Response Opportunity #5: Mama Day part I

Due by class time on Tuesday, October 2

Alright, as we discussed in class, for this response you have two choices: either, you can write in response to the following prompt, or if you prefer, you can write in response to anything of your choice, whatever you find interesting as you read. If you choose the prompt, what I'd like for you to do is to write a character analysis of one of the characters in the novel. Using specific details from the text, paint us a picture of who this character is. Think through what you know about her/him based on what the novel tells us. One caution: don't just make a list of details and characteristics, make them mean something. Make sure you are telling us the significance of the details you choose.

Response Opportunity #4, Kingston

Due by class time, Tuesday, September 25

I'm leaving this response open-ended: I'd like for you to think about what you think is important about the story. Ask yourself what the specific ideas are that the story seems to be communicating, choose one of those ideas, and then show what the story says about that idea, illustrating your argument with specific examples from the text.

Whatever you choose, make an argument about that idea: For example, if you choose to write about family history, instead of "Family history seems to be an important idea in the story," make an argument that tells us more specifically what the story says about family history. In order to get to that argument, ask yourself questions like, Does one's family history determine certain things about a person's life? Does a person have to know her family history to understand herself? What are the benefits, according to the story, of knowing or not knowing things about one's past? What role does one's family's past play in how a person lives her life?

Response Opportunity #3, Gilead

Due by class time, Tuesday, September 18

For this response, choose one of the many issues and/or themes you find interesting in Gilead, and explore how that idea shows up in a particular passage in the first 2/3 of the novel. Demonstrate, through a close reading of the passage you choose, what you think the novel has to say about that idea. Ask yourself what the significance of that passage is, both in relationship to the rest of the novel and in relationship to the theme you've chosen. Analyze -- that is, look deeply into the parts of the passage -- in order to draw out the meaning you find. As we discussed in class, your job is to do more than to tell us what the novel says, your job is to find the deeper meanings in what the novel says (in other words, don't just state the obvious).

Here are some suggestions for themes/issues worth exploring (you are, of course, not limited to these): father/son relationships, tradition, religion, belief, war, history, love, the pastoral life, loneliness/isolation, and home. Remember that you want to choose one of these big ideas (or another big idea that comes up as you read) and narrow it down to something specific.

Response Opportunity #2: Divakaruni

Due by class time on Tuesday, September 11

On Thursday, we talked a little bit about how a person's understanding of race can influence them in different ways. In this story, "Mrs. Dutta Writes a Letter," the characters share the same ethnic identity, but they have very different ways of seeing the world. For your response, consider the following questions: What accounts for the disconnect between Mrs. Dutta and her family, do you think? How are the ideas of culture and family presented in the story? Ultimately, where does Mrs. Dutta find her identity and how does that shape her decision in the end?

Response Opportunity #1: Morrison or Bambara

DUE BY CLASS TIME ON THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 6

Choose one of the following prompts for your response:

• There are many central issues in "Recitatif." Choose one of those issues (race in America or the nature of memory, for instance) and consider what the story is saying about that issue.
• Toni Cade Bambara titles her story "The Lesson." What is the "lesson" in the story? What lessons are readers supposed to take away from the story?
  

Make sure to use specifics from the story you choose to show us how you arrived at your conclusions.