This post is NOT for Fall 2009 students!
Friday, May 29, 2009
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Oscar Wao Paper (#5)
This post is NOT for Fall 2009 students!
Paper #5 Topics for Junot Diaz’s novel Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
Choose ONE of these topics. Use the topic as a “lens”: Your paper’s content is to be a comment on what happens when you look closely at the novel from the point of view of this “critical lens.”
Expectations for the paper:
Topics:
Narrative Authority
In this paper, explain and comment on how the writer uses his authority as “the writer” to express certain points of view, descriptions of time and place and characters’ lives. One example of this is when we discussed the use of “language of power” in a brief passage when Oscar is beaten up by a trio of thugs.
Struggle Against Oppression
In this paper, describe and comment on ways characters have collided and resisted the oppressive nature of their lives. be sure to discuss the political, social and self-imposed “imprisonment” experienced by selected characters.
Family = Destiny (Inheriting the Fuku)
In this paper, discuss and comment on how family members both embrace and shake off the curse of the fuku in their lives. Be sure to explain how the family became so cursed and how Oscar is only the latest, although, perhaps, not the last family member to live it.
The novel as historical (political) fiction
In this paper, you will NOT attempt to validate or disprove any of the truthfulness or representations of the historical facts presented by Junot Diaz. Instead, discuss and comment on how history is used as a historical narrative that serves as a backdrop to the story of Oscar Wao, the impact this history has on the characters’ lives (regardless of how true or not it is in the novel) and how the writer’s analysis of historical events contributes to a reader’s understanding of the time, place, setting and characters.
Outlines were suggested during a class discussion and are not available here.
Paper #5 Topics for Junot Diaz’s novel Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
Choose ONE of these topics. Use the topic as a “lens”: Your paper’s content is to be a comment on what happens when you look closely at the novel from the point of view of this “critical lens.”
Expectations for the paper:
- Shows you have read the text by selecting relevant examples from a broad range of pages and areas of the novel.
- Shows a clear understanding of the topic with meaningful discussion of the connection between the topic and the novel’s content.
- Demonstrates skill in organizing and developing the topic through the use of strategies such as (1) identifying ways power is used and abused, (2) describing how characters’ lives are impacted by living in “political fictions” and (3) discussing how the writer shows the character’s lives as taking shape by colliding with the political fictions. (Numbers 2 and 3 are different in that folks may simply live under political fictions and never resist them.)
Topics:
Narrative Authority
In this paper, explain and comment on how the writer uses his authority as “the writer” to express certain points of view, descriptions of time and place and characters’ lives. One example of this is when we discussed the use of “language of power” in a brief passage when Oscar is beaten up by a trio of thugs.
Struggle Against Oppression
In this paper, describe and comment on ways characters have collided and resisted the oppressive nature of their lives. be sure to discuss the political, social and self-imposed “imprisonment” experienced by selected characters.
Family = Destiny (Inheriting the Fuku)
In this paper, discuss and comment on how family members both embrace and shake off the curse of the fuku in their lives. Be sure to explain how the family became so cursed and how Oscar is only the latest, although, perhaps, not the last family member to live it.
The novel as historical (political) fiction
In this paper, you will NOT attempt to validate or disprove any of the truthfulness or representations of the historical facts presented by Junot Diaz. Instead, discuss and comment on how history is used as a historical narrative that serves as a backdrop to the story of Oscar Wao, the impact this history has on the characters’ lives (regardless of how true or not it is in the novel) and how the writer’s analysis of historical events contributes to a reader’s understanding of the time, place, setting and characters.
Outlines were suggested during a class discussion and are not available here.
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