Purpose & Prompts & Due Dates
Purpose: The purpose of this essay is to showcase your critical thinking and writing skills by interpreting a work of fiction by writing a short essay in which you make an argument about how the text represents race and racial issues.
Prompt: Jeffrey Cohen writes that “any kind of alterity [the state of being different; otherness] can be inscribed across (constructed through) the monstrous body, but for the most part monstrous difference tends to be cultural, political, racial, economic, sexual” (7). Although Cohen does not discuss issues of class as in as much detail as gender and race, the “economic” part of the preceding quotation indicates that oftentimes it is the “lower classes” who are “demonized” and made out to be monsters. Think, for example, of the Irish Giant example from the PPT presentation that summarized Cohen’s argument. The Irish were demonized in part because they were poor. The same could be said of the ways that blacks and Native Americans were demonized; they were considered “lower class.” Another example is what we would call “white trash” or “redneck.” In many ways, poor whites are depicted as brutish, uneducated, and unrefined. We see this with the Misfit in Flannery O’Connor’s “A Good Man is Hard to Find.” Although the film Parasite is South Korean, it clearly depicts the contrast between the wealthy and poor in that society.
Expand on your discussion question post from this week by identifying and discussing the monsters and victims in BOTH stories. Questions to consider: Who or what is the monster in each story? How are they similar? How are they different? Who or what are the victims? How are they similar/different? How does each story comment on the relationship between the upper and lower classes in their respective societies? You may use your discussion question answers as part of your argument, but this is a more formal essay. You will need to have an introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion.
Due dates are available on the Course Calendar.
Skills & Knowledge
This assignment will help you to:
Employ literary terminology (metaphor, simile, allusion, etc.).
Employ film analysis terminology.
Analyze and interpret literature and film.
Develop essential critical thinking and writing skills.
Criteria for Success
750-1,000 words (3-4 pp.) in MLA 9th edition in formatting and citation. See the OWL at Purdue for formatting and information about in-text citations. See the 2150 Citation Handout for more details.
Provides a thoughtful argument regarding the depiction of the poor/poverty in the fiction.
Includes detailed textual evidence from the primary texts (the fiction and the film).
Uses the language of literary and film analysis, as needed, smoothly and adeptly.
Offers a clear discussion of the textual evidence and how it supports the essay’s main claims.
Demonstrates mastery of grammar, punctuation, formatting and citation
YOU MUST INSERT THE FILM ***AND**** AND THE LITERATURE. The last time I submitted this paper, I got a FAT zero. I am praying you will do better than the last person. I will tip well for a solid grade. Please please please please follow the instructions. I have attached the readings but you’ll have to watch the film or find postings about it AND cite it. The last paper did not cite anything. Please I beg you be better. if you have any questions, please let me know asap.
B
