Take Home Essay #4
Having read, analyzed, and discussed a number of short stories for our classes, select one of the below writing prompts to write a four to six page argumentative analysis wherein you consider researched views of specific social, ethnic, or psychological phenomenon critical to the story. Your research should be from fields outside of literary criticism, as you act as the literary critic in this writing. The essay must use at least THREE separate sources (one for each paragraph, with up to, but no more than, four body paragraphs), be presented in correct MLA format in order to receive a grade.
Option One
In the short story Yellow Woman by Leslie Silko, the cultural context of the legends of Yellow Woman and the Mountain or Ka'tsina Spirit and the history of relations between the Pueblo and Navajo tribes, are presumed prerequisites to connecting with the narrator's thoughts and actions.
How does the cultural context of Yellow Woman and Pueblo legend influence interpretations of the narrator's actions and issues of morality? Use evidence from the text of Leslie Silko's story Yellow Woman, and evidence from your research on the Pueblo and Navajo legends and the historical interactions of these tribes to uphold your thesis and arguments. Legitimate, credible, outside sources for research on legends should be your only secondary sources and must be cited in keeping with MLA format rules. You must use a minimum of two, to a maximum of four of these sources in your essay, with no more than two quotes in one paragraph, with the primary source being the text of the story. Works Cited must be accurate and in MLA format. Basic course requirements include that you to demonstrate the ability to submit papers in correct MLA format, so you should consult your Hacker Handbook to be sure you meet these format standards.
Option Two
In “Two Kinds” readers see the cultural effects of immigrant parents raising a child in the United States of America. Here though, readers see this through the ideas of Chinese-Americans. Recently the controversial author of Tiger Mom," Amy Chua, has focused a spotlight on Asian-American mothering.
Is the mother in "Two Kinds" a Tiger Mom, and would you argue this is a good or bad way to parent children? Use evidence from the text of Amy Tan's story "Two Kinds," and evidence from the articles on Tiger Moms to uphold your thesis and arguments. You must use a minimum of three, to a maximum of four of these sources in your essay. One of the articles from the Wall Street Journal and Slate magazine can be used as your research sources on Tiger Moms, along with at least two other sources you will find on your own (and the essay posted under this question on the Assignments page), with no more than two quotes per paragraph, and the primary source being the text of the story. Your secondary sources must be cited in keeping with MLA format rules. Basic course requirements include that you demonstrate the ability to submit papers in correct MLA format, so you should consult your Hacker Handbook to be sure you meet these format standards.
http://online.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748704111504576059713528698754 (access this article text through the RU-N Dana Library)
Option Three
In Alice Walker's short story “Everyday Use,” returning daughter Dee's Afro-centrism could be seen as the source of conflict that drives the story towards its climax.
Write an analysis of how Dee's newly adopted Afrocentric ideas are primary to the story's conflict. Be sure to connect Dee's Afro-centrism to the other ideas she ties to this concept, using evidence from the text. How might the time period in which the story is set effect the characters positions and the outcome of the story? Connect your arguments about the text to research on Afrocentric viewpoints in the times of the story. You must use a minimum of three, to a maximum of four of these sources in your essay, with no more than two quotes in one paragraph, with the primary source being the text of the story. Your secondary sources must be cited in keeping with MLA format rules. Basic course requirements include that you demonstrate the ability to submit papers in correct MLA format, so you should consult your Hacker Handbook to be sure you meet format standards.
Option Four
While at first it seems Sammy's main motivations in quitting, in John Updike's “A &P” are his romantic and lustful ideas about the girls who come into the A & P in bikinis, many readers begin to see that Sammy's primary motivations are socioeconomic.
This is the article we found in Google Scholar using this search string:
"raisin in sun" AND good AND evil AND review
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