Essay Assignment: Culture and Identity
Select any of the pieces we read from the list below and compare, contrast or analyze it in terms of the themes, symbols, imagery, characterization or any other literary elements we've been exploring. Be sure to use passages from the works to illustrate your points.
Choose any of these works:
• "What It's Like to Be a Black Girl (for Those of You Who Aren't)"
• "We Real Cool"
• "Singapore"
• "The Translator at the Reception for Latin American Writers"
• "Battle of the Landlord"
• "Harlem"
• "The Negro Speaks of Rivers"
• "Baghdad My Beloved"
• Trying to Find Chinatown
• "A Good Man is Hard to Find"
• "The Birthmark"
• The Legend of Zoey
You can analyze, or compare/contrast with regard to selected literary elements, any one of these stories with another story we've read in this unit, or with any other story we've read this semester, or with a movie or any other element of pop culture-I WELCOME your ideas!
Be sure to run them by me and submit a thesis statement prior to writing.
The purpose of the assignment is to show that you know how to make connections between various works of literature and you know how to analyze a work of literature. Further information on how to approach developing a topic into a thesis can be found on pages 300-303 in your textbook.
Length/Format Requirements:
The paper should be a minimum of 1000 words, double-spaced, and must include a Works Cited page. Use a 12- point font in Times New Roman or Arial. Margins should be 1" on all sides. Do not use a title page, but use a proper MLA heading and a strong title for your paper.
Quoting and Documenting Requirements:
You need to use quoted material from each story to illustrate your comparison and contrasts.
These quotes must be properly documented within the text and on a Works Cited page using correct current MLA documentation style. If you are not sure how to use MLA style, please consult the EasyWriter or Research Matters handbooks.
You MUST include a Works Cited page, properly formatted in MLA style, and including all the works you quoted or paraphrased in the essay.