Essay assignment: Beloved
English IV: Time Out
October, 2014
Essay assignment: Beloved
Assignment: Write an essay of approximately three or four pages typed (900 – 1200 words), using one of the following prompts or creating one of your own. (For practical reasons, check with me if you wish to pursue the “one of your own” option.) I will look especially for the following items: 1) specific analytical sentences (thesis, commentary, topic sentences, paragraph conclusions); 2) clear, unencumbered, accurate sentences; 3) organized, well developed paragraphs; 4) relevant textual evidence, in bite-size pieces, fully integrated with ideas; 5) mechanical correctness.
Caveat: There is undoubtedly much information available on that interweb thing, some of which I have already investigated. Reading it will probably taint your mind. Steer clear.
Suggestions:
Beloved is, among
other things, a novel about relationships. Choose two of the main characters
and explore the relationship between them as deeply as you can in the space
available.
Beloved is definitely a novel of the past. Choose a flashback or memory scene and explore, in some detail, its relationship to the context in which it is “remembered.”
Compare, in as much detail as possible, the two scenes in which white men come into the yard of 124 Bluestone Road. Look at Sethe’s state of mind, her actions, the behavior of the white men, possible ironies of situation, etc.
Why is the figure of a reincarnated ghost particularly appropriate for this novel?
Look back at your notecards or journal entries for a seed which can be grown into a thesis statement and supported with evidence from the novel.
Schedule:
10/24—Introduce assignment
11/4—complete, typed drafts due in class for peer
review
11/6—revised essays due at beginning of class,
both hard copy and turnitin (assignment title: Beloved 2014)
Notes on format and heading available via separate link
