ENGL 110 ESSAY #1:

Literary Analysis and Argumentation

Rough draft due:2/4 Final draft due: 2/8

Approximate length: 4-6 typewritten pages

ESSAY #1 TOPIC:

In this unit, we will explore several key questions related to the themes of culture and identity. In this essay, you will use the critical thinking skill of inductive reasoning to determine what a piece of literature implies about the nature of culture and identity.

In a 4-6 page paper, analyze how a story from this unit – through its specific language, characters and/or plot – makes a general claim about identity and/or culture. What do you believe the author is using the story to say about how identity and/or culture influence us? Argue for the validity of your interpretation using evidence from the text.

There are two main rhetorical components to this essay: analysis and argumentation. Analysis requires you to interpret, in depth, individual parts of the text (its tone or diction, for example, or a specific scene) in order to make sense of the whole. Argumentation means using effective organizational and rhetorical strategies and counterarguments in order to persuade your reader that your analysis is valid.

Critical Thinking and Argumentation: Your essay must demonstrate inductive reasoning and feature claims backed by evidence and refutation (addressing alternative interpretations in a counterargument).

Focus Questions For Specific Texts: (these are meant to help you generate ideas – you may choose to address one or more of these in your argument, and/or you may choose to address different ideas of your own choosing that relate towards the unit theme of “Culture and Identity”).

“Sonny’s Blues”: How does growing up in the cultural environment of postwar Harlem affect Sonny and/or the narrator? How does Sonny define his identity compared to the narrator? What do you feel this says about identity? What cultural role does music play in this story? Are the brothers’ different attitudes towards music significant? Do Sonny and his brother change in this story? If so, what is the reason for these changes and where do we see them in the text? If not, how can you tell that the brothers remain the same?

“Shooting an Elephant”: How do the political, economic, historical, and social forces shape the narrator’s sense of identity? How does the narrator’s job as a British soldier enforcing what he believes to be an unjust occupation of Burma complicate his struggle with his conscience and identity? What is the connection between the act of shooting the elephant and cultural imperialism?

“Hell-Heaven”: What effects do growing up in a cross-cultural environment have on Usha’s identity? What about for her mother? What role does a common culture play in the relationship between Pranab Chakraborty and Usha’s family? Does common culture draw the characters in the story together or push them apart? Or both? Are Usha’s parents able to resolve the tension of being caught between the American and Bengali cultures? How does the Bengali custom of arranged marriage affect Usha’s mother? How does the American custom of marriage for love affect the Chakraborty’s? Do these messages say anything about their cultures? Why does Usha’s mother suffer in silence? Is there any significance to the way in which she contemplates committing suicide?

“The Bridegroom”: How do the cultural values of Muji City affect people’s perceptions of/reactions to Baowen’s homosexuality in the story? How does culture or identity operate behind the views of marriage in this story? How does Cheng’s view of marriage differ from Beina’s? What does marriage mean to Beina? What about to Baowen? What does it mean to the community of Muji City? How are masculinity and femininity portrayed in the story, and what do they say about the cultural values of the residents of Muji City?

CRITERIA FOR EVALUATION:

• Correct length (4-6 pages)
• A focused, arguable thesis statement
• Well-developed paragraphs and easy-to-follow organization
• Well-integrated quotations, paraphrasing and summary that support your point(s)
• A consideration of alternative viewpoints and a counterargument
• Paper stays on topic
• Clear and correct sentences

1. Does the paper fully address the prompt, meet the minimum length and stay on topic?

________ of 20

2. Are paragraphs organized logically with clear, controlling topic sentences?

________ of 25

3. Does the paper use inductive reasoning to identify a general claim made about culture and/or identity in a story and does the paper argue for or against the validity of the claim?

________ of 20

4. Are the style and tone formal, academic and appropriate?

________ of 10

5. Are quotations well integrated with frames and do they support the analysis?

________ of 20

6. Does the paper address an alternative interpretation and contain a counterargument?

________ of 10

7. Is the expression of ideas clear?

________ of 20

8. Are the mechanics of the paper correct?

________ of 15

9. Did the writer attend a conference in the Writing Center (18-102)

________ of 10Total: ­­­­­___________ of 150

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