Essay 1

Due: Week #6
The first essay requires that you find a painting, drawing, photograph, or other image of New York City. You will research and write a 7-page essay on the period, subject, or genre of this piece.

Essay 2

Due: Week #10
You will write a 7-page essay on a piece of historical fiction or an autobiographical novel featuring New York City. You will choose a theme within the work—immigration, ethnicity, religion, childhood, gender, race, work, leisure, etc.—and make it the subject of your research. The goal is to provide a broader historical framework for this aspect of the novel. There is a voluminous literature that can be used to satisfy this requirement; some suggested works are listed in the Bibliography.