For this paper I will be looking for effort in three areas. The first is a close reading of a short story where you use the text to work out and explain the psychodynamics that motivate the main character(s) to act in certain ways. The second is your examining what a least (two) authoritative readers have to say about the story and how their readings are similar or different from each other, and from your reading. The third area is your writing; how clearly you explain yourself, how well you organize your paper, and how well you have written your paper: spelling, grammar, etc.
Your immediate task is to choose an author/short story from your text. I recommend James Baldwin (Sonny’s Blues), Raymond Carver (Cathedral), Anton Chekhov (The Lady with the Dog), William Faulkner (A Rose for Emily), Nathaniel Hawthorne (The Birthmark). Ernest Hemingway (Hills Like White Elephants), James Joyce (Araby), Franz Kafka (The Hunger Artist), Herman Melville (Bartleby, the Scrivener), Flannery O’Connor (A Good Man Is Hard to Find), Amy Tan (A Pair of Tickets), John Updike (A&P), or David Foster Wallace (Good People).
If these writers/stories don’t move you, consider these writers… Ray Bradbury, Raymond Chandler, Charles Dickens, Dashiel Hammett, Jack London, Bernard Malamud, Joyce Carol Oates, Dorothy Parker, J.D. Salinger, Mark Twain, or Kurt Vonnegut.
- Skim through the stories in our text and select one. Make sure that your selection is one that holds your interest. You can’t write a strong (solid grade) paper if you are not interested in the story.
On _____, post in Discussion Board a note where identify the author and short story you have selected. In that post provide a brief description of what grabs you most about the story and what questions you hope to answer in your paper.
2a. Start your paper by opening a new file in MS Word and write a brief summary of the story you have chosen. 2b.Then, write a description of your character. Discuss what particular quality (or qualities) most distinguishes that character – sets him /her apart from the other characters in the story. The behavior and emotional patterns you cite should be consistently different from the other characters, not just an isolated incident or thought. Be specific. Quote important lines where you see these “moments of difference.” 2.c Draw conclusions about his/her values, positive and negative, that the work attaches to the character’s most distinctive quality or qualities. (3+ pages).
Post this work as a MS Word attachment in our Discussion Board by _____.
(3. Visit the Writing Center by _____ for help in writing a strong draft.)
- The final draft is due _____. The minimum length is 4 pages. Make sure your paper has the proper heading, an interesting title, a Works Cited page, and is proofread carefully for citations, spelling, grammar and typographical errors. Hand in a hard copy and post the paper in Safe Assign.