Assorted Essays
Jonathan Harwell
[ Files are available in PDF format. ]
1.
Sherlock Holmes and Sam Spade in the Trenches: Conan Doyle, Hammett, and the
First World War
A paper analyzing the connections between the two authors, their works, and the
Great War.
2.
Bills of Middlesex: The Origin of a Legal Fiction 1428-1452
Discussion of some of the decisions in the Court of King's Bench that laid the
basis for the Bill of Middlesex, a device whereby suits for debts (which
heretofore could not be brought in that court) were allowed based on the fiction
that the alleged debtor had trespassed on property of the debtee in the county
of Middlesex
3.
The Unstable Position of the Vanishing Native American: The function of a myth
in legal discourse
An essay on the vision of the Native American given in a number of seminal legal
opinions that defined the legal position of Native Americans in the United
States
4.
The Kingdom of Zion: The Anabaptists at Münster
A historical essay on the Anabaptists in Münster, detailing their rise in the
early 16th century, the bizarre climax led by Jan van Leiden, and their tragic
end.
5.
Theoretical Pie-Throwing: The Relationships between Humans and Objects in
Comedic Film
An essay drawing lines of comparison between various literary theories of
comedy, particularly those of Shakespearean comedy, and scenes in classic film
comedies such as those of Chaplin, Keaton, and Fields.