First Paper
Topic
Your first papers are due at lecture
on February 25. Choose one of the topics below and write a 4-6 page,
typed, double-spaced paper.
- Analyze the migration experience
of John Harrower. Why did he migrate to Virginia? Do you think he intended
to remain there the rest of his life? How Americanized did he become in
the years he was there? From Harrower's experience do you think we can generalize
about indentured servants as a whole in the years just before the Revolution?
Why or why not?
- How does Equiano's identity
change over the course of the events he describes in his narrative? By the
end of the excerpts you have read would you consider him an African still
or an Englishman, or some sort of a combination of the two? What do you
think is his own sense of identity by the story's end?
- As source material for this
question, use either the Hollingworth or Seyffardt letters. Analyze the
cultural attitudes of the immigrants. How do these individuals feel about
the culture and institutions of the old country and of the U.S.? Are they
fleeing old world ways and accepting everything American? Or are they adapting
older traditions in a new setting? Finally, if you choose the Seyffardt
letters, are men's and women's attitudes basically the same or different?
For any of these topics, do
not feel called upon to answer every question posed. Write an organized response
quoting and citing portions of the primary sources frequently. In writing the
paper, use parentheses to indicate the page in Immigrant Voices that
contains the particular quote you employ or where particular incidents you mention
are recorded. These will permit your reader to follow your argument. You must
find hard evidence to back up your responses. Take time as you begin the assignment
to comb your sources for appropriate quotes and organize your response to make
an argument in a logical progression.
