1) Discuss and analyze Edwidge Danticat’s use of suspense, foreshadowing, and irony in her short story A Wall of Fire Rising. Include a minimum of three specific quotes from the story to support each of the elements you are discussing. (This means you would have three quotes to support suspense, three quotes to support foreshadowing, and three quotes to support irony.) Do not simply retell the events of the story; instead, focus on two or three specific scenes to show how Danticat uses each element to make the story come to life.
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2) Identify, discuss, and analyze at least three possible major themes in Sherman Alexis Flight Patterns. Reread the story carefully, searching for unique insights, interesting details and specific quotations that might be used to support the themes you are discussing. Avoid simply retelling the events of the story; instead, focus on several key scenes and discussions between the characters to support and defend your thesis.
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3) Discuss and analyze the way in which George Saunders uses differing points of view to fully realize both of the main charactersMarie and Calliein his short story Puppy. Reread the story carefully, approaching it from both characters perspectives. Use dialogueboth interior (in the characters minds) and spokento demonstrate how Saunders creates a feeling of uncertainty and doubt in the readers minds about which of the characters is the most sympathetic and believable.
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4) Discuss and analyze Flannery O’Connor’s use of imagery, including figurative language (metaphor, simile, symbolism)–in her short story “Everything Rises Must Converge.”
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5) Compare and contrast Tim O’Brien’s short stories “The Things They Carried” and ‘The Lives of the Dead.” In what ways are the two stories similar? How do they differ? Given the current state of international affairs, specifically the ongoing crisis involving Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, what can be learned from reading these two stories? How might these stories influence the way a reader comes to view the world, global politics, and war in general. (This one will probably require some extra research and digging, but it is definitely a paper I would like to read.)
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6) You may choose to come up with a topic of your own about any of the stories we have read this semester. These MUST be stories that we have read, discussed, and analyzed during class, not a story you select on your own–for instance, something you have read in the past or in another class. If you should decide to choose a topic of your own, you need to speak with me first for my approval, and you need to be able to tell me exactly what you are planning to write about–the terms you will cover, etc.
