Write 1,400-1,500 words in response to one of the following prompts. Your essay does not have to be a literal or point-by-point answer to a prompt. These prompts are jumping-off points, designed to help you develop a coherent thesis, a contestable claim that needs defending. 

The important thing to remember is that a good essay will provide a close reading of the text you are writing about. By close reading we mean an interpretation of the text, an analysis that sheds light on its meaning and/or significance. Your opinions about the text or the ideas contained within it are not relevant. Your interpretation does not have to be originali.e., something no one has argued beforebut it should be your own. Do not use secondary sources in your analysis.

1. What does Billy Budd say about human nature?

2. In what ways is Captain Vere a Burkean conservative? What is Billy Budd saying about the conflict between human-made law and natural justice?

3. What does Bartleby say about civic disobedience as a form of protest?

4. What makes the Underground Man a representative figure of modernity?