Learning Goal: I’m working on a english question and need the explanation and answer to help me learn.
For this essay, you will choose to look at “I Fall Asleep Standing Just Like That” by Xu Lizhi, and write about it through an excerpt from Jenny Odells How to Do Nothing. Address the prompt below:
According to the definition/discussion of refusal offered by O’Dell, where,
if anywhere, do you see refusal in Xus piece? Take a stance on
whether Xu’s text speaks to a form of refusal.
From there, you’ll need to defend your response with multiple reasons and
relevant supporting evidence from both texts (O’Dell and Xu).
Although literary devices are not the main focus of this paper, remember
to discuss HOW the authors support their arguments while making your
own.
Your essay should:
– have a thoughtful title
– propose a thesis (Potential thesis: In Xu Lizhis I Fall Asleep Standing Just Like That, the action of giving up rest and sleep is a form of refusal because it represents a deliberate retraction from external demands, a purposeful rejection of social norms and challenges, and the reclamation of one’s own physical and mental space.)
– include an introduction, conclusion, and 3 body paragraphs (2 quotes per body paragraph = 6 TOTAL)
– offer analysis and textual support
– be double-spaced
– include citations (follow the MLA guidelines presented in Diana Hackers Pocket Style
Manual)
– 4-5 pages
Give yourself time to proofread your essay.
the link for Odell’s text will be listed in the pdf section below and here is the poem by Xu:
“I Fall Asleep, Just Standing Like That”
“The paper before my eyes fades yellow
With a steel pen I chisel on it uneven black
Full of working words
Workshop, assembly line, machine, work card, overtime, wages …
They’ve trained me to become docile
Don’t know how to shout or rebel
How to complain or denounce
Only how to silently suffer exhaustion
When I first set foot in this place
I hoped only for that grey pay slip on the tenth of each month
To grant me some belated solace
For this I had to grind away my corners, grind away my words
Refuse to skip work, refuse sick leave, refuse leave for private reasons
Refuse to be late, refuse to leave early
By the assembly line I stood straight like iron, hands like flight,
How many days, how many nights
Did I – just like that – standing fall asleep?”
– 20 August 2011