An
Account of the Montauk Indians, on Long Island, 1761 A Short Narrative of My Life, 1768
Hector St. John de Crevecoeur From Letters from an American Farmer, 1782 Thomas
Jefferson From The Declaration, 1776 From Notes on the State of Virginia, 1787 First
Inaugural Address, 4 March 1801 (https://jeffersonpapers.princeton.edu/selected-
documents/first-inaugural-address-0) Letters Between Thomas Jefferson and the Danbury
Baptist Association, 1801 (https://billofrightsinstitute.org/founding-documents/primary-
source-documents/danburybaptists/) Letter to Dr. Benjamin Rush, 21 April 1803
(https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/01-40-02-0178-0001) Letter to John
Adams, 28 October 1813 (https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/03-06-02-
0446) Abraham Lincoln “Farewell Address at Springfield,” 1861 “First Inaugural Address,”
1861 Matthew Pinsker: Understanding Lincoln: First Inaugural Address (1861) “Second
Inaugural Address,” 1865 Frederick Douglass Frederick Douglass: From Slave to Statesman
Frederick Douglass: From Slave to Presidential Advisor Frederick Douglass: From Slave to](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/optionmightbenjaminwaltemily-230623112616-cf7d3207/85/Option-Might-Benjamin-Walt-Emily-docx-1-320.jpg)
