Literary Analysis Essay – TWO DIFFERENT BOOKS: A Long Way Gone and Bamboo People
Class: English Literature – World Literature
Education Level: Masters
Essay Type: Literary Analysis – 2 Novels
Language: English US
Pages: 3-4 (MLA)
Deadline: Tomorrow, Sunday September 12th
About the Class:
In depth textual analysis of novels about children growing up in six different countries and cultures in situations far different from what we have experienced in our own lives.
These are novels, that is, fictional, but they are based on actual experiences that children have undergone. We will locate these experiences in time (history) and place (geography) in an attempt to “flesh out” the stories. At that same time, we will examine the links that exist to similar experiences in our own world.
By the end of the session, you will be asked to assess the ways in which the course and the novels have helped you to avoid the “danger of a single story.”
Professor Notes:
The assignments combine close reading skills with your analysis, thesis writing skills to write a paper that is both intellectually innovative and persuasive.
Ensure to construct a thesis that reflects the subtleties of your close readings and ties them all together
Remember your imaginary audience. Give them something subtle, something insightful
Use direct quotes from the novels to back up your claims
Assignment Details:
Novels:
A Long Way Gone by Ismeal Beah:
http://bisteachers.cratercomets.com/sinks_jeremy/literature/a_long_way_gone/aLongWayGoneMemoirsBoySoldier.pdf
Bamboo People By Mitali Perkins:
http://www.bamboopeople.org/
Essay Topic: Beah and Perkins use different narrative strategies to structure their stories. Beah has a single narrator; Perkins uses two narrators–one from each side of the conflict who are brought together by the war. What is gained and what is lost by each of the strategies? Is one strategy more effective than the other? (3-4 pages)
You need to understand both of these novels.
Possible Points of Departure:
Beah’s story covers a longer time frame–potentially 3 years of combat, and ending then when he has been adopted by an American mother and is in school. Obviously he cannot (and does not) tell us everything that happened. The narrative is selective in the events that are related. Beah also moves at times back and forth between the three worlds–his dreams, the experiences of his new life, the memories that are triggered when he is living his new life. Occasionally at least we as readers have to sort these out–he does not use a different type font or spacing to separate out the three types of experiences. Does that strategy enhance the telling of the story? Does it make it more interesting? Harder to read? Why might he use such a structure?
Perkins uses two narrators, roughly dividing the book in half. The first half is the story of Chiko who is kidnaped/impressed into the Burmese army and sent off to war. The second half is the story of Tu Reh, a Karenni boy who is defending his people from the Burmese army. The two come together after Chiko is seriously injured by a land mine. Against his instincts, Tu Reh brings Chiko to a village where he is treated medically. Chiko is restored to his family. Both boys struggle with what is the “right” thing to do–right by their people and family, right by the large moral issues that the conflict raises.
Do both writers seem to have similar goals in writing the novels? If so, what are they? If not, how do they differ? Can you define what each writer’s goal might have been? Does that goal or intention explain anything about the narrative structure of the novels.