Undine Spragg’s Affective Resistance

Competencies:

• Critical analysis
• Interdisciplinary thinking (affect theory + American literature)

Personal Skills:

• Cultural awareness
• Creativity
• Detail-oriented

Technologies:

• PSU research databases
• Google Docs

Project Description:

This essay explores how Sianne Ngai’s affect theory—particularly her focus on “ugly feelings” or aesthetic categories—provide a lens to analyze the emotional and social dynamics in Edith Wharton’s Custom of the Country.

The Affective Ecology in Life and Times of Michael K.

Competencies:

• Critical analysis
• Interdisciplinary thinking (affect theory + ecology/ecocriticism)

Personal Skills:

• Cultural awareness
• Creativity
• Detail-oriented

Technologies:

• PSU research databases
• Google Docs

Project Description:

This essay examines political ecology and Sianne Ngai’s affect theory in J.M. Coetzee’s Life and Times of Michael K. It explores how ecological themes and minor affects like disinterest are interwoven to critique systemic inequities and human-environment relationships. With cultural awareness and creativity, the project highlights colonial and postcolonial environmental dynamics in the South African context.

Shirley Jackson: The Queen of the Gothic

Competencies:

• Critical analysis
• Interdisciplinary thinking (Gothic studies + American literature)

Technologies:

• UTSA Research Databases
• Google Docs

Project Description:

This essay examines Shirley Jackson’s works as the “Queen of Gothic Fiction,” highlighting her psychological terror, societal critique, and subversion of Gothic tropes. It focuses on themes like isolation and domestic horror, situates her writing in mid-20th-century America, and explores her critique of gender roles and societal expectations. This project sheds light on Jackson’s legacy and the evolution of American Gothic fiction.

Allen Ginsberg’s Ecopoetry

Competencies:

• Critical analysis
• Interdisciplinary thinking (Ecopoetics + Risk communication)

Technologies:

• UTSA research databases
• Google Docs

Project Description:

This essay argues that Allen Ginsberg, celebrated as a Beat poet, also emerges as an ecopoet addressing environmental risks during American industrialization. Analyzing works like Sunflower Sutra, this essay explores how his poetry critiques industrial society’s ecological impact and positions him as a precursor to environmental advocacy. This project combines ecocriticism and risk communication to reveal Ginsberg’s ecological vision.

A New Lens for The Remains of the Day

Competencies:

• Critical analysis
• Interdisciplinary thinking (Contemportary British fiction + affect theory)

Technologies:

• UTSA research databases
• Google Docs

Project Description:

This essay applies Sianne Ngai’s affect theory and Sara Ahmed’s melancholic migrant theory to Kazuo Ishiguro’s The Remains of the Day and Ali Smith’s Autumn. It examines themes of nostalgia, displacement, and emotional labor while exploring Britain’s imperial legacy and fractured identities. The essay uses interdisciplinary analysis and creative insights to provide a fresh perspective on The Remains of the Day and its layered emotional and political narratives.