materials:https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2004/05/24/hell…
Rough draft due: 9/13 Final draft due: 9/15
Approximate length: 4-6 typewritten pages
ESSAY #1 TOPIC:
In this unit, we will explore several key questions related to the themes of culture and identity. In this essay, you will use the critical thinking skill of inductive reasoning to determine what a piece of literature implies about the nature of culture and identity.
In a 4-6 page paper, analyze how a story from this unit – through its specific language, characters and/or plot – makes a general claim about identity and/or culture. What do you believe the author is using the story to say about how identity and/or culture influence us? Argue for the validity of your interpretation using evidence from the text.
Focus Questions For Specific Texts: (these are meant to help you generate ideas – you may choose to address one or more of these in your argument, and/or you may choose to address different ideas of your own choosing that relate towards the unit theme of “Culture and Identity”).
“Sonny’s Blues”: How does growing up in the cultural environment of postwar Harlem affect Sonny and/or the narrator? How does Sonny define his identity compared to the narrator? What do you feel this says about identity? What cultural role does music play in this story? Are the brothers’ different attitudes towards music significant? Do Sonny and his brother change in this story? If so, what is the reason for these changes and where do we see them in the text? If not, how can you tell that the brothers remain the same?
“Hell-Heaven”: What effects do growing up in a cross-cultural environment have on Usha’s identity? What about for her mother? What role does a common culture play in the relationship between Pranab Chakraborty and Usha’s family? Does common culture draw the characters in the story together or push them apart? Or both? Are Usha’s parents able to resolve the tension of being caught between the American and Bengali cultures? How does the Bengali custom of arranged marriage affect Usha’s mother? How does the American custom of marriage for love affect the Chakraborty’s? Do these messages say anything about their cultures? Why does Usha’s mother suffer in silence? Is there any significance to the way in which she contemplates committing suicide?
“Shooting an Elephant”: How do the political, economic, historical, and social forces shape the narrator’s sense of identity? How does the narrator’s job as a British soldier enforcing what he believes to be an unjust occupation of Burma complicate his struggle with his conscience and identity? What is the connection between the act of shooting the elephant and cultural imperialism?
“The Bridegroom”: How do the cultural values of Muji City affect people’s perceptions of/reactions to Baowen’s homosexuality in the story? How does culture or identity operate behind the views of marriage in this story? How does Cheng’s view of marriage differ from Beina’s? What does marriage mean to Beina? What about to Baowen? What does it mean to the community of Muji City? How are masculinity and femininity portrayed in the story, and what do they say about the cultural values of the residents of Muji City?
CRITERIA FOR EVALUATION:
- Correct length (4-6 pages)
- A focused, arguable thesis statement
- Well-developed paragraphs and easy-to-follow organization
- Well-integrated quotations, paraphrasing and summary that support your point(s)
- Paper stays on topic
- Clear and correct sentence
0 comments