Description

• 3-5 pages (not including Works Cited page).
• Follow MLA Guidelines for formatting.
• Refer to Chapter 42 for essay writing techniques.
• Refer to Chapter 46 for Works Cited page tips.
• The essay needs 2 reputable secondary sources, aside from our textbook.  The source MUST come from books or the library databases.  General web sources DO NOT COUNT.
• Each literary analysis should have an argumentative thesis and should avoid unnecessary plot summary.
• Consider issues of theme, writing styles, literary terms, and time periods.

 

Any essay turned in without use of an outside source, works cited page, in text citations or with any undocumented information will receive a grade of ZERO.  No exceptions.  The essay must be submitted to turnitin.com (via the Canvas site).

 

The following short stories are covered in the essay topics:

Faulkner: “Rose for Emily” and “Barn Burning”

Hawthorne: “Young Goodman Brown”

Bierce: “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge”

Walker: “Everyday Use”

O’Connor: “A Good Man is Hard to Find”

Gilman: “Yellow Wallpaper”

Updike: “A&P”

 

You may not write about the same author you chose for essay 1!

Possible Topics (please choose ONE of the following for each essay):

*For all these topics, you may write about both stories listed, or you may focus on just one of the stories mentioned in the prompt.*

 

1. Discuss Faulkner as a modernist writer. Explain the basic characteristics of modernism, and apply them to specific portions of one or both of his stories. Does this story (or stories) advance any particular modernist theme? Successfully?

 

2. Compare and contrast the effect of inner thoughts of Peyton Farquhar (“Occurrence”) and Young Goodman Brown as they endure their trials. Also compare/contrast their exchanges with men who are trying to trick them. Discuss the motivations and skewed perceptions of each character.  Which character is more empathetic?  How does the author build empathy?

 

3. Compare and contrast the terms “everyday use” and “good man” in Walker and O’Connor’s stories. What are the different ways each of these phrases can be used?  How do the characters use them correctly or incorrectly?  What do the phrases say about the characters or the time periods of each story?

 

4. Compare and contrast Dee to the grandmother. Which character’s actions are defensible?  In what ways do Walker and O’Connor develop the characters to make readers perceive them in this way?  Consider race, setting, protagonist/antagonist relationships, narration, etc.

 

5. Compare and contrast the portrayal of psychological disorders in “Soldier’s Home” and “Yellow Wallpaper.” What disorders might these characters be dealing with? How do the authors realistically portray the disorders?  How does the setting of the story affect the way the characters with the disorders are treated?  Are Hemingway and Gilman making a similar indictment of the way these disorders were treated?

 

6. Is Sammy a foolish boy or a chivalrous hero? How does the narration, setting, character development, style, etc. affect the way readers perceive Sammy?

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