Short Question 1 (250 words): Trace how ideas about the self evolved from the Reformation through the Enlightenment and Romanticism. (How much could a self change? To what degree could it improve or “save” itself? How did it relate to God? How did it come to know truth about the world?) Pick three writers who exemplify each movement.

Short Question 2 (250 words): Define “republican motherhood”/ “cult of domesticity” with reference to Hannah Foster and Alexis de Tocqueville, then show how women’s rights reformers like Fuller, Stanton, Truth, et al (and before them, Griffits and A. Adams) challenged these ideals.

Long Question (500 words): What do Thoreau and Whitman inherit from Emerson, and how do they do it differently?

Rubric: For the short Qs, I’m looking to see that you understand some basic ideas that we covered in class. For the longer Qs, there is no single correct answer. Instead, you’re making a case for your own interpretation of the text. My criteria here are the same as in your essays:

1. Do you use specific evidence from our readings that speak to the text’s main points?

2. Do you analyze these passages carefully, considering counter-arguments, how passages fits into the workas a whole, how the work relates to other texts and its historical context, etc.