Thesis: Autonomy is lost as one becomes consumed by
curiosity.
Outline:
1.
Intro
2.
BP 1-2
a. Robinson Crusoe
i. Overwhelming
curiosity compels him to the sea time after time
ii. No
longer making decisions based on logic
iii. Everything
around him becomes a construct of his mind versus reality
3.
BP 3-4
a. Fantomina
i. Uses
personas starkly different than her own in order to explore her curiosities
ii. When
she reveals herself she’s punished
iii. Power
dynamics/social constructs influence what she is/can be curious about.
Ultimately still owes a man for her new knowledge.
4.
BP 5-6
a.
C.U.M. Smith & Supplementary texts
i. Connecting
Crusoe and Fantomina
1.
Similarity in lack of autonomy
2.
Differences in how their curiosity is viewed
a.
Crusoe = fortune
b.
Fantomina = sent away
ii. Incorporating
Eighteenth Century ideas about curiosity
1.
Passions that do not depend on thought
5.
Conclusion
Body Paragraph:
“But I that was born to be my own Destroyer,
could no more resist the Offer than I could restrain my first rambling Designs,
when my Father’s good Counsel was lost upon me.” (Defoe 31). Robinson Crusoe becomes completely
consumed by a curiosity that continuously compels him to endanger his
well-being. “Good Counsel” in this
quote represents reason and logic. Reason and logic being lost upon him is an
interesting idea that suggests not just that neither had an impact on him, but
that reason and logic were a complete waste of time in his current mental
state. Crusoe completely abandons autonomous decision making when imparting the
idea to the reader that he was born into this life; he has no choice, no way to
change his course in life away from a constant cycle of self-destruction. The
words used by Defoe, such as “rambling” and “no more resist” or “restrain,”
create an image of someone who is admitting defeat and allowing nature to pull
him towards the future that is fated for him rather than one shaped by autonomy.
I think you're probably going to want to focus on *one* novel for this paper, particularly since its focus is on the careful, critical use of literary evidence. If you had to pick one, would it be Robinson Crusoe? If so, think about how you might weave in the idea from C.U.M Smith to narrow down this idea about how authors (Defoe or Haywood) portray curiosity as the source of lost autonomy and agency for their characters. You're doing great work in analyzing the language with "no more resist" and "restrain." See if you can build a paper around that kind of technique... (are there others being used? what kind? subject verb switches where curiosity takes over agency—and the verb?) other language of control and inevitability? If so, I think you can get into really interesting material about where Defoe suggests this loss of autonomy comes from in curiosity and *how* it happens... (Is it a slow colonization of cognitive control? an immediate take-over, or overthrow of agency? compared to a contagious disease that you "catch"? portrayed as a snowball effect that increases as you give into it over time? You see my point...) A great start..
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NP
I think you're probably going to want to focus on *one* novel for this paper, particularly since its focus is on the careful, critical use of literary evidence. If you had to pick one, would it be Robinson Crusoe? If so, think about how you might weave in the idea from C.U.M Smith to narrow down this idea about how authors (Defoe or Haywood) portray curiosity as the source of lost autonomy and agency for their characters. You're doing great work in analyzing the language with "no more resist" and "restrain." See if you can build a paper around that kind of technique... (are there others being used? what kind? subject verb switches where curiosity takes over agency—and the verb?) other language of control and inevitability? If so, I think you can get into really interesting material about where Defoe suggests this loss of autonomy comes from in curiosity and *how* it happens... (Is it a slow colonization of cognitive control? an immediate take-over, or overthrow of agency? compared to a contagious disease that you "catch"? portrayed as a snowball effect that increases as you give into it over time? You see my point...) A great start..
ReplyDeletebest,
NP