Paper instructions:
Write a 1000 – 1200 word essay exploring one of the topics below. Remember to avoid plot summary and to support your claims with evidence (and quotations) from the stories. Your paper should follow MLA format: 12-pt. font, double-spacing, one-inch margins, parenthetical citations, and a works-cited page. (See page 14 in The Write Stuff for reminders about how to format the first page of your essay; see page 56 for a sample works-cited list; see the bottom of page 52 for advice on how to cite “multiple entries from an anthology.”) The Sample Student Essay #1 also shows a correct model of formatting.
Topic choices:
Each of these requires a comparison/contrast of David Foster Wallace’s “Good People” and Ernest Hemingway’s “Hills Like White Elephants.” Please review “Comparison and Contrast Papers” (pages 23-24 in The Write Stuff) as you prepare to write.
1. Both “Good People” and “Hills” end without explicit resolution of the couples’ dilemmas. Will Jig have the abortion? Will Sheri? How will the American and Lane Dean react to their girlfriends’ choices? Describe what you think each young woman will do–and what her boyfriend’s response will be. Use specific details from each story as clues to justify your interpretation.
