Literary Critism

In this class, you get the beginnings of learning how to criticize literature. To start this process, you will read two short stories. Please let me know immediately if these links are no longer active! More information needed for the final is on next week’s page.

http://olsen-classpage.wikispaces.com/file/view/TwoKindsfulltext.pdf

http://www.thomasaquinas.edu/sites/default/files/pdf/readings/2011-fall-ACS-reading.pdf

IMPORTANT: WHEN WRITING ABOUT THE TAN SELECTION, DO NOT REFER TO THE CHARACTER JING-MEI AS AMY. This is NOT simply an autobiography. This is about a young woman named June or Jing-Mei, not Amy Tan herself.  Also, her name is not Ni Kan. That is a nickname.
PART ONE: Criticism.  Answer Both questions!  25 points each. You must give specific references from the story and literary criticism pages to support your points.  Make each answer as complete as you can, in paragraph form (no lists).  It can be several paragraphs each. Recommended length: at least 250 words for each answer.

1.      If you were assigned to write a Feminist Criticism of “Two Kinds,” what dialog, events, influences, or other elements would you select to discuss?
2.      If you were assigned to write a Historical Criticism of “Everything that Rises Must Converge,” what dialog, language, or other aspects of the story would you pick to discuss in the paper? Remember to discuss both the time and place in your historical criticism and its significance.

PART TWO: COMPARISON/CONTRAST ESSAY: Choose ONE topic only, 50 points total. You must give references from the story to support your points. Write as complete an answer as possible. Suggested length: 750-1,000 words, five paragraphs.

1.      Compare and contrast the defiant children in the works we read: Julian from the O’Connor story and Jing-Mei (June) from the Tan story. How are the two similar in their relationships with their mothers, and how are they different? Does their age (one being an adult and the other still a child) play a part in your feelings about them? Which of them, if either, reaches a greater understanding of the mother eventually? Answer as fully as you can.
OR…

2.      Compare and contrast our only mother figures in the pieces:  Julian’s mother and June’s mother. What are their similarities and differences in terms of raising their children and shaping their lives? You might want to discuss their prejudices as well.
OR…

3.    Compare and contrast the biographies and/or styles of our writers, O’Connor and Tan.  What are their their similarities and differences, even though they wrote about thirty years apart in different parts of the country?

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