In this paper, you will read all of these short stories and pick one to write a
In this paper, you will read all of these short stories and pick one to write a paper relating to course themes.
For your paper, choose one of the following
a. Leo Tolstoy, “Master and Man” or “Death of Ivan Ilych”
b. Jeffrey Eugenides, “Asleep in the Lord” (New Yorker excerpt version)
c. Flannery O’Connor, “A Good Man is Hard to Find” or “Good Country
People”
d. Chekov, “Gooseberries”
e. David Foster Wallace, “Good People”
f. Tolkien, “Leaf by Niggle”
Your task, essentially, is to answer two questions:
(Q1) what is the story’s vision of the relationship, if any, between: ethics (ordinary goods and/or the good), religion, divine transcendence, and a (the?) good life?
and (Q2) how does this story assist in critical reflection on what is good and why?
There should be three parts to this paper:
(a) a succinct summary of the story, both plot and themes (approx. 25%);
(b) a critical analysis of the story in relation to course themes and readings (approx. 65%); basically: answering Q1 and Q2 above with assistance and critique from course authors; and
(c) whether or not it was a good story and why (approx. 10%).
You must explicitly reference scenes and characters from the story; direct quotations are appreciated. In explicitly tying back to course themes and readings, references to, and Chicago citations of, course readings are expected. Shoot for four (4) pages, give or take one page; 12 pt font, 1” margins.
Due: Thursday, May 30th (hard copy in class)
**Please use the course themes found in the lecture notes and use the authors discussed in lecture notes for the critical analysis and “answering Q1 and Q2 above with assistance and critique from course authors”
**I attached the short story to use when writing this paper, the assignment prompt, and the lecture notes
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