ENG 102
ESSAY
#1*** DUE WED FEB 24***
LATE PAPERS DO NOT GET REVISION AND LOSE POINTS
3 PAGES, DOUBLE SPACED, SIZE 12 TIMES NEW ROMAN
USE TWO OUTSIDE SOURCES (NOT INCLUDING THE TEXT!)
AND QUOTE THE PRIMARY TEXTS AS WELL.
Refer to the class blog for outside source info: eng102spring2016.blogspot.com
ONLY RELIABLE SOURCES!
Pick ONE of the essay topics below for
your paper.
1. Sonny
described the streets of Harlem as having “…all that hatred
and misery and love. It's a wonder it doesn't blow the avenue
apart…” Using examples from the text and two outside sources, explain what he
meant by that statement.
2. What
statement does “Sonny’s Blues” make about the relationship of
art to life or about the relationship of art to suffering? Citing specific
examples from the text, write an essay about how Sonny uses art to aid in his
suffering.
3. Explain the
effect the environment has on Sonny and his brother (Harlem in the 1940s and
1950s). This would require that find out a bit more about each of the settings
through some research (Use the link on the blog about Harlem). Use examples
from the texts along with outside sources to support your thesis.
4.
Bernie and Emma put on black shoe
polish so they will not be seen when they sneak out at night to paint the lawn
jockeys white. Why could this been seen as symbolic? What is your understanding
of blackface? Later on, Bernie says they are invisible—could there be more to
that?
5.
When they
see their father in the kitchen as they are attempting to paint the jockeys,
Bernie says to himself that his father is “thinking about who he used to be,
who he is, who people think he is, and who he wants to become” (79). What does
this mean?
6.
Pick NO
MORE THAN THREE characters from the three stories we have read so far and
explain how their identity is shaped or explained in their story. Use examples
from the texts along with outside sources (links about identity on blog) to
support your thesis.
7.
Use examples from The Namesake, “Two Kinds”, The Namesake and from your own
experience if it applies (and limit it to one paragraph) to explain the
“new American” experience and the challenges of assimilation. Use examples from
the texts along with outside sources to support your thesis. You must use at
least one of the short stories as an example for this question.
Your
Last Name 4
Works Cited
Naqvi,
Tahira. “Brave We Are.” Exploring
Literature. Ed. Frank Madden. 5th ed. New York:
Longman,
2012. 928-932. Print.
Raboteau,
Emily. “Mrs. Turner’s Lawn Jockeys.” Mixed: An Anthology of Short Fiction on
the
Mulitracial
Experience. Ed. Rebecca Walker. 1st ed. New York: Norton, 2006. 69-81..
Print.
Soloman,
S.A. “Live For Today.” New Jersey Noir.
New York: Akashic, 2011. 27-39. Print.
Tan,
Amy. “Two Kinds.” Literature: A Portable
Handbook. Ed. Gardner, Janet E.3RD ed.
Boston:
Bedford, 2013. 382-391. Print.
The Namesake. Dir. Mira Nair. Fox Searchlight Pictures, 2007. DVD.
*YOU
ALSO MUST INCLUDE YOUR TWO OUTSIDE SOURCES
Does my paper have:
- An introduction that states my thesis, the
author or authors of the text I am writing about and the title of those
texts AND DOES NOT INCLUDE ANY QUOTES
- Body paragraphs that use outside sources and
examples from the text to support my thesis
- A conclusion that restates my thesis and does
NOT include quotes from the text or any new information
- A works cited page that follows MLA guidelines
as shown in the handout
No comments:
Post a Comment