Need help with my English question – I’m studying for my class.
Chose one as topic to compete
Realism
- Explore at least 3 characteristics of Realism in Flaubert’s “A Simple Heart.”
- Explore at least 3 characteristics of Realism in Chekhov’s story “The Lady with a Dog.”
- Examine the “loves” in Félicité’s life and how these loves “grow” her personality. Incorporate the idea that “love elevates.”
- Show how “love elevates” the characters Gurov and Anna in “The Lady with the Dog.” Organize your essay based on at least 3 stages of their love affair.
- Discuss how “suffering is redemptive” in “A Simple Life.” Suggestion: the suffering isn’t only confided to Félicité.
- Modernism
- Analyze the metamorphoses of each family member in the Samsa household.
- Explore at least 3 characteristics of the Modernist world view in Kafka’s The Metamorphosis.
- Discuss the stages of Gregor’s collapse—physical, mental, emotional, societal.
- In Eliot’s “Lovesong,” do a character analysis of J. Alfred Prufrock as a representive of the Modernist “perception of self.”
- Examine the character J. Alfred Prufrock as an anti-hero on an “anti-Quest.” Hint: the heroic quest cycle involves at least three stages: separation, initiation, and return.
- Explore each of W.B. Yeats’ poems (“When You Are Old,” “The Second Coming,” “Sailing to Byzantium,” and “Byzantium”) to highlight a specific element of Modernism.
- Explore each of Robert Frost’s poems (“Stopping by Woods,” “The Road not Taken,” “Mending Wall,” and “After Apple Picking”) to highlight a specific element of Modernism.
- Analyze each of the five stories that I assigned as a separate example of a Postmodern characteristic. Nota bene: you will have to discuss five characteristcs.
- Explore the character Daru in “The Guest” as an example of Camus’ presentation of existential philosophy.
- An “out there” topic: Analyze the images in “The Guest” in light of Camus’ existentialism, starting with the description of the landscape. I’m curious to see what you would come up with . . . you might want to clear this topic with me first.
- Who is Zaabalawi in Mafouz’s story “Zaabalawi”? Present at least 3 of his dimensions.
- Examine Mr. Wanas’ role and advice in the Negma Bar in “Zaabalawi.”
- Identify each of the societal groups in “Zaabalawi,” and why they are each ineffective in the narrator’s quest for “a cure.”
- In Marquez’s story “Death Constant beyond Love,” explore the several ways in which the idea of the rose is depicted.
- Discuss the magic in the Magic Realism stories “Zaabalawi” and “Death Constant.”
- In Junot Diaz’s story “Drown,” explore the many ways in which the narrator, Yunior is drowning.
- Explore elements of the “minority subculture” (p. 1151) in “Drown” and how it impacts the characters.
- In Adichi’s “The Headstrong Historian,” compare the grandmother Mwangba and her granddaughter Afamefuna/Grace in at least 3 areas.
- Apply the Hegelian Dialectic (thesis, antithesis, synthesis) to the characters in the Adichi story.
- Explore at least 3 ways in which the character Grace is grace to her grandmother in the Adichi story.
- Creative Writing Approach: Because the wheels seem to be coming off the world as we currently know it, create your own statement of Post-Postmodernist theory. Provide examples and development of your main points. Some observers have also called our period Trans-Postmodernism or Post-Millennialism.
Postmodernism
