Week 1 –
Assignment
The In?uence of Uncle
Tom’s Cabin
Harriet Beecher Stowe’s anti-slavery novel Uncle
Tom’s Cabin is arguably the most influential novel ever written. It changed the
course of U.S. history (For more on the influence of Uncle Tom’s Cabin, see the
video, David
Reynolds: Harriet Beecher Stowe: Uncle Tom’s Cabin(https://vimeo.com/25717702).). In “Articulating Uncle Tom’s Cabin,” Jim O’Loughlin
argues that Uncle Tom’s Cabin was so popular and influential because Stowe
reflected “existing tropes and public
concerns in a compelling narrative form”
(O’Loughlin, 2000, p. 594). Moreover, Stowe created powerful images that took
on a life of their own, evolving into racist stereotypes.
Summarize O’Loughlin’s argument in two to three
pages (excluding title and reference pages). In what ways did Stowe reflect her
culture, and in what ways did she influence it? In what ways did Uncle Tom’s
Cabin positively influence American culture, and in what ways did it negatively
influence American culture? Be sure to cite specific passages from the texts to
support your interpretation.
Additional
Resources to Complete the Assignment:
Guideline for Summarizing
Sources (https://awc.ashford.edu/cd-guidelines-for-
summarizing.html)(https://awc.ashford.edu/cd-guidelines-for-summarizing.html)
How to Write a Good Paragraph: A
Step-by-step Guide (https://awc.ashford.edu/essay-dev-
good-paragraph.html)(https://awc.ashford.edu/essay-dev-good-paragraph.html)
In-text
Citation Guide (https://awc.ashford.edu/cd-in-text-citation-guide.html)
(https://awc.ashford.edu/cd-in-text-citation-guide.html)
Understanding
Writing Assignments (https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/688/01/)
(https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/688/01/)
Example Summary:
Refer to the AWC for guides to summarizing (https://awc.ashford.edu/cd-guidelines-for- summarizing.html). When you write your final draft, express your summary in a
scholarly style. This involves introducing your source, describing what kind of
writing your source is and its main finding, and keeping in touch with your
source throughout your summary.
Below is an
example of a summary that displays a scholarly style, using this week’s
Recommended
Reading article.
Arthur Riss’s [scholarly writers name their
sources] “Racial Essentialism and Family Values in Uncle Tom’s Cabin” (1994)
[scholarly writers name the texts they summarize and the dates those texts were
published] is a critical study that attempts to explain the puzzling use of
racist assumptions in Stowe’s anti-slavery novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin [scholarly
writers name the kind of writing they are summarizing]. Riss argues that
Stowe’s racism and her rejection of slavery are both results of her
“fundamental commitment to biological essentialism (Riss, 1994, p. 518).
[scholarly writers describe their source’s main
finding or conclusion]. He demonstrates that Stowe’s political vision was
segregationist, aimed at “the removal of American blacks to Africa rather than
their amalgamation into the citizenry of the United States” (p. 515) [scholarly
writers keep in touch with their source, “she/he,” i.e., author’s name, and use
reporting language, e.g., “concludes,” “identifies”].
References
Model for example summary courtesy of
University of the Fraser Valley (www.ufv.ca/writing_centre
(http://www.ufv.ca/writing_centre))
Carefully review the Grading
Rubric(https://ashford.waypointoutcomes.com/assessment/3788/preview)for the criteria that will be used
to evaluate your assignment.
