Choose three of the first six U.S. writers we have read

Brief description (the phrases in bold are amplified below):

Choose three of the first six U.S. writers we have read. Describe and differentiate their strategies of appropriation vis-à-vis Cervantes’ text in a 3-5 page essay. Begin with some general consideration of questions of influence, appropriation, intertextuality, or whatever other term you wish to use for talking about how a novelist draws on an earlier work which has been widely read and discussed. Proceed to describe the strategies of appropriation of the three writers you have chosen, making sure to find at least one clear differentiating feature among them.  Tryin some way in closing to account for the differences in approach you have encountered among the different writers. There is no obligation to use additional sources, but if you do, you must acknowledge them in a list of works cited, even if this only means a website you checked for additional information about the writer.

The first six U.S. writers:

Tabitha Gilman Tenney, Female Quixotism

Washington Irving, “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”

Mark Twain, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Hermann Melville, White Jacket and Moby Dick

F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby

William Faulkner, “The Old Man”

You do not have to read any more of any of these writers than I assigned for class to be able to attempt at least a speculative reconstruction of their strategies of appropriation of Don Quixote. If you do have familiarity with other relevant texts by any of them, you may certainly use them. You may refer to the two critical essays I have given you so far, on Melville and on Fitzgerald. I will also give you at least one other essay, by Montserrat Ginés, on Faulkner. Maybe also her chapter on Twain. You can read additional critical work or other secondary sources if you wish, but if you do you should cite them in your text, and include the reference in your list of works cited.