ASSIGNMENT:
1. \u00a0\u00a0 Analyze\/interpret a work or works of literature (poetry or fiction) in terms of the theme of identity or “sense of self.”\u00a0 How does each poem or story portray a speaker’s or character’s sense of identity in relation to others or to the world? (Remember that the speaker in a poem or narrator in a short story is not the writer him\/herself, but rather a character.) The literature for analysis is provided in Unit Three of the\u00a0Coursepack\u00a0(63-116). The four concepts of identity-formation are from Unit One, Lectures 1-1 and 1-2.
2. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Topic choices are limited to the selections A-E below. Follow the instructions for each choice carefully, and address all requirements of the topic.
3.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The thesis sentence (underlined) should state that the literature exemplifies (illustrates) the given theory (or theories) with respect to identity-formation.\u00a0 Approach the literary texts as providing examples of the theory or theories.\u00a0
4. \u00a0\u00a0 Summarize and quote from the text to “prove” your analysis. Interpret a work’s literary techniques, including figures of speech (metaphor, simile), symbols, images, etc. as they convey the character’s sense of self.\u00a0 The summary should not be a separate section of the paper.\u00a0 Analysis in terms of the theory should be integrated all the way through.\u00a0 Summarize only those details from the poems or stories that illustrate some aspect of the theory or theories.
5. \u00a0\u00a0 PLAGIARISM:\u00a0 Some students seem to be tempted to plagiarize on literary analysis papers.\u00a0 There is a great deal of literary interpretation available on the Internet, but\u00a0nothing\u00a0is available in response to the topic prompts (A \u2013 E) below.\u00a0 This is a unique assignment.\u00a0 Internet sources will not help you write in answer to the these prompts.\u00a0 There is no point in looking for any outside sources, and you are required\u00a0not\u00a0to use outside sources, Internet or otherwise.\u00a0 This paper should be entirely your own thinking and writing.\u00a0\u00a0Anycopy\/pasting of Internet source material into your paper will result in an F for the assignment.\u00a0 No exceptions, no excuses.\u00a0 Copy\/pasting the language from Internet or other sources into your essay is\u00a0cheating.\u00a0 As stated in the syllabus, serious cases of plagiarism warrant an F for the final course grade.
6.\u00a0 MAIN CRITERION FOR GRADING:\u00a0\u00a0 In order to be successful on this assignment, the student must follow the requirements given in the topic description.\u00a0 Each topic choice focuses on a different literary text or texts.\u00a0 If the description asks you to use a particular theory to analyze the literature, that is the main thing I will look for in evaluating your essay.\u00a0 The theory should be applied in detail all the way through the essay.
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TOPIC CHOICES:
Choose one topic from the list (A-E) below. The thesis of your paper should relate to the sense of self.\u00a0Underline the thesis sentence. Be sure to follow the requirements of each topic carefully.
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A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Analyze the sense of self as it relates to the natural world in Jack London\u2019s short story \u201cTo Build a Fire\u201d and Galway Kinnell\u2019s poem, \u201cThe Bear.\u201d The main characters of each work have much different senses of self: one is detached from the forces of nature, and the other is deeply connected to the natural world. Keep in mind that the protagonist in “The Bear” is a native Eskimo using traditional hunting techniques before the introduction of Western technology, like guns.\u00a0 The Man in “To Build a Fire” is a European-American who is new to the wild north of the Yukon Territory.\u00a0 Explore the differences, and explain how in each case the writer establishes the character\u2019s relationship to the world using natural imagery.\u00a0
Analyze to what extent each protagonist\u2019s identity or\u00a0sense of self\u00a0is based on his relationship with and understanding of Nature and to what extent it is based on purely human social structures.\u00a0 What is that self-understanding?\u00a0 Examine details from the works that indicate something about the sense of self\u2014cultural, psychological, behavioral.\u00a0 Quote and paraphrase evidence from texts to support your analysis.\u00a0
You may or may not use a variation of one of the four theories of identity-formation, but be aware that none of the four as formulated by its theorists precisely fits either the story or the poem. If you choose, you can be creative and devise your own twist on one of the theories. This should be constructed as a comparison\/contrast essay, pointing out the similarities and\/or differences between the two main characters in the literary works.
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B. \u00a0\u00a0 Analyze the sense of self of Prufrock, the speaker and main character of T.S. Eliot\u2019s poem, \u201cThe Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock.\u201d Although he is part of the early 20th century upper-class society that attends tea parties, Prufrock clearly suffers from low self-esteem and social alienation. Use Cooley\u2019s concept of the looking-glass self to explain his identity-formation. Find examples of the theory in the poem.\u00a0
The introductory paragraph should provide a thesis sentence, stating that Prufrock\u2019s sense of self can be understood in terms of Cooley\u2019s theory, and give a brief definition of the theory, including the \u201cthree principle elements,\u201d or steps (or as I like to call them, phases).\u00a0 Then the body of the paper should provide examples of Cooley\u2019s process of identity-formation\u00a0from the poem.\u00a0 Present evidence by quoting and interpreting specific lines.\u00a0\u00a0All three phases are clearly evident, most of the time in the same set of images or metaphors or within a\u00a0group of lines.\u00a0 Note that the three phases can occur virtually simultaneously in a person\u2019s particular experience; however, the lines may also\u00a0indicate different phases at different points in the poem.\u00a0
For example, in one section,\u00a0Prufrock compares himself to an insect in a old-style insect collection,\u00a0in which bugs were pinned through and mounted in rows with identification:\u00a0 “When I am pinned and wriggling on the wall” (l. 58).\u00a0 This metaphor conveys that he thinks of himself as pathetic and defeated; he imagines that others see him as rather repulsive and inconsequential, like an insect, and his self-esteem is brought to an\u00a0extremely low level.\u00a0 In accordance with Cooley’s theory, he is imagining how he appears to others; he is imagining their judgment of him; and he adjusts his sense of self accordingly. Provide several such examples.\u00a0 Note that almost\u00a0all of the poem takes place within the imagination or memory\u00a0of Prufrock, and Cooley\u2019s first two phases involve the imagination.
