Imaginative Possibility

Books to reference: Heart of Darkness by Joesph Conrad and The dead by James Joyce Answer the following prompt by making an argument with a thesisand by using evidencefrom the main texts to back up your argument.  Make sure that your argument is focused, your terminology is exact and specific, and your points are supported by evidence taken from the texts and carefully cited by page # (including any references to the auxiliary material, i.e., theBroadview edition introduction). Do not rely simply on plot summary of the works, but rather analyze them in the context of our course themes.  Employ a clear and specific thesis sentence at the end of your introductory section. USE PROPER SPELLING AND GRAMMAR throughout.  Come up with an interesting, telling and/or enticing title for your paper. Help with literary terminology (such as “symbol” and “metaphor”) can be found at the Concise Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms (listed on your syllabus). For more information on how to write the paper, please see my handout, “Papers:  What I Expect” in “Files.” Your paper must include intelligent, specific reference to and analytical use of the works you focus on.  You must also summarize and intelligently and substantively integrate into your analysis at least one important fact, idea or concept found in a Discussion Posting by a classmate.  Cite this information by name of student, posting # (i.e., “DB 8”) and date of the posting.  Further intelligent reference to class discussion or to any other works on the syllabus, by way of comparison or to emphasize a point, is welcome but not required. Prompt:  Whether it is set at a dinner conversation, on a fabulous island, at the mouth of the Thames, in a dark jungle, in a sitting room in Belgium, in a Victorian-era house during a Christmas party, in a hotel, or in a snowy cemetery,etc., all three works we have read so far focus on people’s sense of imaginative possibility, or the bitter disappointment at the lack of possibility, as they interact with each other in a particular place.     In your paper, compare and contrast howtwo particular places in two different works bring out this sense of imaginative possibilityin a particular character in each work, even if it is a possibility that is ultimately disappointed. In your answer, make sure you give roughly equal attention to analyzing each of the two works, and that you carefully describe important features of these places that are relevant to the character’s imaginative interaction with that place. Note also that the characters may be physically and/or imaginatively interacting with these places, which may be real or simply dreamed of.