Here are some guidelines that will help you with this assignment.
1) You should select a particular passage that you find compelling or strange for the way it relates to the text as a whole. This passage should be a few sentences at least but should not be more than 10 lines of prose. It should be consecutive.
2) Begin your assignment with the quoted passage at the top of this page. (This obviously does not count toward the word total you are aiming for).
3) When writing begin (or include somewhere) a brief account of what is happening to set up your reading of it — this should be a sentence or two. In providing this account you want to set up why you think it is significant.
4) Provide a reading of the passage that produces its significance at a particular moment in the text. What does that mean? As the course progresses (hopefully) how you understand the process of analyzing a text will progress as well. But, to get us going, here are some suggestions on how you might approach the text:
a. Why does this passage stand out as exemplary or confusing?
b. What does the passage attempt to do? Does it describe a place? Introduce a character? Galvanize the plot?
c. Does something get repeated? Omitted?
d. Does the tone depart from the rest of the novel?
e. Does a particular metaphor or some figurative language emerge as significant?
5) Your assignment should include, in addition to the proper heading:
a. The quoted text in block format at the top of the page (include page)
b. An analysis as outlined above
c. One or two unresolved (unresolvable) questions for further thought. Imagine these questions as prompts for a future essay.
