LitMUSE » norman mailer

America as Empire?

Dr. Lucas — Mon, 09 Oct 2006 14:32:37 +0000

As you have read, Norman Mailer, in his book Why Are We at War?, suggests that the real reason for America’s current war with Iraq is to build a global empire. He writes:

Behind the whole push to go to war with Iraq is the desire to have a huge military presence in the Middle East as a stepping-stone to taking over the rest of the world. (51)

What main reason can you pick out of the text and your life that supports or negates his argument? In what ways do you see this working in your daily life? That is, you may not agree with Mailer about all the reasons he gives for the Iraqi war, but this blog is asking that you consider his explanations and evidence within the context of your life.

In other words: support or negate any aspect of Mailer’s argument by citing evidence from your daily life.

Why Are We at War?

Dr. Lucas — Wed, 04 Oct 2006 18:38:12 +0000

After reading Norman Mailer’s essay Why Are We at War?, pick a point (out of many that the book argues) that you either agree with or disagree with. Choose any point that he makes that you can argue for or against based on your own understanding and experience — you should not have to cite external sources for this assignment. After you write your introduction, summarize Mailer’s point briefly, then write your response to it for the remainder of the blog entry.

Why Are We at War Essay

Dr. Lucas — Sat, 11 Mar 2006 19:56:03 +0000

This essay will require you to respond to Norman Mailer’s commentary Why Are We at War? in a three-page, formal essay.

Since it is your essay reacting to Mailer’s book, your opinion is what matters here, using Mailer’s text as a resource. This is not a book report, so your job is not to summarize Why Are We at War? but provide a commentary about a specific aspect of it.

Your essay should concentrate on the local, rather than the global. This means that you should resist commenting on parts of this issue that do not directly affect your life. You might address how the Iraqi war impacts your community, the significance it has for Central Georgia, or how it has influenced your attitudes toward America and the world. Keep your observations and evidence local.

Be sure you can support your opinion with evidence from the text.

The structure of your essay should follow this guideline:

Title: be sure it’s catchy and descriptive
Introductory paragraph: Introduce the issue you intend to cover. The last sentence should contain a thesis statement that actually answers one of the questions above
First body paragraph: Address those who might hold a contrary position; explain why that position(s) may not be as tenable as yours
Subsequent body paragraphs: Develop and support your thesis using specific evidence from Mailer’s book
Conclusion: Suggest ways that this issue might effect America in the long run — how it might effect humanity

Be careful to watch your tone: you are writing an essay, not a rant or a lecture. Be sure that your essay contains all of the required parts of an essay that we have discussed in class, like the title, formatting, diction, etc.

Bibliography Assignment

Dr. Lucas — Fri, 02 Apr 2004 14:39:56 +0000

This assignment has you constructing an annotated bibliography on our novel, Norman Mailer’s An American Dream.

First, go to the library and find at least three critical articles (from books or scholarly journals) or books that address Mailer’s novel. Your job will be to read and summarize each article or chapter in a paragraph after you give the correct MLA citation of the article. The OWL at Purdue provides more explanation and an example of an annotated bibliography in MLA format.

Present your annotated bibliography as an entry on your blog. Remember: the articles you use are to come from peer-edited scholarly sources, not random Web sites or wikis. Be sure to evaluate your sources carefully; if you are not sure about a source, check with me before using it. This is in an effort to get you to do some research that does not begin and end with Google. If you run into difficulty, ask a Librarian; they are friendly, knowledgeable people.