In Morrison’s novel, Paradise, the families of Haven, then Ruby, have set out to create a society that improves upon the one from which they fled–they have tried to envision a better world, but, largely, they have failed. The novel suggests that this failure results from repeating the errors of the past; in essence, they have simply built another version of the world they tried to escape. What are the central mistakes that they repeat? What would they need to have done differently to truly make a better world? Why weren’t they able to avoid repeating these mistakes, having themselves been victim to them? To support your answer, draw on specific passages from the novel as well as two additional secondary sources you discover on your own. THINGS TO REMEMBER:You should focus your paper on no more than 3 errors. A good paper could, in fact, be written on a single error, while acknowledging that other errors were also made.Your secondary sources can either be a critical essay on the novel itself, or a non-fictional source on the topic of the mistake or error you describe.Use the Palomar College library databases to screen outside sources. Avoid open-source, googling for answers. Again, the best papers will be narrowly focused: No more than 3 errorsBe sure to answer all three questions.Make sure your essay has the following parts:Exordium (Introduction):Be sure you include a plausible thesis here. What mistakes are made and why? You may want to address the question of what they might have been done differently later in the paper.NarrationFor this paper, this is a good place to use the primary text to show when and why Haven and Ruby were established. What are the facts? What were the goals? What is the timeline?ConfirmationThis is the heart of the paper, your argument and your evidence. This is where you argue that despite their best efforts to create a new world, a “Paradise,” errors of the past were repeated. What were the main mistakes? Where do we see evidence of them? What plausibly explains why they were repeated? Refutation (counter-argument)Anticipate and address possible objections to your position and your evidence. What other errors have you not discussed? What other reasons for repeating past errors exist besides the ones you have argued?
