Essay #1 (Due: Tuesday, October 7,2008)

Prof. Hanley
English 158
American Literature

Essay #1

You have a friend who doesn’t like to read. In particular, he or she really dislikes literature. Your goal in this paper is to convince your friend that he or she needs to read one of the texts we’ve looked at so far this semester.

What you’ll need to do:

• select a text (by Irving, Poe, Emerson, Whitman, Dickinson);

• think about what you like about this text;

• think about your audience - - how you’ll persuade your friend;

• use the text to persuade your friend, i.e. use quotation to illustrate or support your arguments for the importance or necessity of reading the text

• draft and then type up your missive (double-spaced, font no bigger than 12 point, no smaller than 11, no longer than 2 pages);

• proofread for typographical, spelling, punctuation, and grammar errors;

• hand in your final product at the beginning of class on Tuesday, October 7, 2008.