English Paper
Budget: $10 – $50 USD
Approx. Length: 5 pages
Choose one of the following four topics and write an essay on it. I have raised two or three subquestions for each topic to help you develop it in specific terms. You must either ask yourself two additional subquestions or offer ideas about two additional issues that will illuminate the topic you choose. Organize your essay by discussing first one text and then another.
Your final draft should include a thesis statement in the first paragraph. In the body of your essay, you should support key ideas by quoting lines or short passages from the stories and fully explaining how the quoted lines illuminate each idea. Include a works cited page at the end of your essay. See the Quotation and Citation Guide: MLA format for Prose on the Information Page of the course Blackboard site.
On the due date, you must submit an electronic copy of your essay through the program “Turnitin” on Blackboard, which you will find on the Content Page of the Blackboard site.
Topics
1. Consider the settings in at least two of the following stories: Carver’s “Cathedral,” Danticat’s “A Wall of Fire Rising,” and Poe’s “The Cask of Amontillado.” How do the settings affect characters’ outlooks or express their predicaments in each? What is the role of the setting(s) in the conflict or change that arises in each plot? Note: Danticat’s story has more than one setting.
2 Discuss two or three of the following minor characters: the wife in Carver’s “Cathedral,” Lili in Danticat’s “A Wall of Fire Rising,” and Josephine in Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour.” What role(s) do the minor characters play in the development or success of the major character in each story? Explain specifically. In what ways, if any, does the minor character’s role seem to meet conventional expectations? In what ways, if any, is the minor character’s role surprising?
3. Both Cofer in “Volar” and Danticat in “A Wall of Fire Rising” employ the trope of the child. (A trope is a figure that appears repeatedly in the literature or culture of a society, carrying similar meanings each time. A trope of the child will likely differ from any actual child.) What are the child’s characteristics in each story? Discuss the relation between the child, the parents, and the economy in each story. Explain how the child is related to the change that occurs in each story.
4. Several stories we have read combine the style of realism with either another style or a symbol. “Volar,” uses realism and fantasy; Carver’s “Cathedral” and Danitcat’s “A Wall of Fire Rising” both combine realism with symbols. Poe’s “The Cask of Amontillado” is of the Gothic or horror genre, and its style remains Gothic throughout. (a.) Choose two of the above stories written partly in the realist style and explain what is accomplished by mixing realism with fantasy or with symbols. (b.) What are some of the characteristics of the Gothic style as you find it in Poe’s story? (c.) Discuss the importance of its being unrelieved by realism.
Choose one of the following four topics and write an essay on it. I have raised two or three subquestions for each topic to help you develop it in specific terms. You must either ask yourself two additional subquestions or offer ideas about two additional issues that will illuminate the topic you choose. Organize your essay by discussing first one text and then another.
Your final draft should include a thesis statement in the first paragraph. In the body of your essay, you should support key ideas by quoting lines or short passages from the stories and fully explaining how the quoted lines illuminate each idea. Include a works cited page at the end of your essay. See the Quotation and Citation Guide: MLA format for Prose on the Information Page of the course Blackboard site.
On the due date, you must submit an electronic copy of your essay through the program “Turnitin” on Blackboard, which you will find on the Content Page of the Blackboard site.
Topics
1. Consider the settings in at least two of the following stories: Carver’s “Cathedral,” Danticat’s “A Wall of Fire Rising,” and Poe’s “The Cask of Amontillado.” How do the settings affect characters’ outlooks or express their predicaments in each? What is the role of the setting(s) in the conflict or change that arises in each plot? Note: Danticat’s story has more than one setting.
2 Discuss two or three of the following minor characters: the wife in Carver’s “Cathedral,” Lili in Danticat’s “A Wall of Fire Rising,” and Josephine in Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour.” What role(s) do the minor characters play in the development or success of the major character in each story? Explain specifically. In what ways, if any, does the minor character’s role seem to meet conventional expectations? In what ways, if any, is the minor character’s role surprising?
3. Both Cofer in “Volar” and Danticat in “A Wall of Fire Rising” employ the trope of the child. (A trope is a figure that appears repeatedly in the literature or culture of a society, carrying similar meanings each time. A trope of the child will likely differ from any actual child.) What are the child’s characteristics in each story? Discuss the relation between the child, the parents, and the economy in each story. Explain how the child is related to the change that occurs in each story.
4. Several stories we have read combine the style of realism with either another style or a symbol. “Volar,” uses realism and fantasy; Carver’s “Cathedral” and Danitcat’s “A Wall of Fire Rising” both combine realism with symbols. Poe’s “The Cask of Amontillado” is of the Gothic or horror genre, and its style remains Gothic throughout. (a.) Choose two of the above stories written partly in the realist style and explain what is accomplished by mixing realism with fantasy or with symbols. (b.) What are some of the characteristics of the Gothic style as you find it in Poe’s story? (c.) Discuss the importance of its being unrelieved by realism.