For your next essay, you will write about Literature and the Postcolonial Condition. Write a three-page essay (approx. 800 words) that examines the role of literature in postcolonial life in one of the novel Disgrace). To help focus your essay, think about any ONE of the following questions: According to the writers we’re reading, why and how are stories and literature important for countries that have been decolonized? How does the author claim that these stories are fundamentally different from stories that are generated by countries that have not experienced colonialism? What visions for the future are encompassed in postcolonial stories and literature? What are postcolonial writers claiming about the kinds of stories that can be or should be inspiring for them? What social circumstances are determined by literature? Most importantly, why is any of this important or significant? While “the role of literature in postcolonial life” is the broader, general theme for this assignment, you will be required to generate a specific and argumentative thesis about the role of literature. Use the broad and general questions listed above to jumpstart your thoughts and ideas about this essay if you need to; a list of answers to these questions will NOT lead to an adequate essay. Your essay will be graded on the following criteria: Strength of central argument/thesis: Your thesis, which focuses the entire essay, should be original, argumentative, and based on and proved through sustained critical analysis. Development of literary analysis: This assignment does not require any research; in fact, the purpose of this assignment is to help you develop and to give you a chance to demonstrate your close-reading and literary-analytical skills. As such, make arguments about the accomplishments (or limitations) about texts rather than about “real-life” historical and social situations.
