Baldwin Research Paper

In Baldwin’s Giovanni’s Room, David lives a life of poor decisions and misery. What has he done—what reasons can we metatextualize—that inevitably results in him being alone as the novel concludes?  One might argue that he has violated several historically imposed American social standards and regulations that most people once accepted without question or challenge. If so, what are they, and why do they result in the disturbing end for the book’s troubled main character?
Is David ultimately responsible for the events that unfold, or is he a victim?
Furthermore, looking at the life David feels forced to live in Europe, discuss what, exactly, prevents him from being what Emerson references as “whole.”  Additionally, look at Baldwin’s Giovanni and infuse within your argument why his death is the inevitable result of speaking the “rude truth,” as well as his being surrounded by individuals that are, as Emerson would say, “envious.”
Juxtapose specific Emersonian precepts with the racism dissected in Baldwin’s essays from Nobody Knows My Name and The Fire Next Time. Must the innocent suffer while others sit in judgment?  Is anyone really innocent?  How do these questions speak to at least two of the characters in Go Tell it on the Mountain?
Considering Paine, how negatively has religion influenced the lives of those considered “other?”
At the same time, discuss the civil rights movement. Why was it necessary for the government to impose laws to prevent the abuse of Black people?  Why did Baldwin feel compelled to return to America and take up the fight?  How do the events of that time period address current conflicts impacting Black people?  Moreover, how does what we’ve discussed this semester address the struggle for LGBTQ equality?  Is the fight for Gay rights the modern day civil rights movement?  Did the old one ever end?

Paper should weave source discussions that we have uncovered while researching these texts.  

Throughout the work, feel free to introduce any supporting literature we have examined this semester that will support the writers’ argument.     

Paper must establish an argument and defend it, based on the statements above.

Paper must have a working thesis statement that controls the flow of the paper’s body paragraphs.

The criticism must address every component discussed above, but the format—the structure of the paper—belongs to you, the critic.

Secondary sources—sources not listed in the above assignment—are required (at least six).

Paper must have quotes throughout that support the writer’s argument.  

Do not forget that the paper must conform to MLA’s documentation style.

This paper cannot be less than eight FULL pages or more than ten. This count does not include the paper’s Works Cited Page.

Any paper suspected of plagiarism will result in an automatic F and be forwarded to the Division Dean.