4 pages or 1500 Word Critical analysis. You will use two short stories from our reading list. Craft a thesis that makes a claim about the short stories contextualized around an issue and support that argument using textual evidence. What do the stories say about human nature or our society? What can we learn from them? What commentary are they making?
Some sample questions to get you thinking…
- Find evidence comparing the boy’s journey in James Joyce’s Araby to that of a religious knight on a quest. What similarities can you find in A&P. Are the authors of the two saying different things about coming of age and the hero’s quest?
- Compare the epiphany of the boy in Araby to the grandmother in O’Conner’s A Good Man is Hard to Find.
- Do you feel sorry for Emily in William Faulkner’s story, or do you feel she deserved stronger social penalties for her actions? Was her insanity brought on by society? What about the woman in the Yellow Wallpaper? How did social norms effect both women?
- Who is more justified in their revenge, Montressor from Cask of Amontillado, or Matt in Killings?
- Is the suffereing of the child warranted in The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas? Would you walk away? Why haven’t you? How is this distopia more or less justifiable than that in the Lottery?
- How does The Company of Wolves deal with feminism differently that The Yellow Wallpaper? Is one more empowering for women? Or more important?
Reading List:
“The Cask of Amontillado”, Edgar Allan Poe the_cask_of_amontillado.pdf (state.gov)
“Killings”, Andre Dubus Killings (shulcloud.com)
“A Rose for Emily”, William Faulkner A Rose for Emily (ufsc.br)
“A Good Man is Hard to Find, Flannery O’Connor A good man is hard to find (ufsc.br)
“Araby”, James Joyce Araby.pdf (plato-philosophy.org)
“A&P”, John Updike A&P (sevanoland.com)
“The Ones who walk away from Omelas”, Ursula LeGuin Omelas.pdf (pbworks.com)
“The Yellow Wallpaper”, Charlotte Stetson The Yellow Wall-Paper (nih.gov)
“The Company of Wolves”, Angela Carter The+Company+of+Wolves.pdf (pbworks.com)
