Write a 2000-word research paper, addressing the prompt below, based primarily on discussion of at least one work from the syllabus and at least two secondary sources, one of which may be another work of fiction that you compare to the central work in question. Regardless, each paper must discuss at least two secondary sources from (a) a peer-reviewed journal or (b) an academic press. Secondary sources from other types of publications—blogs, popular magazines, videos, etc.—may be used in addition to a more scholarly source if and only if your paper includes convincing justification for using them.
The prompt: Edgar Allan Poe, while often considered “children’s” or “young-adult” literature in the US, is in Europe often thought of as the most internationally influential American author (aside from, in certain circles, William Faulkner). Read Charles Baudelaire’s (Poe’s first French translator’s) “Painter of Modern Life,” section III, and the first paragraph of part IV, and argue either that Poe’s “The Man of the Crowd” is, like Baudelaire says, a painting, or that it is not. I know this prompt is very vague, and that is intentional. For this prompt, Baudelaire’s essay counts as one source, so only one additional source is necessary. Bonus points if you somehow manage to connect the insomnia (sleeplessness) in the story either to the song “The Center” by Chicago-based band The Contortionist, and/or to the lyrics or careful anonymity of British rap-blues-metal band Sleep Token.
