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SECOND WRITING REQUIREMENT SUGGESTED TOPICS
You may use this course to fulfill the second writing requirement, it you wish. To qualify for this option, you MUST have completed ENWR 110 or the equivalent. In fact, if you are in your first year of study, I strongly urge you to postpone. Students do better on this requirement and get more out of it if they are more mature.
If you meet the above qualifications, here are some suggested topics. Please check with me if you have questions.
Your second writing paper should be a research paper. You will be doing fieldwork for you collection project. Your paper should be based on published texts and can serve as background for your collection project. Thus, if you are ready to select your collection project now, you are more than welcome to tailor your paper so that it will channel into that project.
SUGGESTED TOPICS:
1. Research a topic connected to Tropic of Night. This is an enjoyable book and I highly recommend it. Does Santeria interest you? There is an article on this topic in Healing Logics and this same book contains an extensive bibliography. Take that bibliography, do some research on this practice, compare and contrast to the Russian material and you will have a paper.
2. Another topic that would grow out of Tropic of Night would be taking an issue presented in the novel and comparing the artistic treatment that the issue receives in the literary work with the academic approach used in your course and/or Healing Logics. Taking Santeria again, although this is far from the only option: what is the difference between the artistic presentation of this practice in the novel and the scholarly presentation in Healing Logics and other academic works? You could actually pick from any number of topics and use the academic/artistic contrast as a technique. Sexuality and its denial are important in the novel. The heroine acts as a Holy Fool of sorts. Ecstatic states play a major role.
3. Healing Logics not only has a great bibliography, it is a great source for potential research topics. A follow-up on any ONE of the articles in the book would be good. By all means, check with me to make sure your choice will yield a good paper.
4. A follow-up on Holy Fools, or other Russian sects, or shamanism are all possibilities. There is not a great deal about Russian sects in English. I did list a book on Holy Fools on the syllabus and you are welcome to work from that. Shamanism is a different issue. There is a great deal of information. Once you select your source, do check with me to make sure that it is reliable. Also, you may look at American sects or at the revival of shamanism and other ecstatic practices in the countries of the former Soviet Union. Again, please clear your sources with me.
5. Shamans and Iurodivye often become such as a result of a near-death experience and you will see a film on this topic. Near-death experiences were a popular topic for a while and a number of books were written on this topic. You might wish to have a look at some of these and compare to the material in the course. If you work from the film you might do an art/academic contrast like the one I suggested for Tropic of Night. The film is an artistic treatment. How is near-death treated in a book like Life After Death? Whatever you chose, please check with me for reliability of sources.
These are just some suggestions. You are welcome to pick your own topic. Be sure to clear the topic with me and, in general, consult with us early and often. We want you to do well and to get the most out of this experience.
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