Faulkner’s short story Barn Burning

WMII – Essay #3

 You will be writing a paper of 800-1000 words on one of the topics provided below.  It is also possible for you to come up with a topic of your own based on one of these two texts provided you have it approved by me in advance.  Mainly, I want to make sure that you have chosen a topic that is specific enough to write a paper of this length, while not being so narrow (or obvious) as to not give you an interesting argument to put forth.   Another possibility is to use one of the topics I’ve provided below, but to change it somewhat to reflect more accurately an idea you want to pursue in your paper.  Again, if you go this route, please run your thesis by me before doing any major work on your paper.

 Due Date: Wednesday, April 30^th.

 Submitting your Essay:

You will be submitting your essay electronically in Blackboard where I will create an assignment folder that allows you to browse your computer and attach the Word file.  I do not want any hard copies of the essay.  I will also be commenting on and grading your essays and returning them to you in Blackboard.  Your essay must be submitted by midnight Wednesday, April 30th in order to not receive a late deduction.   You will also be submitting your papers to Safe Assignment in Blackboard prior to submitting them to me.  Please look at the report that is generated by Safe Assignment to make sure you have any material from other sources properly cited.

Paper requirements: All documentation must follow MLA guidelines for both the in-text citation and the Works Cited page that will be on a separate page following your essay. 

The paper format I would like you to follow includes double-spacing throughout the paper, 11-pt. Calibri font, and 1-inch margins.

You are not required to use a secondary source, but as with your two previous papers, if you do use a secondary source you can receive extra credit points (up to 5 depending on the quality of the source and the applicability of the source to your argument.  Acceptable sources are academic books, peer-reviewed journal articles (most of which are available online), and articles from university websites (.edu).

You may submit a topic of your own to me for approval or choose a topic from the following options:

1) In our discussions of Post-colonial literature we identified three characteristics for this genre of literature:

1.   resistant descriptions (writing indigenous characters who resist Western stereotypes)

2.   appropriation of the colonizer’s language

3.   re-working colonial art forms (such as the novel, creative expression, poetry, etc.). 

It is also possible to distinguish three stages of post-colonial expression:

1.   an initial awareness of the social, psychological, and cultural inferiority enforced by being in a colonized state

2.   the struggle for ethnic, cultural, and political autonomy

3.   a growing awareness of cultural overlap and hybridity

Considering either “The Doum Tree of Wad Hamid” or Death and the King’s Horseman, write an essay that explains how the author exhibits both the characteristics and the stages of Post-colonialism.  I am particularly interested in reading your understanding of how these authors express the cultural overlap that comes out of colonization.

2) WoleSolyinka has warned readers of his play not to interpret it reductively as a “clash of cultures.”  Also, in our discussions in class, we noted how at times it appears that Solyinka attempts to show similarities between British and Yoruban culture.  Write an essay that considers how the play draws similarities between the British and the Yoruban cultures, their views of death, and cultural rituals.

3) Salman Rushdie’s “The Perforated Sheet” is an example of magic realism, but there are ways that this genre of literature overlaps with post-colonial literature.  Considering the characteristics of both of these genres, write an essay that explains how Rushdie’s story attempts to address the tensions of a colonized country through the elements of fantasy.  You may use and reference the article, “Binarisms and Duality: Magic Realism and Post-colonialism” (see link below) for a secondary source, which explains some of the ways that magic realism and post-colonialism interface with each other.

http://wwwmcc.murdoch.edu.au/ReadingRoom/litserv/SPAN/36/Baker.html

4) Give a thorough analysis of the young boy, SartySnopes, in Faulkner’s short story, “Barn Burning.”  How does Faulkner use the naivety of childhood to create a story of hope from such a depressing setting?  Include in your analysis a consideration of what the tension in the story is.  Is it a tension between loyalty to family and loyalty to the law?  Is it a tension between loyalty to family and loyalty to oneself?  In writing this paper, you may use Faulkner’s Nobel Prize acceptance speech as a secondary source if you wish to support a position that the story is one of hopefulness and strength in the human spirit.

5) In Art Spiegelman’sMaus, there are so many ways that the parent-child relationship is made complex and portrayed as even traumatic.  Write an essay that considers the different manifestations in the novel of this relationship but also decide if you feel that Spiegelman “redeems” this relationship by the end of the story.  Do you feel his final message is more along the lines of “People spend their whole lives trying to undo the damage their parents inflict on them (and some never succeed),” OR do you feel his final message is saying something more positive?  If so, what is that message?  Be sure to refer to many examples in the novel and make an argument for what you believe Spiegelman is suggesting about parents and their children.

6) The subtitle to Mausis “A Survivor’s Tale.”  Consider the ways that survival is presented in the story as well as those who don’t survive.  How does Vladek survive?  How does Art survive?  Is survival presented as solely an act of will, or is it presented as the result of chance, or a combination?  Give examples from the novel.  Considering both the randomness of survival as well as the “will to survive” in the novel, make an argument for what the novel suggests is the definition of survival.

7) Critics state that Maus I and II is a biography of Art Spiegelman’s father, but it is also an autobiography of Art Spiegelman.  How can this novel be an autobiography when so little time is spent discussing the author’s life?  How is this novel an effective autobiography?  Again, use examples from the novel to support your argument.