Find the instructions for the book you have read!
The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith
You are to write an essay where you focus on betrayal as a concept that is found in the novel. You may choose to focus on one of the questions below, or you may choose to incorporate several of them in your analysis. Write rich answers to one, two, or three of the questions. This is called a thesis (tes). In your analysis, it is important to “quote” passages of the text/manuscript that you feel are important and that illustrate the point you wish to make.
1. How is betrayal portrayed in the novel?
2. Are there specific time-markers, that is to say elements which are more specific for the time in which they were written?
3. Are there elements in the novel that are generic, that is to say which hold true irrespective of the time in which they were written?
4. Do characters in literature generally get away with betrayal, or are they punished in the end? What evidence of this can you find in the novel?
Your essay must include an informative title, an introduction, and a conclusion and these two have to be connected. Please note that you are not to retell the story of the novel in your essay. Expect your teacher and reader to have this information in advance. Remember also that the introduction needs to set up your essay, and help your reader to understand what they are going to read, without giving away all the best parts.
Important points:
1. A clear title, introduction, and conclusion are needed.
2. You need clear page references in the text from situations that you want to illustrate or use in your discussion. This is very important.
3. Write 1 full page and do not use the Internet. Only write down your own analysis and interpretations of the novel.
Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
You are to write an essay where you focus on masculinity as a theme that is found in the novel. You may choose to focus on one of the questions below, or you may choose to incorporate several of them in your analysis. Write rich answers to one, two or three of the questions. This is called a thesis (tes). In your analysis, it is important to “quote” passages of the text/manuscript that you feel are important and that illustrate the point you wish to make.
Okonkwo dedicates himself to being as masculine as possible, and through his rise to become a powerful man of his tribe and subsequent fall both within the tribe and in the eyes of his son Nwoye, the novel explores the idea of masculinity.
1. Discuss the price Okonkwo pays for putting too much emphasis on machismo and strength. Compare and contrast this to our modern society, and whether or not the same price is paid today for similar attitudes.
2. Analyze the character of Okonkwo in Things Fall Apart, and discuss whether or not he can be considered a tragic hero. Consider his seven-year exile for an accidental shooting, as well as his status and character traits.
3. Discuss the changes the Igbo society undergoes during the course of Things Fall Apart. Examine how three successive generations of men, Unoka, Okonkwo, and Nwoye, are affected by those changes in their lifetime.
4. Examine the generational father-son relationships in Things Fall Apart. Discuss how Okonkwo’s and Nwoye are shaped by their father’s character traits. What makes them who they are?
Your essay must include an informative title, an introduction and a conclusion and these two have to be connected. Please note that you are not to retell the story of the novel in your essay. Expect your teacher and reader to have this information in advance. Remember also that the introduction needs to set up your essay, and help your reader to understand what they are going to read, without giving away all the best parts.
Important points:
1. A clear title, introduction, and conclusion are needed.
2. You need clear page references in the text from situations that you want to illustrate or use in your discussion. This is very important.
3. Write 1 full page and do not use the Internet. Only write down your own analysis and interpretations of the novel.
The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
You are to write an essay where you focus on gender inequality as a theme that is found in the novel. You may choose to focus on one of the questions below, or you may choose to incorporate several of them in your analysis. Write rich answers to one, two, or three of the questions. This is called a thesis (tes). In your analysis, it is important to “quote” passages of the text/manuscript that you feel are important and that illustrate the point you wish to make.
In Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, she creates a dystopian society where women are valued for their sexual functions instead of their attributes. Her novel is set in a post-United States era in a time where men control everything, from the jobs to women’s bodies. Offred, previously married, is a handmaid of a powerful Commander and his wife. It is her job to provide the couple with a child. Society has been trained to believe that all eroticism is unholy and even dangerous. Although the Gilean society is deeply desexualized, Atwood shows that, regardless of gender, the need for love and intimacy is a human desire that cannot be overcome.
1. Trace the facts we can gather about how Gilead slowly introduced the oppression of women in this society. How does Luke react when each of these forms of oppression is introduced? Does he reinforce the oppression of women? Why didn’t Offred push to escape immediately after these situations occurred? Is it normal to rationalize instead of fight when a person is thrown into sudden conflict?
2. How are women punished in Gilead? Are men punished in any way? Discuss Moira’s placement in the brothel. Why wasn’t she just killed? In what other ways are strong men treated differently than strong women?
3. Discuss how women are stripped of their identities in Gilead. Why do we never learn Offred’s true name? How is Serena Joy denied individuality? Why are women not allowed to read or write? Are there any modern customs that undermine a woman’s identity?
4. Describe how the novel shows a government mixing politics, religion, and reproduction. Why does this inherently lead to the oppression of women? Does the nature of those topics innately lead to women getting the short end of the stick? What would be different in Gilead if everything depended on male fertility, instead of female fertility? How is fertility viewed in today’s world?
5. The Commander states that you can’t cheat nature. What did he mean? Is it in a woman’s nature to center her life on reproduction? What are the true natures of men and women? Is that question even relevant in discussing gender equality?
Your essay must include an informative title, an introduction and a conclusion and these two have to be connected. Please note that you are not to retell the story of the novel in your essay. Expect your teacher and reader to have this information in advance. Remember also that the introduction needs to set up your essay, and help your reader to understand what they are going to read, without giving away all the best parts.
Important points:
1. A clear title, introduction and conclusion are needed.
2. You need clear page references in the text from situations that you want to illustrate or use in your discussion. This is very important.
3. Write 1 full page and do not use the Internet. Only write down your own analysis and interpretations of the novel.
Literature
In this course you will be choosing one of these books to read:
-The Handmaid’s Tale av Margaret Atwood
ISBN: 9780385490818
Buy here
-Things Fall Apart av Chinua Achebe (Lilly)
ISBN: 9780141023380
Buy here
-The Talented Mr. Ripley av P. Highsmith (1999)
ISBN: 9780099282877
Buy here
