2/21/23, 8:52 AM 2.11 Essay Three Assignment Prompt: Spr23 ENGL 001B #37901 READING AND COMPOSITION-Online
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2.11 Essay Three Assignment Prompt
Essay 3While reading Jhumpa Lahiri's text, Interpreter of Maladies, we have discussedseveral consistent themes present throughout.
Identitybarriers tocommunicationcommunity
care / neglectlove / lossrace / racism
In her article, "Reading Jhumpa Lahiri's Interpreter of Maladies as a ShortStory Cycle," (https://canvas.pasadena.edu/courses/1131891/files/75140822?wrap=1)Noelle Brada-Williams uses these same themes to link together stories in Lahiri'stext, and Brada-Williams argues that we should view this text as "story cycle" ratherthan a short story "collection." Other famous examples of story cycles would be TheHouse on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros or Dubliners by James Joyce. Thesemore conventional story cycles repeat characters and setting while often telling
2/21/23, 8:52 AM 2.11 Essay Three Assignment Prompt: Spr23 ENGL 001B #37901 READING AND COMPOSITION-Online
https://canvas.pasadena.edu/courses/1131891/pages/2-dot-11-essay-three-assignment-prompt?module_item_id=15153933 2/3
multiple sides of a story within a given timeline. Lahiri's text has none of this. Thecollected stories involve wildly different characters, take place on three differentcontinents, and seemingly occur in a reverse chronology.
For This Essay
For this essay, compose an essay in which you either agree with the scholarship ofNoelle Brada-Williams or disagree with her assertions.
Option One: Agreement
If you agree with Noelle Brada-Williams claims about situating Lahiri's text as astory-cycle, I would like you to add to her argument using one of the themes abovethat you feel Brada-Williams did not cover very well. For your discussion, you willneed to draw on specific examples of your chosen theme and how it's used withinmultiple stories we have covered in class an in your own reading of Interpreter ofMaladies. To accomplish this task, you may want to do some research about thesocial and historical contexts that present in Lahiri's text. A special focus on Indianimmigrant experiences in the United States and/or the United Kingdom would likelyhelp a great deal.
For this option, you might begin with a research hypothesis like, "In addition to thethemes covered by Brada-Williams, the theme of [insert theme] has importantiterations throughout Jhumpa Lahiri's Interpreter of Maladies, which adds tosignificantly to Brada-Williams arguments."
Option Two: Disagreement
If you disagree with Noelle Brada-Williams claims about situating Lahiri's text as astory-cycle, I would like you to deconstruct Brada-Williams arguments by examininghow her examples of recurrent themes Interpreter of Maladies "miss the mark"when trying to construct a convincing argument. To accomplish this task, you maywant to do some research about the current critical assessment of literary works. Aspecial focus on Postcolonial literatures would likely be very helpful.
For this option, you might begin with a research hypothesis like, "Noelle Brada-William argues X about the recurrent theme of barriers to communicationthroughout Jhumpa Lahiri's Interpreter of Maladies. While Brada-Williams presentsa largely convincing argument, I would like to point out some problems with herapproach that might, when given careful attention, unravel Brada-Williams largerclaims."
2/21/23, 8:52 AM 2.11 Essay Three Assignment Prompt: Spr23 ENGL 001B #37901 READING AND COMPOSITION-Online
https://canvas.pasadena.edu/courses/1131891/pages/2-dot-11-essay-three-assignment-prompt?module_item_id=15153933 3/3
Essay Three Expectations
For essay two, you needed only to complete close textual analysis of the playActually to assist with your argument. For this essay you will need to do the samefor Interpreter of Maladies while also including evidence from Brada-Williams article,"Reading Jhumpa Lahiri's Interpreter of Maladies as a Short Story Cycle." For eachoption, you will need to fully understand Brada-Williams argument and evaluate theevidence she uses to support her thesis.
In addition to the above expectations, I would like you to search for anotherscholarly source to add depth to your argument. I encourage you to use theShatford Library's English Research Guide (https://libguides.pasadena.edu/english)to aid in your search for scholarly articles. In addition you will need to access thelibrary databases (https://libguides.pasadena.edu/az.php) to find appropriatesources for your essay. The most helpful databases will be Academic One File,JStor, ProQuest.
Below are some rather standard expectations for any paper you would write for ourclass:
Papers should be thesis driven and rely on close textual analysis of for support.Papers should contain an introduction with a thesis, body, and concludingparagraphs.Each paragraph should present pieces of evidence directly from the text andyour analysis of the evidence should point back to your topic sentences and yourthesis.Please follow MLA guidelines for paper formatting(https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/mla_style/mla_formatting_and_style_guide/mla_sample_paper.html) , which includes margins, header, fonttypeface and point size, in-text citations, and works cited.
