posted to acw l, wcenter, ncte talk, and teach on 3/11/99. this week, i've taken on paulette wachter's request for help with essay topics that will fit the novels that her students are reading. On ncte talk this week, she wrote: gt this is my first year teaching senior college prep english, gt so i don't have a back log of essay questions nor much gt practice writing them. Four to six students in each class gt are reading one of the following in a literature circle gt format: jane eyre, wuthering heights, of human bondage, gt darkness at noon, the power and the glory, and all quiet 151 cut some info here 151 gt i'd like to use one essay question that would apply to gt all six of the novels but am having trouble coming up with gt something. Does anyone out there have any ideas? it would gt be really helpful to have something very specific rather gt than the general things i've already pondered like gt change in characters , conflict , etc.

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I agree with fran claggett also on ncte talk that it's best to give students time to work on the essays for several days, possibly coming up with their own topics but i was up for the challenge of creating a list. It would be easy to revise the questions slightly so that they refer to a specific work, if you wanted to use one with a particular novel that your students are studying. In addition, i've written the questions so that they refer to a single novel but you could easily revise the questions so that they applied to two or more novels, asking students to compare the techniques that the authors use.

91 gender issues 93

alternate topics: discuss how the novel would be different if the genders of the main characters were reversed.

Or, discuss how the novel would change if the events were to take place today 151 compare the influence of gender on the choices and decisions that the characters make in the world of the novel to the influence that gender would have if these characters were here today. 91 positive/negative characters 93 in the novel that you've read, some of the characters are given positive, sympathetic portrayals. Still others may begin with negative qualities and gradually become more and more positive. Rarely does an author rely on the reader's personal sense of morality to determine which characters are positive and which are negative. Instead, there are details, actions, and characteristics that help define who is good and who is bad.

It's easy to know the difference in old westerns 151 good guys wear white hats bad guys wear black hats. But even then, there are other details that help you know what it going on, details that even help you construct hierarchies e.g. How does the author indicate which characters are positive and which are negative? in your essay, explain how you can tell the difference. 91 dreams amp reality 93 take a look at the characters in the novel that you've read.

Each of the main characters in the novel is introduced to you with certain dreams, plans, and expectations. In the course of the novel, these main characters must come to terms with the difference between their dreams and the reality of the world around them. Write a paper on your novel that examines how the main characters navigate the journey from dreams to reality 151 what kind of course do they follow, and how are they changed for their journey? 91 realism and the setting 93 do a close examination of the setting in your novel. 91 literary i search 93 find a single significant detail in your novel. Why is it there in the story? how does it relate to the particular scene in the novel? how is it important to the overall theme or plot? write a paper that explains your personal search to understand the detail, beginning from the moment that the detail grabbed you and working toward your analysis of details and its relationship to the novel. 91 for this assignment, i'm assuming that the teacher will help students understand what an i search paper is.

If you're not sure, take a look at ken macrorie's the i search paper a revised edition of his searching writing , heinneman, 1988. Note too that you could ask students to do a version of this assignment as simple explication, rather than making it an i search. 93 91 shaped by period 93 writers can't help but be influenced by the events and people that they see around them. The question is to what extent does that influence become part of the works that they write and how do they communicate their feelings and beliefs about the world around them. For your essay, think about how the characters, setting, and themes in your novel relate to the period in which it was written.

How is the novel an analysis of the period? how is it a reflection, and how is it a criticism? and how does the writer make opinions about that world clear to the reader? 91 setting amp characters 93 consider the relationship between the characters and the setting for your novel. Think about the way that the characters are described, their characteristics, the conflicts that they face, the actions they take, and their emotional reactions. Compare these qualities to the setting 151 to the way that it is described, to the particular things that are described, and to the words that are used to describe the place s where the novel takes place.

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In your paper, explain how the setting of the novel is representative or not of the characters. 91 admittedly, this seems like a silly assignment for a novel like jane eyre. Sure you could write a paper on it, but it's less demanding than a paper on any of the other titles paulette's students are working with. But i suspect that you'd get a paper on characterization rather than one that really thought about the issue of titling a novel. And it's not really fair to give students a writing assignment that you know they're not able to handle. 93 91 class issues 93 think about the role that social class plays in the novel that you've read. Murasaki shikibu said that the novel happens because the storyteller's own experience of men and things, whether for good or ill 151 not only what he has passed through himself, but even events which he has only witnessed or been told of 151 has moved him to an emotion so passionate that he can no longer keep it shut up in his heart.

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