Tentative Argument:
Religion
is an important part of our society. There are obviously many different stances
on religion, whether it is necessary at all, when it is appropriate and the
validity of most religious claims. We live in a self-proclaimed Christian
society so the morals and values held by religious individuals also become a
part of our daily lives. Religion may be one of the most polarizing topics of
discussion there ever was so it is obvious that it would appear frequently in
literature.
Edward
O. Wilson in his novel On Human Nature devotes a whole chapter to religion and
how it is in human nature to have religious beliefs. He analyzes the validity,
necessity and overall sociobiological explanations for religions and beliefs in
a god or gods. In effect Wilson gives his highly educated sociobiological
examination of religion and how it is a vital part of human nature.
I want
to use this chapter to analyze and observe the appearances of religion in other
literary pieces we looked at this year. I want to use this chapter to make a
claim about the overall purpose of religion in these novels and the intent the
authors had in including it.
In order to make my argument more clear
and concise I will focus it on three novels, The Invisible man, Moby Dick and
Litith’s Brood. I feel that these novels are all progressions on one another,
Butler was influenced by Ellison and Ellison by Melville. There is also a
progression of time in these novels as well so I feel that the ideas about and
of religion will progress also. These three novels have distinct and related
instances where religion plays an important part in the narrative. Some ideas
are as subtle but omnipresent as a character’s name, while other my be long and
drawn out scenes that are all centered around religion and religious practices.
I want to analyze the majority of there instances and see not only if they are
connected but if there is an over arching point of relevance. I feel as though
this is an important topic because it so prevalent in these three novels. All
of the authors included religion and religious allusions as an integral part of
their narrative so it has to be an important topic of discussion. The only real question is whether these
references have connections with each other and have a conjoining element.
Counter argument:
Like I
said previously, religion is basically everywhere, it is such a polarizing
topic that all three authors could have simply included religious themes to
keep the readers intrigued. There could be no real correlation or connection in
the three books to eachother in terms of religious references. Just because
religion is a part of all of these novels doesn’t mean they have to be
connected through that one theme. All of these references could stand as individual
unconnected entities and have no relation.
Bibliography
On Human Nature – Edward O
Wilson
I want to use Wilson as the litmus test for what religion
is, what it means, and how important it is to human nature. Wilson’s analysis
of religion and my interpretation of it will be the backbone of my discussion.
Bridging Science and Religion
- Edward O. Wilson
I
will use this piece to add supplemental ideas and evidence to the crux of my
argument.
[Edward O. Wilson, , dir.
"Talk of the Nation." Bridging Science and Religion. NPR: 08 Sep 2006. Radio.
<http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5788810>.]
Moby Dick - Herman Melville
I want to start with Moby Dick because it comes 1st
in chronological setting. I will beginning with a discussion of the characters
names then go into more details by analyzing certain scenes from chapter 2 and
chapters 7-9.
The Invisible Man Ralph
Ellison
This will be used as a continuation of my argument about
Melville and a comparison of chapter 2, looking closely at the prologue and at
other instances in the novel (as we read them).
Lilith’s Brood Octavia Butler
This
will be used not only as a comparison be as a contrast. I will be discussing
the Oankli’s lack of religion and Lilith’s namesake.
Steve Rosenthal - How Science
is Perverted to Build Fascism
This will be used to gain
contrasting ideas to Wilson’s about religion and do develop a counter argument
on the subject.
[Rosenthal, Steve. "How
Science is Perverted to Build Fascism: A Marxist Critique of E.O. Wilson's
Consilience: The Unity of Knowledge." Southern Sociological Society
meeting. Department of Sociology, Hampton University. Hampton VA. 1998.
Keynote.]
This is a very, very big argument. I'm not totally opposed to it, because if you can demonstrate a single line of thought running from Melville to Ellison to Butler on the topic of religion (which is then to be interpreted through Wilson) I think it's theoretically possible for it to work. But you need to find ways of tightly focusing it, and to not just demonstrate an ongoing religious theme, but to find a particular argument you want to make about how the religious views/vision of these authors relates.
ReplyDeleteYou don't yet have an argument, though. It's an idea, but not an argument. What, exactly, is the continuinity in religious thought here? You'd need to identify that first in order to form a coherent argument.
One thing you might consider is narrowing it. Focus on the Melville -> Ellison connection (which is definitely, 100% there), or on the Ellison -> Butler connection (less obvious to my mind, but at least possibly more interesting as a result, if you want to focus further: there's plenty going on in either one, once you bring Wilson into the picture, especially.
Short version: this is a fine general topic, but you need to find ways of foccusing/narrowing it from a theme to an argument. I'll look at another version if you want to try to narrow it down at the proposal stage - or send me a draft if you're having trouble focusing as you write.