Writing Prompt:
Washington Irving's short story, "The Devil and Tom Walker" comments on several themes that were relevant in the 19th century and continue to be relevant today: greed, hypocrisy, moral corruption, and religious intolerance. Choose one or two of these themes and explain the statement Irving makes about the theme(s). Explain how Irving uses at least two of the tenets of Romanticism: imagination, intuition, idealism, and individualism, to develop the theme.
Guidelines:
1. 700 word minimum (Don't freak out. This isn't that much.)
2. Formal academic register
a. Standard English grammar, punctuation, and spelling
b. Avoid using contractions or slang
c. Write in 3rd person point of view
d. Describe literature in present tense
3. Your own original work
2. Formal academic register
a. Standard English grammar, punctuation, and spelling
b. Avoid using contractions or slang
c. Write in 3rd person point of view
d. Describe literature in present tense
3. Your own original work
- Use direct and indirect (paraphrased) quotes from the text, but be sure to cite your source.
- Do not search online for information for your essay, even if you put it in your own words. This is not a research paper; it is a literary analysis paper. I do not want to know what someone from some random website thinks about the topic. I want your ideas about the topic.
- If you do use ideas from online and do not cite them, your grade will be a zero. Even if you do cite them, if the paper consists primarily of other people's ideas you found online, your score will be very low.
- Times New Roman 12 point font
- Double Spaced
- MLA Header and Heading
- Parenthetical Citations and an MLA Works Cited page