PROMPT 1

As we discussed in class, Naturalism seems invested in a special mode of narrative observation; this fascination seems to trouble the stable literary perspective we might often take for granted.
This interest in "observation" shapes the text at the level of "style" but also at the level of plot.

Use either Open Boat or McTeague as your source text to argue how methods of observation, watching, or even simply "eavesdropping" figure into the text at the level of plot and shape both the narrative and the style of the text.

Remember, beyond finding instances of what you might consider literary "observation" (and that can be a wide range of examples) in the text, please try to make an argument about their importance in relationship to the text and the larger concerns of the period---primitivism, naturalism, technology, etc. A good paper won't address every instance, but rather make a coherent argument from the most important evidence it finds in the text.