Order Number |
78885544353 |
Type of Project |
ESSAY |
Writer Level |
PHD VERIFIED |
Format |
APA |
Academic Sources |
10 |
Page Count |
3-12 PAGES |
Choose one of the options below and write a four-page essay (double-spaced, 1- to 1½-inch margins, twelve-point font) that addresses the topic. The essay is due in class on Wednesday, April 15th.
Option 1:
Take one of the forums or threads on our discussion board that you found particularly interesting and expand your response into a full-length paper by adding reasons and evidence for your position. Be sure that you identify the discussion board topic or question in the heading of your paper.
Option 2:
The word and the idea of progress come up frequently in Colson Whitehead’s novel The Nickel Boys. For instance, the ranks Nickel students must achieve in order to “graduate” from the school would be viewed by some, and are presented to the boys, as a kind of progress (49).
Likewise, the reforms enacted at Nickel after revelations of brutality and embezzlement (170, 191-2) would count as progress in some people’s eyes. Write an essay assessing the novel’s view of the United States’ progress toward racial equality and justice. Be sure that you identify Option 2 in the heading of your paper.
Option 3:
There is an ongoing debate between Elwood and Turner about the best way to respond to racial injustice that also draws in the ideas of Martin Luther King relating to non-violent resistance, unconditional love, and faith in the humanity of one’s fellow (white) citizens. Write an essay assessing the novel’s position in that debate.
Does it endorse Elwood’s view, Turner’s strategy, or some third position, and why does it matter? Some chapters you might find especially useful in developing your discussion are 1, 2, 7, 8, 12 and 14. Be sure that you identify Option 3 in the heading of your paper.
Option 4:
Story telling is not just something Colson Whitehead’s novel does, but something it comments on and asks readers to think critically about. Write an essay that explains the novel’s view of stories and storytelling, reflecting on the different purposes they can serve and, especially, why it matters who authors or tells a story. Some pages you might consult in developing your discussion are the following: 2-7, 146, 149, 153, 165, 168, 204, 206, 209. Be sure that you identify Option 4 in the heading of your paper.
Additional Instructions:
Literary analysis essays are arguments for the validity of the writer’s interpretation, so make sure your essay has a clear and debatable thesis, is well reasoned and well organized, and contains sufficient evidence from the novel to develop and support your main point. Avoid the common mistake of simply retelling the story—what is called plot summary.
No Works Cited page is required, but be sure that you follow MLA guidelines for in-text citations. For example, you should introduce quotations by identifying the speaker and the narrative context: Late in the novel, disturbed by his own growing tendency to follow Nickel rules, Elwood feels compelled to stand up for what is right, telling Turner, ‘You can’t go around it [the system of racist injustice]—you have to go through it.
Walk with your head up no matter what they throw at you’ (Whitehead 174). You should use quotation marks around language that comes directly from the novel and provide a page number in parentheses either directly after the quoted material or at the end of the sentence.