Discuss one work or one author from this course that you believe had the most significant influence on American literary history. Please be sure to maintain third person perspective. Author is Mark Twain Submission Instructions: Your essays should be in MLA Style and approximately 1500-2000 words, not including the Work(s) Cited page. Meeting the minimum word requirement makes you eligible for a C grade. Meeting the maximum word requirements makes you eligible for an A grade. As with most academic writing, this essay should be written in third person. Please avoid both first person (I, we, our, etc.) and second person (you, your). In the upper left-hand corner of the paper, place your name, the professor’s name, the course name, and the due date for the assignment on consecutive lines. Double space your information from your name onward, and don’t forget a title. All papers should be in Times New Roman font with 12-point type with one-inch margins all the way around your paper. All paragraph indentations should be indented five spaces (use the tab key) from the left margin. All work is to be left justified. When quoting lines in literature, please research the proper way to cite short stories, plays, or poems. Should you choose to use outside references for prompt one or two, these must be scholarly, peer-reviewed sources obtained via the APUS library (select Advanced Search and check the Peer Reviewed box). Reliable open web sources may be used for prompt three. Be careful that you don’t create a “cut and paste” paper of information from your various sources. Your ideas are to be new and freshly constructed. Also, take great care not to plagiarize.

In your response, cite the essay at least once using an in-text citation. (See this link for a good example of how to cite an article inside of an essay: Using one author in a parenthetical citation.) Also, create a works cited citation for the essay. (Hint: The citation is already done for you in the “Supplemental Reading List.” Replicate the listing in your post.) This should be in MLA style. Respond to students who chose articles different than your post. Please post a full and rich discussion.

With this forum, you are to discuss one (1) of the “Historical American Works” or one (1) of the “Historic Global Works” listed in the “Supplemental Readings” section of the course lessons. This discussion will help you prepare for your essay on one of these arguments due during the next section of this course (week three).

In your discussion, state the purpose of the reading and cite the thesis statement (if applicable). If there is no explicit thesis, state the reading’s claim. Then, lay out the structure of the reading to the class, and let the class know if this structure is organized and logical (you may claim that it is not organized – it’s up to you). Let the reader know how this method of organization helps or does not help the author’s purpose. Then, discuss the style of writing – does the style help the author prove his/her point? Finally, study the introduction and conclusion of your chosen reading. Explain how the author ‘hooks’ the reader in, or, conversely, if the introduction is not strong, explain why. Discuss the conclusion of the essay as well, and point out its strengths and weaknesses. Please answer these questions fully in your response (use thoughtful sentences).