This week’s writing assignment will be different from our past assignments. Rather than one question that everyone has to answer, you will have a choice of 8 writing prompts, from with you must select 2. Each response must be one page, totaling two pages. Rather than adhering to our rules of formal essay organization (intro, body paragraphs, conclusion, thesis statement), just try to answer each question in the way that you feel is most effective within one page. You should still quote from each text, and both responses should have at least one quote.
(To writer: Please let me know which prompts you want to do so I could send you the poems)
Here are the prompts:
1. In “The Witness”, what does Borges believe is lost with the death of each individual? How can we compare the death of the peasant in “The Witness” to the death of Delia in “Delia Elena San Marco”?
2. How does Borges speak about the power of memory in “The Captive”? What is the question that Borges asks at the end of the fragment, and what do you think is the answer?
3. Does Borges seem to believe in an afterlife? What is his view on death? In which fragment(s) do we see this?
4. How are dreams and memories linked in the poem “Dreamtigers”?
5. What is Borges saying about the power of poetry in “Parable of the Palace”, specifically at the end of the fragment?
6. What is Borges saying about language/symbols in “Mutations”? How have these three symbols—the rope, the arrow, and the crucifix—changed over time, and why is Borges concerned with this change?
7. “Everything and Nothing” is a prose poem that attempts to describe/capture/represent the life of William Shakespeare (although this isn’t quite clear until the end). In this prose poem, what is the main quality that Borges gives to Shakespeare as a writer? According to Borges, what is the quality that Shakespeare has that allows him to be successful in representing the lives of people?
8. What comparisons can be made between “Everything and Nothing” and “Borges & I”? Both are something of a case study, comparing the author themselves (Shakespeare in “Everything and Nothing” and Borges himself in “Borges & I”) to how the author is perceived by their readers. Further this comparison and see what other comparisons can be made between the two texts.
