rework week 1 proposal

ENG125: Introduction to Literature

List of Writing Prompts

PROMPT 1 Write an analysis of a key character in a literary work. Focus on the key actions and thoughts of

that character. Discuss the character’s motivations and decisions in terms you can support with

clear evidence from a critical reading of the text. Consider whether this character’s actions fit

together or contradict each other. You may also want to consider whether or not any other

characters in the story are aware of this conflict, and if so, how they influence the character you

are writing about.

Literary Works (choose one): “Piropo” (Leticia del Toro, 2011) [ch. 5]

Guiding Questions

1. What types of conflicts are revealed between the narrator and the other workers?

Between the narrator and their employers? (Cultural? Familial? Economic? Others?)

2. The first-person narrator comments on how a woman in the story dresses and acts. How

does this relate to the conflicts in the story?

3. How could you address the narrator’s internal conflict (“individual v. self”) in terms of

the political, familial, and social conflicts in the story?

"A Worn Path” (Eudora Welty, 1941) [ch. 6]

Guiding Questions

1. The main character makes a difficult journey in the story. This reveals some of her

values and commitments, such as her love for a relative. How does this commitment

influence the way she copes with other conflicts in the story?

2. Does Phoenix act differently around other people than she does with animals and

nature? What does this reveal about Phoenix’s sense of herself in the world?

ENG125: Introduction to Literature

3. How do the other characters in the story influence Phoenix’s behavior, and what does

this reveal about Phoenix’s sociocultural status?

“What You Pawn, I Will Redeem” (Sherman Alexie, 2003) [ch. 4]

Guiding Questions

1. How does the grandmother’s property at the pawnshop help to define the narrator’s

desires and feeling of obligation to recover it? Why is it so important?

2. How does the character accomplish his objective? How is this surprising, considering all

of the unfortunate events and bad decisions he has made?

3. How do some of the other characters—the pawn shop owner, the waitress, the police

officer, and the other Native Americans, for example—play an important role in showing

the narrator’s good heart and his commitment to an important mission?

PROMPT 2 In some stories, characters come into conflict with the culture in which they live. A character

might feel alienated from his/her community or society due to race, gender, class, or ethnic

background. The texts below contain an ‘outcast’ character, reflecting the surrounding society’s

assumptions, morality, and values. As you critically read the text you have chosen, consider

how this alienation is expressed in the text and why it is significant.

Literary Works (choose one): “Donald Duk and the White Monsters” (Frank Chin, 1991) [ch. 6]

Guiding Questions:

1. The main character is Chinese-American. He identifies with white American cultural

figures like Fred Astaire but is unhappy about being associated with a Disney character.

How do his internal or cultural conflicts relate to his external conflicts with others?

2. How is the tension between the main character's different identities resolved (or not) in

the story? Does the story suggest that he finds a comfortable hybrid cultural identity?

ENG125: Introduction to Literature

3. How does the character respond to bullies in the story, and how does his father help

him? What do these bullies reveal about their own cultural identities?

“What You Pawn, I Will Redeem” (Sherman Alexie, 2003) [ch. 4]

Guiding Questions:

1. What beliefs and values from Native American culture does the narrator consider

important, based on his ideas and actions in the story?

2. What kinds of experience and values do characters share across cultural differences like

Native Americans and whites, or even between different native groups in the story?

3. How do the bisexual character, the narrator, and the homeless characters in the story all

demonstrate and resolve different “outsider” identities?

“Piropo” (Leticia del Toro, 2011) [ch. 5]

Guiding Questions:

1. What are some of the ways the narrator and other Mexican-Americans in the story cope

with being treated like second-class citizens in Berkeley, California? Are there times at

which they stand up for themselves and reveal the unfairness of such discrimination?

2. How does the narrator’s work ethic and anger at those who don’t work as hard as she

does show her sense of morality and her expectations for her community?

3. The story uses Spanish and English, and it also uses strong language to make some of its

points about cultural and social difference. What are some of the ways in which these

elements show cultural conflict and agreement?

PROMPT 3 Consider the role of setting, or context, in one of the works. For example, a story that takes

place in a wild and natural setting might include characters struggling against nature. Stories set

in the city might feature diverse identities, which can also contribute to character conflict. As

you critically read one of the texts below, consider how the protagonist’s relationship with the

setting reveals his/her identity and development.

ENG125: Introduction to Literature

Literary Works (choose one from any of the lists below): "A Worn Path" (Eudora Welty, 1941) [ch. 6]

Guiding Questions:

1. Why is the Christmas season setting significant, considering the plot?

2. Phoenix has to cope with several physical obstacles along her journey. How do these

episodes reveal her character?

3. How do Phoenix’s encounters with other people on her journey demonstrate social

conflicts in the regional and/or historical contexts, in the story?

“Donald Duk and the White Monsters” (Frank Chin, 1991) [ch. 6]

Guiding Questions:

1. How does the city setting contribute to the conflicts between the characters? Do the

"close quarters" of city life contribute to their disagreements?

2. What does the story suggest about life in America for immigrant communities, and how

do the popular media contexts in the story relate to characters’ cultural identities?

3. One important context of this story is the racism of some Americans. How does the

story show this aspect of American identity and also suggest positive American

identities?

“What You Pawn, I Will Redeem” (Sherman Alexie, 2003) [ch. 4]

Guiding Questions

1. What are some of the ways that the narrator is an “effective” homeless person, and

how does this show his connection to communities and places throughout the story?

2. What sorts of conflict do the Native Americans in the story cope with, and how is the

concept of cultural homelessness presented as a historical and metaphorical conflict?

3. How does the narrator in the story cope with his setting/context, whether through

imagined escapes or other means. Is he successful?