Topic Brainstorm (Again.)

My first project idea is to use the following prompt: "compare and contrast elements of two different texts. For example, explore the similarities and differences between two characters in the texts, or examine how one theme is handled in similar and dissimilar ways in two different texts." With this prompt, I would be interested in comparing Emily Dickinson's poem "1129" to that of Herman Melville's "Bartleby, the Scrivener" and/or "When I Have Fears That I May Cease To Be" by John Keats. I would examine how these works handle the theme of death. I'm interested in this topic mainly because of how much I enjoyed reading poem "1129" by Emily Dickinson. The theme present in that poem was the theme of death and I felt like it was present in Keats and Melville's writings as well. I think this would create a strong foundation for me to work off of. By completing this project, I feel like I'd be able to learn exactly what it is that Keats and Melville are trying to say about death in their works since I haven't thought about it as much as I did with Dickinson's poem.

Another idea I would be interested in trying is this prompt: "Think about a theme you see running through your life (failure is the best lesson, love is eternal, etc). Choose a reading that you think also discusses this theme (even if it reaches different conclusions about it). Explore connections between how the theme plays out in your life, and how the theme gets played out in the reading." A theme in my life that I would enjoy writing about is my belief that everything gets better. I think I could use "Du Tenth Sinks the Jewel Box in Anger" by Feng Menglong to show how differently my belief compares to the way Jia Li views his own life since I feel the two are almost complete opposites. This project should be something I can manage since my life is the only one I lived, so there's no way I can realistically mess up that half of the project, meaning I would just need to be careful when addressing Jia Li in order to make sure that I've clearly analyzed his life and the way his story doesn't line up with my beliefs. Something I would hope to learn from writing this project is whether or not everything can get better for people, or if maybe some people are destined to crash and burn.

My third idea would be to address the prompt that asks me to choose a female character to focus on and discuss several questions about her. For this project I would discuss the character Du Tenth from Feng Menglong's "Du Tenth Sinks the Jewel Box in Anger." Of course, if I end up choosing the previous project idea I listed, then I won't be able to use this idea for my third project. I'll need to think about my options. For this project, I would address how several characters view her in a negative manner and share my contrasting opinion about her. I'm interested in this topic because I felt sympathetic for Du Tenth the whole time I was reading this story. At first I had doubts as to whether or not her love for Jia Li was sincere, but it ended up becoming clear to me that it was sincere even if Jia Li didn't realize until it was too late and he had already ruined things with her. I might end up learning something about the way that we as people perceive others who don't meet society's standards of what makes someone a good person and whether or not our judgments are fair.

What I've learned from the first project that I've written in this class is that I might be better off trying to stick closer to a provided prompt than trying to completely reshape one into my own. I feel like it will help me stay organized and keep my thoughts in a presentable structure. Organization is a reoccurring criticism I receive in my essays not just in this class but others as well. I know I'm capable of writing a thorough and well-written analysis, I just need to collect my thoughts and lay them out in a way that's clear to my audience.