Porter’s Pale Horse, Pale Rider and the 1918 Flu Pandemic

Essay Instructions:

Essay #2:
Pale Horse, Pale Rider and Historic Photographs
Goal: To make original connections between Porter’s novel and archival photographs from the period (World War I).
Note: I’ve tried to make this essay a) less difficult and work-heavy than a usual essay; and b) a subject matter that allows for creative interpretation
Directions:
For this essay, find three or more photographs from The Atlantic series on the 1918 flu pandemic, and compare them in some way to sections from Pale Horse, Pale Rider. Quote from Porter in doing so, and reference specific parts of the photograph. I imagine this essay to have three paragraphs of comparison, though you’re welcome to tweak this organizational suggestion.
An introduction and conclusion paragraph is not required, unless you really want to provide them; just jump directly into your three-part commentary instead.
In the essay, try to copy-and-paste the image that you’re discussing and do so while discussing the work or at the end. I’d like to see the photograph you’re writing about, if you can upload a copy into the document.
Format:
12-point, double-spaced, Times New Roman font
Length: two-to-three pages or so, excluding the ‘Works Cited’
Works Cited: Please include your version of Porter’s novel and the photograph archive. You may copy the bibliographic information below.
This essay is worth 15% of the final course grade.
Taylor, Alan. “Photos from the 1918 Flu Pandemic.” The Atlantic. (10 April 2018). Web. Accessed 8 November 2020.
Final note: Make original connections between the literary work and the photographs. You should do fine on this assignment, if so.

Essay Sample Content Preview:

[Name]
[Professor]
[Course]
[Date]
Porter’s Pale Horse, Pale Rider and the 1918 Flu Pandemic
Katherine Anne Porter wrote her personal experience of the 1918 influenza pandemic and titled it Pale Horse, Pale Rider (Porter). It has three narratives: Old Mortality, Noon Wine, and Pale Horse, Pale Rider (Porter). In the last narrative, the focus is more on Miranda's work as a journalist and her relationship with a soldier. In this narrative, let us compare how similar Porter depicts the situation of the influenza pandemic versus the photographs from The Atlantic Series (2018).
The first image is a typewriter who wears a mask at work to avoid contracting the influenza virus. In Porter's Pale Horse, Pale Rider, Miranda is a journalist as implied by her complaint of people who have always "sat upon her desk at the newspaper office" (Porter, p. 182). Back in the day, especially in the early 1900s, computers were yet to be invented. That was why people would use typewriters for the printing of their documents and other important papers. As a journalist, Miranda must also be using a typewriter to write her stories for the newspaper company she is working. Miranda reflects the woman in the picture. It depicts the reality of using a typewriter in 1918. They also wore masks as protection from the virus.
Another pressing issue about Miranda and the women in the picture is that, during the times of early 1900s, women were discriminated against in their job (Blackwelder). It is depicted in Miranda's salary of "eighte...

Updated on January 26, 2024

Get the Whole Paper!

Not exactly what you need?

Do you need a custom essay? Order right now:

Order

Porter’s Pale Horse, Pale Rider and the 1918 Flu Pandemic

You Might Also Like Other Topics Related to world war 1: