For Your Serious Consideraton

We will discuss the conventions of writing essays based on literature the first day of next week. The key to writing about literature is to have done a close, active reading of the work(s). If you don't know the material, you cannot write about it successfully. Failure to develop the essay from specific examples and illustrations in the story or failure to get basic story facts correct can also  weigh heavily against you. The topics for the essays will focus on an analysis of specific aspects of each story; this is not a book report and story summaries will fail.

Your essay will need to be written in correct MLA format, including internal citations for quotes and a Works Cited page. Two excellent references you may find helpful are The Purdue OWL and Easybib. Both are listed on the sidebar.

 

Contemplate the following as topics for the first essay:

 

Compare and contrast the three protagonists. In many ways, Pepe, the protagonist of John Steinbeck’s story, “Flight,” is no different from Sammy in “A&P” by John Updike or the narrator of “That Room” by Tobias Wolff. Discuss the traits the three young men share as well the differences that set them apart. Be sure to provide examples and support from each story.

 

Importance of the socio-economic setting. Discuss the degree to which the socio-economic environment plays a significant role in the lives of the Sammy from “A&P” by John Updike, the narrator of “That Room” by Tobias Wolff, and Pepe in “Flight” by John Steinbeck.

 

The inevitable darkness. Discuss the similarity of the “dark watchers” in John Steinbeck’s “Flight” to the description of “that room,” in the story of the same name by Tobias Wolff.  In what way to both the “dark watchers” and “that room” bring each protagonist to a harsh realization?  In what way does Sammy from "A&P" also experience his own harsh (if not exactly "dark") epiphany?

 

One Coin; Two Sides: Success and failure: .  In the stories we have read, “A&P” by John Updike, “That Room” by Tobias Wolff, and “Flight” by John Steinbeck, each protagonist is struck by a “case of independence” that hinges on his gaining a sense of control over what? The success and control  each one hopes to achieve is replaced by failure and a sudden awareness. What does each one gain in his moment of failure that he had not had when his story opened?  Is Pepe's control greater than that of the other two? Why or why not?

 Symbolism and imagery. Symbolism and imagery are prominent in “A&P” by John Updike, “That Room” by Tobias Wolff, and “Flight” by John Steinbeck.  Explain the importance of each of the following images in the respective story: sheep, that room, the knife and the “dark watchers.” What does each image suggest or represent and how does it figure significantly in the story?