Microcosm: A Single Star in Stars in My Pocket:
It might feel daunting to write about Delany’s galactic novel, but you might find it less so if you pick a piece ofthe novel (a microcosm) and explore how it stands in for the larger world(s) of the novelas a whole(the macrocosm).This microcosm canbe any scene thatinterests you: Rat Korga’s first tasteof reading in the prologue, one of Marq’s many encounters around the galaxy oron Velm, the dragon hunt, a visit to a “run,” one of the novel’s memorable meals—the choice is completely up to you.
Once you’ve selected your microcosm, your task is to read it closely and to make an argument about what it can tell us about the ideas in the novel as a whole. Successful completion of this prompt would combine a close reading of a passage and connections between that passage and other parts of the book.
A Note on Grading: I will have slightly different expectations for each of the four options but in every case,I will be looking for a paper that
•cites and analyzes specific passages or scenes from a written or visual text
•represents the text accurately
•is clearly written and carefully edited, and
•seeks to give a fellow reader of your chosen writer a new experience of the text.
