Snobbery in Literature (603-103 sec 00015)
Autumn 2021
Homework Assignment: Callaghan, Stephen, Tan
Date Assigned: Wednesday, September 22.
Date Due: . Submit paper essay – if ready — at beginning of class. Penalty: 0.1 marks for same day late and each day following. Homework will not be accepted at all after
Formatting: Double-spaced, 12-point font. (Times New Roman suggested but not mandatory).
Length: 2 pages, but will accept more.
Value: 15% of final grade. Three criteria will be assessed: organization, insight, and your English grammar and style.
Review what you know about the expectations of essay-writing. Every essay needs a strong, creative title. There should then follow an introduction, several body paragraphs, and a conclusion. (For this assignment, you may not need more than three body paragraphs.) Well-organized paragraphs should show effective topic sentences and smooth transitions between paragraphs. Indent every paragraph.
You really only need the three readings to write this essay. When quoting, paraphrasing, or otherwise referring back to the readings, use the page numbers in the coursepack. No Works Cited is required if you are only using the coursepack.
Topics are on the following page.
Your homework assignment is to a write an essay on one of the following topics:
1. Compare the young main characters (John Harcourt, Jan Yulak, Amy Tan) in each of the three works studied. Clearly, what they have in common is a child/parent conflict. But think critically of ways that these individuals differ or are similar to each other. Draw inspiration from your own careful thought and abilities to make observations, connections and analyses of their personalities and the circumstances in which they find themselves.
OR
2. Compare John Harcourt Senior, Mr. Yulak, and Amy Tan’s mother from the three works studied. Clearly, what they have in common is a difficulty with their child. But (here I repeat word for word the instructions in Topic 1) think critically of ways that these individuals differ or are similar to each other. Draw inspiration from your own careful thought and abilities to make observations, connections and analyses of their personalities and the circumstances in which they find themselves.
OR
3. The works studied are presented in three media: short story (Callaghan), radio play (Stephen), essay (Tan). What specific advantages or disadvantages are relevant in how successfully the writers use their chosen medium to communicate their important ideas? (It is necessary to carefully consider the main features of each medium, and how these features might limit or facilitate the authors’ communication with their readership.)