You\u00a0must\u00a0use Cooley\u2019s concept as the basis for this analysis.
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C.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Discuss the impact of romantic relationships on the sense of self in the two short stories \u201cThe Sojourner,\u201d by Carson McCullers, and \u201cWhat We Talk About When We Talk About Love,\u201d by Raymond Carver. Consider the relationships of John Ferris and Jeannine, Ferris and Elizabeth, and Elizabeth and Bill Bailey in the first story, and Mel and Terry and Nick and Laura in the second story. Use the theory of role identity as the basis for your analysis. Compare and contrast (point out similarities and differences in) the way the two stories treat relationships as the basis of identity.\u00a0\u00a0(Again, you\u00a0must\u00a0use role identity theory for this topic choice.)
In the first paragraph, provide a brief definition of the theory, attributing it to Stryker.\u00a0 The entire discussion in the body of the paper should focus on roles and how they are played, and role conflicts and how they are resolved in the two short stories. \u00a0Explain love-relationships as the basis of most of the roles and the security of characters within particular roles.\u00a0 Use Stryker’s idea of the identity salience hierarchy to explain the rankings of roles and resolution of role-conflicts.
Here are some questions for generating points of analysis:\u00a0 What roles are played by the characters? \u00a0 Do the roles conflict?\u00a0\u00a0 What are the sources of role conflict?\u00a0 How are the role-conflicts resolved in terms of identity salience hierarchies?\u00a0 How comfortable is each character in his\/her roles?\u00a0 Those are the questions to answer.
Don\u2019t get sidetracked by the issue of the meaning of love.\u00a0 That\u2019s not the focus of the assignment.\u00a0 The focus is\u00a0role identity.
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D.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Compare and contrast Kate Chopin\u2019s \u201cA Respectable Woman\u201d and John Steinbeck\u2019s \u201cThe Chrysanthemums\u201d as they depict the emerging identities of the female protagonists (main characters), who strain against expected social roles. Use the theory of\u00a0symbolic interactionism\u00a0as the basis of the analysis and comparison of the two short stories, explaining the active search for self in both characters as consistent with the theory.
Include a thesis sentence that unifies your essay and the analysis in the first paragraph.\u00a0 The first paragraph should also give an overview of both stories and define the theory, but it should not include any biographical information about the authors.\u00a0
Interactionism contains four distinct components: \u00a01) interpreting experiences, making meaning out of them that has personal significance; 2) trying out different roles; 3) rebelling against social expectations; 4) actively deciding for oneself one\u2019s identity.
The body of the paper should discuss examples of each of these components found in the texts of both stories.\u00a0 Pay particular attention to the protagonists’ straining against socially-defined roles and choosing roles that define them.\u00a0 Explain how each character is actively making her own meanings out of her experiences and coming to an understanding of her sense of self.
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E.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Compare and contrast the two Vietnam War pieces, Bruce Weigl\u2019s poem, \u201cThe Way of Tet,\u201d and Tim O\u2019Brien\u2019s short story, \u201cThe Things They Carried,\u201d in terms of the impact of war on identity-formation.\u00a0 Consider the kinds of personal relationships created by the situation of war.\u00a0 Use Allport\u2019s concept of in-groups and\/or role-identity theory to discuss the cultural alienation between Americans and Vietnamese as exemplified by the soldier and the young prostitute in Weigl\u2019s poem.\u00a0 Do the same to analyze Lt. Cross and his platoon in the O\u2019Brien story.\u00a0 Put forward a unifying thesis for the paper regarding war and the sense of self, invoking the theory or theories.\u00a0\u00a0 The thesis sentence should state directly that the theory is exemplified in the literary works.\u00a0\u00a0You must use\u00a0at least one\u00a0of these two theories–Allport’s in-group theory and\/or Stryker’s role identity theory.
For in-groups, you could explain the in-group\/out-group dynamics as the basis of the identity of various characters.\u00a0 To what in-groups do the characters feel belonging, and what are the shared characteristics of those groups?\u00a0 To what extent do the characters identify with or accept the expectations of their in-groups?\u00a0 And\/or, if you are using role identity, explain the various roles played by the characters, their role conflicts and resolutions of these conflicts.\u00a0 Be sure to invoke the identity salience hierarchy as part of the role identity concept.
Conflict is the underlying theme of this analysis:\u00a0 in war, between in-groups\/out-groups, and between social roles.
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OTHER REQUIREMENTS:
1. \u00a0\u00a0 Use only poems or stories from the Zip Notes\u00a0Coursepack\u00a0as indicated in A – E above.
2. \u00a0\u00a0 Length: \u00a0 750 words, minimum. No maximum length.
3. \u00a0\u00a0 Use a Works Cited listing for each work in correct MLA format (see your handbook). The full publication information for each story or poem is available in the bibliography of the\u00a0Coursepack\u00a0(pages 117-19). Indicate lines in poems using the abbreviations l. for line and ll. for lines. Example: (ll. 14-15) for lines 14-15. Cite quotes from short stories by giving the original page number from the photocopy (not the\u00a0Coursepack\u00a0page number) in parentheses.
4. \u00a0\u00a0 Do not consult outside sources. This should be your thinking only. Since you are applying one of the four concepts of self for most of these choices, research will not help you. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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