Reading Response: Everything Is Illuminated

If you choose to submit a reading response for Jonathan Safran Foer's Everything Is Illuminated, please do so in the comments section of this post.  Remember: your response should be thoughtful, it should evidence a careful consideration of the text, and it should include at least one question for your instructor/your classmates about the text.  Your response should be no less than 200 words and no more than 500 words, and at least relatively well-written (you will not be graded on grammar, but please remember that poor grammar/syntax reflects poorly on you/your ideas).  If other students have posted before you, your response can be, in part, a response to their posts--feel free to take up other students questions or concerns and use this space as a forum for intelligent discussion.  You may also post more than once, particularly if your initial post is short or ambiguous.  Your grade for the reading response will be based on your collective input in the comments sections of this post.

Reading Response: The Collector

If you choose to submit a reading response for John Fowles's The Collector, please do so in the comments section of this post.  Remember: your response should be thoughtful, it should evidence a careful consideration of the text, and it should include at least one question for your instructor/your classmates about the text.  Your response should be no less than 200 words and no more than 500 words, and at least relatively well-written (you will not be graded on grammar, but please remember that poor grammar/syntax reflects poorly on you/your ideas).  If other students have posted before you, your response can be, in part, a response to their posts--feel free to take up other students questions or concerns and use this space as a forum for intelligent discussion.  You may also post more than once, particularly if your initial post is short or ambiguous.  Your grade for the reading response will be based on your collective input in the comments sections of this post.

Reading Response: "Long Black Song"

If you choose to submit a reading response for Richard Wright's "Long Black Song," please do so in the comments section of this post.  Remember: your response should be thoughtful, it should evidence a careful consideration of the text, and it should include at least one question for your instructor/your classmates about the text.  Your response should be no less than 200 words and no more than 500 words, and at least relatively well-written (you will not be graded on grammar, but please remember that poor grammar/syntax reflects poorly on you/your ideas).  If other students have posted before you, your response can be, in part, a response to their posts--feel free to take up other students questions or concerns and use this space as a forum for intelligent discussion.  You may also post more than once, particularly if your initial post is short or ambiguous.  Your grade for the reading response will be based on your collective input in the comments sections of this post.

Paper 1 Assignment

For your first paper assignment, you may choose between two possible topics.  Regardless of your choice, your paper should be between 4 and 5 pages in length; it should be typed in MLA format; and it should make liberal and detailed use of its source text/s (that means quotations!).  I also expect your paper to be sufficiently complex and thought-provoking--you should avoid cliches and what we might call "pat" resolutions to your argument about the text.  I have deliberately chosen complex and difficult texts for this class, and they should be treated as such.  It is not embarassing to say you don't fully understand these works--in fact, such an admission can be a mark of intellectual maturity.  That being said, I expect your papers to demonstrate the work you have put into reading these stories/novels well.  On to your choices:

Option 1:  CLOSE READING / EXPLICATION
You may write an essay explicating a section of your choosing from any of the texts we have read before the paper is due.  Your explication should begin by quoting the passage (do not count this in your page total).  You should then mine that text in as much detail as possible.  A few things to consider: form—why is the passage written the way that it is?; action—what happens?; word choice—why are certain words chosen rather than others?; metaphors—does the word choice invite a comparison between your passage and another situation?  Why?; themes—how does your passage relate to the larger themes of the book/story?  Above all, COMPLICATE rather than SIMPLIFY your passage! 

Option 2:  THEMATIC ANALYSIS
You may write an essay in which you trace the theme of Unit 1--Moral Truth--as it is explored in one of the texts we have read.  If you choose this option, I expect you to make liberal use of quotations from your text, each of which you explore in a thorough and relevant manner.  Your essay should attempt to address 1) how your selection participates in a discussion about Moral Truth, 2) what conclusions your selection appears to draw about Moral Truth, as demonstrated by textual evidence, and 3) how your selection COMPLICATES our understanding of Moral Truth.  This last point is essential to a quality paper: as a thoughtful and complex work, your selection undoubtedly troubles what we think of as morality in several ways.  You need to think about this, and write an essay which reflects the complexity of your subject (Moral Truth), as well as the text you are dealing with.

Best of luck, and as always, please contact me with any questions about this assignment.