Consider the following categories, when thinking about the topic for your academic essay.
I. Authors
Write a reader's introduction to the nonfiction of one of the authors
whose work we've read this semester. Consider the essayists represented
in the anthology, as well as Twain, Douglass, Zitkala Sa, etc.
Or you may choose another outdoors writer, travel writer, memoirist, historian, or essayist (in consultation with me).
II. Genres
Write a reader's introduction (a history, discussion of forms, with
examples) to one of the following nonfiction genres and subgenres.
- Autobiography and/or memoir
- Captivity narratives
- Colonial travel narratives
- The essay
- "Old Southwestern Humor," sketches and essays
- Slave narratives
III. Time Periods, and Special Topics Related to Region, Race, Gender
You can combine types of categories, with a focus on
region, race, and/ or gender. Consider the following examples:
- The South in Northern Magazines, 1850's to 80's or Appalachia in
Northern Magazines, 1850's to 80's, or 20th century travel writing about
Appalachia.
- "Local Color" Writing in Northern Magazines (perhaps with a focus
on a particular figure; Charles Egbert Craddock (Mary Noailles
Murfree), William Gilmore Simms, etc.
- Early 20th c. African American essayists.
- Nonfiction writing on any particular area or region that you choose
(examples: Charleston, SC; The Appalachian Trail)
IV. Academic Arguments
Write a review of an interesting academic book related to issues we
discuss in class. Some important texts are listed below. We'll
also discuss others in class. If you're interested in a general
topic or issue and you want to find a good related title, confer with me.
- Richard Slotkin. Gunfighter Nation. 1992.
- Roderick Nash. Wilderness and the American Mind.
1967.
- Annette Kolodny. The Land Before Her: Fantasy and Experience
of the American Frontiers, 1630-1860.
- Robert D. Richardson. Henry Thoreau: A Life of the Mind.
1986. (Or Emerson, The Mind On Fire, 1995, another biography
by
Richardson.)