Write an essay of 1500 words (4-6 typed double-spaced pages) on one of the following topics. Remember to present a clear, focused argument, and to deal directly with the language and form of the text(s) you are examining. These are suggested topics only; you need to refine and develop them to reflect your own critical thinking. Please use the current M. L. A. style to document secondary sources.

1. Most of the writers and filmmakers we have studied confront the question of style. With reference to work by two authors or filmmakers on the course syllabus, examine the creation of a distinctive image or voice. How are style and identity related? What are the hallmarks of good style in prose or in visual representation? How do these writers question the concept of style or stylization?

2. The words colony and culture have the same Latin root: both stem from the verb colere, to till. With reference to work by two authors or filmmakers on the course syllabus, discuss the relationships between colonization and culture: what role does language play in colonizing foreign territories?

3. Choose two texts on the course syllabus, and discuss the ways in which gender is presented, constructed, undermined, or rethought. How are particular configurations of the masculine or the feminine called into question? What concepts of gender and/or sexuality are produced by certain forms of writing?

4. Discuss the opposition between documentary realism and artistic beauty in work by two authors or filmmakers on the course syllabus. Can documentary or non-fictional work be beautiful or aesthetically pleasing without betraying its accuracy or factuality? Is a well-made documentary also artful? How and why?

5. Many of the works we have examined present a strong or vital relationship between self and place. With reference to work by two authors or filmmakers on the course syllabus, examine the geographical aspects of their work. What role does a sense of place or country play in their work? Does writing depend on some connection with the local? How and why?

6. Many of the texts we have studied either contain or correspond to some aspect of visual representation: film, drawing, photography or painting. With reference to work by two authors or filmmakers on the course syllabus, discuss the intersection of and the relationships between the visual and the textual. Is a picture really worth a thousand words? Why (and how) do writers engage with visual forms?

7. A topic of your own devising. Make sure that you discuss your idea with me before you begin to write.

Due in class on Friday, April 4, 2008.