Essay arguments

Question

so im working on my isu for english and im somewhat having a roadblock in my essay so i called you for some enlightenment,

So I basically did a double entry journal on my book things fall apart then an authors page and then I had to write a paragraph on the literary movement during the time my book was published. (The literary movement during the time it was published the 1950s to 60s was the beat generation)

So then the Essay topic is does my book follow that literary movement wich it does not really cause the movement is the beat generation wich is a literary movement started by a group of authors whose work explored and influenced American culture and politics in the post-war era, and my book is nigerian literature so there is not too many similarities, so i have my intro done,

But im having trouble formulating my three arguments and points.

My plan was to take three characteristics from books following the beat generation literary movement and then id explain how my book doesnt follow those characteristics, but how do you explain that something thats not there isnt there. and what3 proofs type of quotaions would i get from the book to prove it.

Answer 1

Interesting! And it does sound a bit tricky given everything you've laid out. One quick question: are you hung up on the American-ness of the Beat movement? Is that its most important quality? If you look beyond that, are you still just as sure Things Fall Apart doesn't follow it? If it's not just that:

My first thought is to frame your arguments around rebutting counter-arguments. Are there connections someone *might* make between Beat literature and Things Fall Apart, and if so, what are those connections missing? In other words, why is it even an interesting question to read Achebe in the context of Beat lit, especially if Achebe isn't a Beat author? I'm not asking that rhetorically--if you take that question as your essay prompt, do more ideas start to come?

Another, slightly drier option might be to approach it as a compare-and-contrast. What are the essential qualities of Beat as you see them? Then, what does Achebe do on those axes? E.g., let's say you argue that the prevailing emotional tone of Beat lit is disaffection. What, then, is the prevailing emotional tone of Things Fall Apart? Do that for as many paragraphs as you need.

Lastly, depending on how your prof reacts to such experiments, you might try writing a devil's advocate paper. In other words, try to argue that Things Fall Apart *is* a Beat novel. Normally I discourage students from writing stuff they don't believe, but taking the opposite position can be an interesting thought exercise, so if your prof is open to it, you might give it a go.

Hope this helps, and happy writing!