Literature Homework
Part I: Name one surprising fact you discovered about any of this week’s authors. Why did it surprise you?
“A Month in the Country” by Jay Wright
“Song for a Dark Girl” by Langston Hughes
“How it Feels to Be Colored Me” by Zora Neale Hurston
“Sula” by Toni Morrison or “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker
“What You Pawn I Will Redeem” by Sherman Alexie
“The Third and Final Continent” by Jhumpa Lahiri
“The Conversion of the Jews” by Philip Roth
“The Day the Cisco Kid Shot John Wayne” by Nash Candelaria or “The Last of the Menu Girls” by Denise Chavez
Part II: Most of the works this week were somewhat specific in terms of location. How might the perspective have changed if the events were placed in a another location? For instance, lynchings took place in the North, as well as the South. What is the significance of placing “Song for a Dark Girl” in the South? How would the impact have changed without that information? That is only one example.
Part III: Although the focus of the week was race and ethnicity, Morrison, Hurston, and Walker present strong female characters. What characteristics do these stories imply are desirable? Discuss the strengths and weaknesses of any one of these characters. Use examples from the text to support your argument.
Submission Instructions: As with every “main” forum post, please make comments substantive (in at least 300 words). Use quotations to support your points, but make sure to balance them with your own original ideas. Finally, please engage two of your classmates in their forum posts to help further our conversation. Please be sure to check back to read and respond to anyone who responded to your forum as a common courtesy.