Fiction

Essay 1
ENG 102
For your first formal assignment, write a 750-1000 word essay (about 3 to 4 pages, typed and double-spaced) on one of the following topics. Please quote from the works in our textbook that you analyze. Please write in the third person. That means, then, that you should have no “ I”s or “you”s in the essay.

Be sure to use specific, ample references from the text to support your points. Cite all quotations and references in proper MLA style and include a Works Cited page as the final page of your paper (see your grammar handbook for tips and reminders).

IMPORTANT: Your essay should have a clear thesis statement — a one-or two-sentence statement that summarizes the major point you will be advancing in the essay. This thesis statement generally appears in the first paragraph. Subsequent paragraphs should focus on key ideas in support of your thesis. The essay should end with a concluding paragraph. For help and more tips, use the resources available on our course homepage.

Finally, submit this paper to our course Drop Box (in D2L) as a .doc, .docx or .rtf file attached below BEFORE the posted deadline. Late papers will be penalized ten points for each day that they are late.

**Remember, if I cannot open your file, you cannot receive credit for the assignment — so make sure your file is one of the formats identified above.**
Topics:

1. Many of these stories are about people who are in conflict with members of their own families. This is a really common theme in literature. How does this theme treated in one or two of these stories.Be as specific and analytical as possible and refer to examples from the works themselves.

2. A symbol is something that is used to represent something else. A metaphor is a literary comparison between two unlike things. Some symbols and metaphors are obvious while some are much more subtle. Find a symbol (or metaphor) that is used in more than one story we’ve read. How does that common symbol (or metaphor) differ across stories? Be as specific and analytical as possible and use examples from the works themselves.

3. A themeis an important recurring idea (or image) that appears in a short story (or poem or play). Some themes are pretty common in literature while others are a bit more obscure. Is there a theme which you can identify as being used in more than one short story? What is it? How is that theme treated differently by different writers in different works among those we’ve read? Be as specific and analytical as possible and refer to examples from the works themselves.

4. A common subject for story tellers is the act of story-telling itself. How do three short stories we’ve looked at use the device of story-telling or the character of a story-teller? Does telling stories mean more than it, at first, seems to mean? Do the story-telling characters stand-in for something or someone else beyond themselves? Be as specific and analytical as possible and draw examples from the stories.