Assignment 2: Junot Diaz’s Drown, Richard Wright’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin, and Jhumpa Lahiri’s The Interpreter of Maladies, and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s That Thing Around Your Neck.
Length: 5 pages, not including Works Cited page, with is the 6th page;Submitted through Blackboard.Please upload your paper as a Word document (.docx) or PDF file. Your paper should be 5 pages, plus a Works Cited page (see below for help), double-spaced, one-inch margins, titled, and numbered. (Please review MLA formatting handout under readings on Blackboard.)Directions:Choose two or three stories from those stories we read by Junot Diaz, Richard Wright, Jhumpa Lahiri, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. You must write about at least two of the authors (you don’t need to write about all four). So that means you need at least one story from two of the four assigned writers. (For example, one story from Diaz and one from Lahiri, or one from Lahiri and one from Wright, one from Adichie and another writer, etc..) You probably should reread your chosen stories several times to be familiar with the narrative, characters and themes. You might also review blackboard discussion board to help you think about the stories.
The paper should be about a theme that interests you. Some possible themes include: immigration (voluntary or forced, i.e., slavery), dual or double consciousness, master-slave dynamic (domination and subordination), the individual and the collective, gender and sexuality, the American Dream, capitalism. Once you’ve chosen a theme, start to think about how the author conveys it? You should consider plot, story structure, language, character, and metaphor. (Remember: the paper is 5 pages, so you may only need to examine one or two of these themes.) You may want to consider one of the following questions to help you formulate a thesis:
1) How do the authors’ present the difficulty or challenges of immigration (voluntary or forced) on individuals and/or families?
2) Double consciousness can be defined as the challenge of belonging to two cultures as well as seeing oneself through the eyes of the dominant culture to which an outsider (as a result of race, culture, or sexual identity) belongs. How does Diaz, Wright, Lahiri, Adichie represent the challenge of double consciousness? What literary approaches and narrative styles do they use to convey this duality?
3) How do the authors use the theme of domination and submission and what is being portrayed by these dynamics? You may consider gender and sexuality, capitalism, social codes, or institutions.
4) What do the authors say about the relationship between the collective (people acting together as group for purpose, positive or negative) and individual? You might consider the individual in terms of leadership of a collective or as an oppressed underdog within a collective. You might also consider the issue of group-think and the mob versus the more positive associations of the cooperative and cooperation. You might also consider the family (as a collective) and its positive and/or negative relationship to the individual.
5) How do the authors’ representation of gender and/or sexuality challenge and/or reinforce assumptions about either?
6) How are your chosen stories critiques of or a commentary on capitalism (American or African), either on the individual, the family, or community?
IMPORTANT: Your paper must have a thesis—a guiding, arguable point that you are trying to make. It is important to remember that in examining and discussing a theme, you are trying to make a point. All evidence that you supply from the text must relate to your thesis (your argument) and advance your argument. You are trying to persuade your reader of a point. I want you to be authoritative and focused. Tell me about those aspects of the story that bolster your argument, and do not waste space telling me how much you like the story or character (although you can include that, but it is not relevant to your thesis). Don’t waste time summarizing unnecessary plots or describing minor characters. Any plot summaries should be brief and integral to your thesis. Direct quotes, on the other hand, provide compelling evidence.
Show knowledge of the names of characters, authors, directors, actors etc. Use present tense, include a bibliography as learned in English 101 (or its equivalent) and make sure all quotes are correctly attributed (using MLA parenthetical method of author and page number). To help with writing, grammar, and citation and bibliography, consult a writing handbook (I’ve posted one on blackboard) and/or http://owl.english.purdue.edu (a great resource for all your writing needs). Remember: An unattributed quote or idea (from any source) is plagiarism and grounds for class failure.
Don’t forget that with the Works Cited, only cite the books not the stories. Although I have included “The Interpreter of Maladies” from an anthology, you can simply cite it as part of the book, but use the pages that I gave you on the handout so I can find your quotes if I need to.
Adichie, Chimamanda Ngozi. That Thing Around Your Neck. New York: Anchor Books,2010. Print.
Díaz, Junot. Drown. New York: Riverhead Books, 1996. Print.
Lahiri, Jhumpa. Interpreter of Maladies. New York: Mariner-Houghton, 1999. Print.
Wright, Richard. Early Works: Lawd Today!/Uncle Tom’s Children/Native Son. New York: Library of America, 1991. Print.
Your paper should be 5 pages, double-spaced, one-inch margins, titled, and numbered. Pay attention to technical errors: I don’t want to be distracted from your ideas. Inattention to grammar undermines your attempts to inform and enlighten; it also lowers the grade of your paper.
this paper is due saturday night. 11/25/2023
the question you can focus on the theme is question 1.
I have attached the stories that I was given by the professor in class. No outside information. Only information text from the stories I am going to add in the attached files.
thank you. https://www.mediafire.com/file/vx1dgdggcgjx7fk/Diaz_Drown_%2526_Negocios%25281%2529.pdf/file
https://www.mediafire.com/file/8un3z984eu28ic1/lahiri-interpreter-of-maladies%25281%2529.pdf/file
https://www.mediafire.com/file/kkg603ej5z7qiuf/Lahiri-Mrs._Sen%25281%2529.pdf/file
