In this assignment, you will have the opportunity to enter and change a critical conversation on Sula. You will engage with a critical debate on Sula and create your own argument, using at least 3 secondary sources [sources other than the novel itself]; two of these sources should be articles of literary criticism and one should be an interview with or an essay by Morrison or Schlink. You will address the following prompt:
Choose a character from Sula. Summarize the critical controversy on this character, referring to the conflicting views of at least two critics. Then, use a strategy from the Learn to Write Handbook [pp. 28-32] to evaluate this criticism and create your own original interpretation of this character, drawing from an analysis of relevant scenes and passages in Morrison’s novel and paratextual evidence such as interviews with Morrison and/or statements Morrison has made in other contexts. Explain how your interpretation contributes to Sula criticism and offers a better understanding of the novel.
Also you will want to make the following moves:
Introduce the reader to the novel, providing basic background information such as its title and author, its setting, and a brief plot summary. (2-3 sentences).
Summarize a critical controversy involving two or more scholars who have conflicting views of Sula. (1 paragraph).
Engage with/evaluate a critic’s view of the novel you have chosen, using one of the strategies in the Learn to Write Handbook in Course Materials, pps. 28-32, USE strategy #4 . (1-2 paragraphs).
Make a debatable claim about the novel and support it through an in-depth analysis of evidence from the primary source. Your claim should not be a resummary of or agreement with a critic’s interpretation; you should add an original insight based on your reading of the novel or reframe the terms of the debate. In your essay, you should identify what makes your argument unique (4-6 paragraphs) and offer a motivating move: why is it important to read the novel from the perspective you have chosen? How is your perspective relevant?
Strengthen your argument by making concessions when necessary. A concession is an agreement with a point made by a critic with whom you disagree. It often takes the form of a complex sentence: “While Eva B. Revesz rightly observes that The Reader makes a false equivalency between the narrator’s dilemma and that of Holocaust survivors, she overlooks the narrator’s unreliability.”
Anticipate objections to your argument and defend them.
Reflect on the findings your analysis in the conclusion: How does it change the critical conversation on the novel you have chosen?
Your essay should be double-spaced with no extra spaces between paragraphs, and it should include a Works Cited page, a heading, and a title that relates to your argument. Pages should be numbered.
