ENGL 227
World Fiction
Essay #2
Write a 2-3 page essay (with works cited page) on one of the following topics:
1. D.H. Lawrence The Rocking Horse Winner
Describe the relationship between mother and son in this story. How is this relationship central to the storys themes of luck money and dysfunctional families?
2. Shirley Jackson The Lottery
Describe the importance of tradition in the community depicted in this story. What does the author appear to be saying about its effects upon society?
3. Franz Kafka A Hunger Artist
What is Kafka suggesting about the nature of the relationship between the artist and society? Cite examples of the artists attitude toward his art and regulations as well as societys changing attitude toward the artist.
4. Clarice Lispector The Smallest Woman in the World
What does the story appear to be implying about the nature of human love? Be sure to examine love as it is described in the narrators depiction of Little Flower as well as in her depiction of the various readers reactions to the story of Little Flower. Relate this to the overall theme of the story.
5. Jack London To Build a Fire
Examine the difference between actions based on knowledge and those based on instinct as depicted in the behaviors of the man and the dog. What does London seem to be saying about the nature and the value of both approaches to navigating the world? Relate this to Naturalism.
6. Ernest Hemingway Hills Like White Elephants
Hemingway is famous for his iceberg theory of narrative in which sparse prose suggests deeper elements of character and theme. What does the dialogue suggest about the two protagonists? What is the attitude of each toward their predicament?
What will change depending on how the predicament is resolved? How does each envision the possibility of a shared future? Be sure to support your interpretation with quotations and connect character with theme.
Examine how the storys setting is related to character theme and action (conflict).
7. Flannery OConnor A Good Man is Hard to Find
Discuss OConnors use of humor in this story. What kind of tone is developed at the beginning of the story through humor? How does the tone change as we move toward the storys conclusion?
8. Jorge Luis Borges Emma Zunz
Examine Emmas attitude toward sexuality. How does this attitude relate to the crime she commits? Why does she decide to add a sexual component to her set-up of Loewenthal? Consider the element of sacrifice.
9. Raymond Carver A Small Good Thing
Discuss the theme of communication in relationships in the story including the Weisses the baker Doctor Francis and Franklins family.
10. Yukio Mishima Patriotism
11. Doris Lessing To Room Nineteen
Why does the wife in this story commit suicide? What elements are missing from her life which if present might have prevented her suicide? To what extent is her sense of purposeless linked to social class?
12. John Cheever The Swimmer
Discuss Cheevers depiction of time in this story. Is there a pattern? You may want to link this to the different pools Neddy visits
13. Isabel Allende And of Clay Are We Created
The reporters story is about one girl. He becomes focused on her alone as people die and the earth shifts around him. What is the relationship between the reporter and the girl?
What do Acuzenas predicament and attitudes suggest about her social and ethnic class? What is the author suggesting about social justice? Support with evidence from the text.
14. Toni Cade Bombara The Lesson
What is the primary lesson that Sylvia learns? Support your answer with evidence from the text. What is Bombaras social comment about class?
15. Helena Maria Viramontes The Moths
Citing details from the text describe the narrators relationship with her grandmother. What does the grandmother provide the narrator that is lacking in her other familial relationships? Why is this relationship important to the narrator?
16. Luisa Valenzuela A Famile for Clotilde
What does the story suggest about masculinity and the way it is defined through personal relationships? Support your answers with specific examples from the story.
17. Bobbie Ann Mason Shiloh
Trace the dynamic tensions within Normal Jean and Leroys marriage. How do they create tension and conflict and how are they resolved?
18. Gabriel Garcia Marquez A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings
Compare this story with Kafkas. What elements are similar? What changes have been made? Related changes to differences between the stories themes and the authors cultural backgrounds.