Reading the Captivity Narrative
in Early America Paper 1 |
This first paper should be between 1000-1500 words, or four to six typewritten, double-spaced pages. The paper will analyze one or more captivity narratives as a literary text; you may also discuss historical interpretation if that is relevant to your topic. Your paper must have a strong argumentative thesis, and you must use frequent textual evidence to back up your points, either in the form of paraphrases or direct quotations--and I encourage you to quote often to make your point, and then to analyze those quotes closely. You do not need to summarize the events of the narrative or narratives. Library research is not required for this paper, and if you are interested in doing research, you must receive approval first--this paper is your own critical interpretation of a text. Review the Paper Guidelines for Sophomore-Level Literature Papers before beginning.
Your paper will deal with the early texts we've been reading so far this semester. The paper must discuss Mary's Rowlandson's The Sovereignty and Goodness of God, but you may also choose to discuss John Smith's Generall Historie of Virigina, Handsome Lake's "How America Was Discovered," and either of Cotton Mather's two captivity narratives. You may also reference Jane Thompkin's essay, "'Indians': Textualism, Morality, and the Problem of History" and Jill Lepore's "Whose History Is It?," if these texts seem relevant to your discussion. Your discussion of Rowlandson should be of primary importance in your paper, however, and you are not required to use any other text but hers.
The paper will be a reading of a literary text, so you might consider various elements of literature like symbolism, structure, and the depiction of character. You might choose also to focus on cultural concerns in the text; how does Rowlandson depict the cultural interaction between the early American colonists and the Native Americans? Or think about religious issues in the text--how does Rowlandson's religious faith function in the text?
Another way to approach the subject would be to compare Rowlandson's text to another captivity narrative. Do the narrators characterize their captivities in different ways? If so, what do you think accounts for the differences? What elements are common in the texts? How does the selection of events--what's left out, what's included--influence your reading of the text?
Regardless of the approach you take to your paper, be sure that you have a clear and argumentative thesis early in the paper, stating the interpretation you're making.
This page copyright 2000-2007 by Lisa Hammond | last update 19 July 2005