English 111

This assignment asks you to complete a close reading of an excerpt from A Long Way Gone, and to connect your reading to a theme, issue or idea from the larger work. Begin by choosing a theme, etc. that interests you; consider, but don’t limit yourself to, the ones we’ve discussed in class. Your focus should be on the formal elements of the excerpt you’ve chosen—the language, structure, tone, symbolism and use of metaphor, among other details. But you should interpret these elements with the intention of making a claim about the larger work. One way to think of this assignment is as asking and answering a specific question about the memior using an excerpt from it as evidence on which the answer is based. The end of your essay should draw connections between the excerpt and the larger work, but the body of essay should focus specifically on the excerpt you’ve chosen.
You may approach this assignment in one of two ways:

1) Choose a theme, etc. that interests you. Then select a passage of no more than 250 words that expresses or dramatizes that theme and analyze it in the context of the work as a whole. The following questions can guide your analysis of the passage:
- What does it say? What do the words, phrases, sentences mean? What is its context in the larger work (i.e., where does it appear)?
- What does it do? How does it function in establishing character or tone, setting up action, invoking other works and events, evoking political or historical resonances, etc?
- How does it work at the level of language and form? Consider structure, word choice (diction) and order (syntax), imagery, symbolism, etc.
- How does your close look at this passage deepen your understanding of the work as a whole? How does it contribute to a reading of the larger work?

Please begin by typing out the passage you have chosen (single-spaced). Your paper should indicate what the passage does—how it operates with respect to imagery, plot, theme, characterization, literary conventions, etc.—and discuss how it works at the level of language. You should avoid seeking help from outside critical or analytical sources, and instead concentrate on the formal attributes of the passage itself and how they contribute to its meaning. Your paper should promote a clear thesis, exhibit good organization and feature solid development.

2) Choose a particular reoccurring word/image that expresses or dramatizes the theme you’ve chosen and trace its progression through the work. Please note: for this to work, your word should appear at least three times (If it’s a particular image, it should appear at least two times). As with the first option, you should interpret this word/image with the intention of making a claim about the larger work. Use the above questions as a guide.

Requirements
- Four full pages
- Typed, double-spaced, Times New Roman size 12 font
- Standard margins
- Page numbers
- A title (a good one. Consult the ‘Making Good Titles’ handout from last semester).
- Spell-checked and proofed for errors

First Draft Due: Monday, March 16 by noon (by email) NOTE: send as a .doc file.

Revision Due: Friday, March 27 by noon (by email)

Description: When you consider the world around you—particularly what is local, ordinary, close-at-hand—it is important to try to make sense of what you see. Beyond learning from texts, you can learn through observation and in communication with others. This kind of interaction facilitates learning and allows you to appreciate the significance of the local cultures that lend your immediate environment depth and dimensionality. For this 4-5 page assignment, you can choose from one of two related options:
-    Researching a Local Culture: For this option, you will investigate, describe, and analyze a local culture or community of your choosing.  As a working definition, we will define culture as ‘an invisible web of behaviors, patterns, rules, and rituals of a group of people who have contact with one another and share common languages’ (Sustein and Chiseri-Strater, FieldWorking 3).  Cultures can be defined by geography (New Yorkers, Revere residents, Riverway freshmen), ethnic identity (Southern Baptist, Irish, Hatian), shared rituals or behaviours (fraternities, Girl Scouts, computer hackers, patrons of a coffee shop), or economic status (kitchen dishwashers, country club members, Whole Foods shoppers). You should select a culture with which you have some experience or in which you have an interest. Members of a local culture share or congregate in common spaces or meeting place; you will be entering such a space to complete your fieldwork.
-    Researching a Local Place: For this option, you will venture off campus to observe, spend time with, and talk to people to get a sense of a local place. Given that many places in Boston are well known (e.g., Fenway Park, Quincy Market), you should try to find a unique approach or ‘angle’ to make such a familiar place interesting and new. Possible approaches include:
o    Finding a new angle on a well-known place: For example, if you’re interested in the MFA, interview the gallery guards to discover what their perspectives are on the museum and its patrons.
o    Finding an unusual or ordinary place in Boston that most people wouldn’t know about or might overlook; introduce the reader to this place.
o    Transplant your interests: For example, if you were an insider to the Ultimate Frisbee culture of CA, find out what the Frisbee scene is like in Boston. If bird-watching is one of your hobbies, discover where the best spots are in Boston and interview the people you find there.

For both options: You will explore your chosen culture through primary research – at least one interview, reviews of relevant texts, and personal observation. You will interview one or more ‘expert’ informants, experienced members of the local culture. You will also examine any relevant documents (e.g., a newsletter of a scouting group or an academic article in your field) and spend some time observing the space that the local culture inhabits (e.g., a cafeteria or an advanced class in which a particular topic is discussed). You need not but may use library or web sources.

Purpose
The purpose of this primary research is to write an essay that is modeled after a feature article like those found in Time or Newsweek.  Your objective is to write an informative piece that incorporates quotations from your informants and gives a sense of the rules, categories, behaviours, rituals, and distinguishing characteristics of the place or culture you are investigating.

Audience
The form of a feature article means it should be conversational, somewhat informal, and engaging.  First-person may be used if you feel it is effective; but given that this is intended for a public source with a wide readership, the writing should be careful, concise, and well-edited. You should include a Works Cited page and should consult The Little, Brown Handbook or ask me if grammar questions arise.

Requirements
-    Four to five full pages
-    Typed, double-spaced, Times New Roman size 12 font
-    Standard margins
-    Page numbers
-    A title
-    Works Cited page
-    Spell-checked and proofed for errors

First Draft Due:            Friday, January 30 by noon
Revision Due:             Monday, February 9 in class