Complete These 3 Tasks:

Task 1: Preview the Text and Determine Audience Before Reading

Before reading Jane Tompkins' "'Indians': Textualism, Morality, and the Problem of History," think critically about the title by doing each of the following:

identify the genre (hint: it is not an article, as articles are typically informational and not argumentative) and source of publication and determine the audience for the argument.who the audience is
define keywords in her title: "textualism" and "morality";
consider why history might be a "problem";
contemplate why she might be calling the word "Indians" out for attention by setting it off with punctuation, as well as what the colon after it might set up;
finally, what might you predict about her argument based on the title;
for 10 points extra credit, post your responses to 1-5 here.

Task 2: Annotate the Assigned Reading

Task 3: After Reading: Watch and Take Notes on this Lecture

After your first reading (most students need to read her essay more than one time to fully comprehend it) of Jane Tompkins' "Indians: Textualism, Morality, and the Problem of History," watch and take detailed notes on "Indians" and New Historicism, a brilliant lecture by Dr. David Nunnery, who teaches a course that prepares students for university-level work. Ignore his comments with regards to exploring information later in the semester, as you are not in his class ;) I am having you watch this for our class because Nunnery succinctly introduces and contextualizes Tompkins and her argument, as well as summarizes some important theories that will help you to understand her argument. This brief lecture will prove beneficial as you work closely with Tompkins' argument in this course--and later in the semester, attempt to write your own essay in the same style.

Jane Tompkins' "Indians" and New Historicism

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