Mid-Semester Essay Assignment

Elisabeth Kbler Ross and Ernest Becker each have distinct views on the ways in which death and society intersect. Using the lens of one or both of these two theorists, examine the works of at least two authors/artist/directors that we have studied so far this semester. The works available for analysis are as follows: Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close; Edgar Allen Poes Ligeia and The Fall of the House of Usher; Emily Dickinsons poetry; and the two Louisa May Alcott stories, My Contraband and A Night.

Your essay should be clearly structured and have a thesisan argument that reflects your analysis of how the theoretical writings help illuminate your reading/viewing of your chosen texts and what the texts have to say about human interactions with death.

Your thesis statement may well be more than a single sentence and that is fine. This is a complex question and calls for a sophisticated response.