Research Novels 2019 It is recommended that you select and begin reading your chosen novel over the break. There will be a reading check in January.

Your Prompt You will write a well organized thoroughly research essay using the research novel as the inspiration and basis of your original idea. You want your claim to be unique. If you can find a literary criticism essay that has everything you need to write your essay, then you need a new idea. You may consider the modern day application of certain themes/issues within your test or you may want to focus your scope by using the lense of a certain literary theory that interests you. We will discuss the specific requirements of the source number and type, due dates, etc. when we return from the break. We will practice these research skills as we read and study Cormac McCarthy’s The Road.

YOUR OPTIONS Emily Brontë: Wuthering Heights (1847) Zora Neale Hurston: Their Eyes Were Watching God (1937) George Orwell: 1984 (1949) Ralph Ellison: Invisible Man (1952) Ken Kesey: One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1962) Barbara Kingsolver: The Poisonwood Bible (1998)

Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë (1847)

Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë (1847) Wuthering Heights is a gothic romance that depicts the tumultuous relationship of Heathcliff the gypsy and Catherine Earnshaw. Heathcliff is taken by the Earnshaw family when he is a small boy, and his relationship with young Catherine blossoms quickly. However, due to the stark contrast in station, their relationship proves to be more than complicated. As the two progress into adulthood their previously close connected becomes tainted by jealousy and an all consuming desire for revenge. Even though it is now considered a classic novel, it was quite scandalous for the time because of the way in which it offers a candid depiction of emotional and physical abuse as well as calls into question many of the hypocrisies of the Victorian Era.

Their Eyes Were Watching God (1937) by Zora Neale Hurston P.S. This is not an official movie trailer.

Their Eyes Were Watching God (1937) by Zora Neale Hurston Their Eyes Were Watching God is written as an extended flashback by Harlem Renaissance writer Zora Neale Hurston. The majority of the tale takes place in Eatonville, Florida, an, at the time, all black community. Janie Crawford, the story’s narrator and protagonist, tells a friend about her coming of age story as chronicled through her three distinctly different marriages as she searches for the elusive concept of a happy marriage. This novel offers a candid look a both racial and gender divisions of the time.

1984 (1949) - George Orwell

1984 (1949) - George Orwell The frighteningly prophetic dystopian novel examines a world under complete totalitarian government control. People live in fear of the Thought Police and being arrested and executed for “thought crime” (i.e. anti-government sentiments). People are constantly monitored by government officials through the televisions and cameras required in every home. Children are trained to spy on and turn in their parents for any crimes against the government. The protagonist Winston begins a dangerous journey of thought crime when he purchases a diary and begins secretly recording his innermost thoughts. As he writes more, his true feelings begin to develop and his once “simple,” routine life becomes increasingly complicated.

Invisible Man (1952) - Ralph Ellison The story opens with an unnamed narrator addressing his life of invisibility. At this stage in his life, he is living in an underground chamber wired with electricity that he steals from the city’s electrical grid. The narrator then begins the flashback on his journey to invisibility begin with his upbringing in a small Southern community in the 1920s, his high school graduation, and his journey to an all-black college. However, things don’t go as planned for our narrator, and he finds himself trying to start a new life in Harlem where his understanding of his invisibility becomes more complex.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1962) - Ken Kesey

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1962) - Ken Kesey One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest offers a grim and sobering depiction of mental institutions in the 1960s. Told from the perspective of patient Chief Bromden, the novel recounts the events that occur on his ward with the arrival of Randall McMurphy. McMurphy turns the ward upside with his disregard for authority as he challenges the imperious rule of Nurse Ratchet. While there are moments of humor in the text, it is a very sobering tale about the harsh impacts of institution life on the well-being of its patients.

The Poisonwood Bible (1998) - Barbara Kingsolver The Poisonwood Bible offers a unique narrative perspective, alternating between Orleana, the wife of a Baptist minister, and her 4 daughters (Rachel, Leah, Ada(h), and Ruth May). It is the 1960s and the Congo is experiencing extensive political unrest. Determined to save the souls of the heathen tribes, Nathan Price uproots his family from their home in Bethlehem, Georgia and moves them to the Congo with the intention of beginning a congregation and teaching the Congolese a proper lifestyle. However, as violence erupts throughout Africa, the Price family finds themselves unable to escape the Congo. The Price women must learn to navigate the rules of the Congo in each of their own, unique ways while also evading the harsh outbursts of their imperialistic father.