Last Reading Response: Spiegelman's Maus

Due by class time on Tuesday, November 27.

For this response, I'd like for you to think about the form Spiegelman uses to tell this story, particularly about the use of images. Think first about how you are affected by this reading experience. How do you read differently than you would a book with just words? Next, choose one passage from the novel to illustrate what the graphic novel form adds to (or takes away from) the telling of the story. How does the imagery affect your interpretation of the events (and particularly of the passage you chose)? Ultimately, why tell this particular story through both words and pictures? What do you think about Spiegelman's choice to tell his father's story this way?

Bonus Response: Biguenet's "The Torturer's Apprentice"

Due by the last day of class, Thursday, December 6

Use the tools of analysis we've been working on all semester to interpret this story: read it and write a response in which you tell me what you think the story could mean. No need to post a comment -- we won't discuss the story in class -- just bring a hard copy with you to class some time by the last regular class meeting.

Response Opportunity #10: Hawthorne or Biguenet

Due by class time on Thursday, November 15

Three choices:

• Option 1: Choose one of the analytical lenses I've talked about in class -- psychological, feminist, social/political, or genre theory -- and interpret one of these stories through that lens.
• Option 2: Analyze Hawthorne's "The Birth Mark" by comparing it to Never Let Me Go. How are the two messages about scientific advancement similar? How are they different? What's your personal position in this debate about scientific progress?
• Option 3: Open response -- choose either story and interpret it according to what interests you.
  

Ishiguro: Response Opportunity #9

Due by class time on Tuesday, November 13.

For your response to Never Let Me Go, I'm interested in what you think about any one of the issues the novel addresses. I'd like to hear what you think the novel is saying about that issue, how Ishiguro goes about saying it, and your personal response to what he's saying. Make sure you deal with the ending as you interpret how the novel deals with the issue you choose, and make sure you tell us what you think.

O'Brien: Response Opportunity #8

Tim O'Brien is giving us a particular view of war in this story and seems to encourage certain responses from his readers to such a view. For your response, make an argument about what view of war he is showing us, what reactions you think he wants to elicit, and how he goes about doing so.

Carver and Pritchard, Response Opportunity #7

Due by class time on Thursday, October 25

For this response, I'd like for you to EITHER choose one of the texts and respond specifically to it, making an argument about one specific meaning you find in the story, using illustrations from the text to support your argument, OR, I'd like for you to respond to the texts together, thinking about possible connections between them. If you choose the second option, make an argument about one specific idea that you see both texts dealing with, and do some comparing and contrasting, showing what you think each story says about that particular idea, where the meanings of each story overlap one another, and where they differ. Together, what do they seem to say about the idea you've chosen?

Response Opportunity #6, Mama Day Part 2

Due by class time on Tuesday, October 9

After you've finished Mama Day, you will likely be left with many questions about why things turned out the way they did for Cocoa and George. For this response, I'd like for you to try to make some sense of the ending of the novel. Some things you might think about: were you surprised by the way things turned out? Why do you think Naylor ends the novel this way? How do you interpret the ending? How does the ending affect the way you view the rest of the novel?

You also have the option of writing in response to another idea that struck you as you read; the only stipulation is that you choose something we haven't already covered in class and that you deal with the last half of the book in some way.