Topic: Sentimentalism by Gaslight Foster
Thesis should be along the lines of: The grimy descriptions that George Foster writes of New York City seem to be anti sentimental on the surface, but they actually provoke the same nostalgic feelings as sentimentalism.
New York by Gaslight should be the primary text, but it should engage with a secondary text, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, to compare and contrast the sentimentalism in each. Uncle Tom’s Cabin is overtly sentimental, whereas New York by Gaslight seems critical and also fond.
This should be mostly close reading with plenty of textual evidence. Context should only be put in if necessary to understand the text.
