LIT1100 Introduction to Literature University of Northwestern – St. Paul

Individual Author Study – Flannery O’Connor Directions: Review the questions below and then complete the readings and responses as directed. Type your responses in a word document and submit them in the course site. This assignment sheet is worth 75 points.

1. Read three O’Connor short stories: • “A Good Man is Hard to Find” • “Good Country People” • “Revelation”

2. Complete the Week 9 O'Connor Quiz in the course site.

3. After reading this essay about O’Connor and this article about her, research on your own about

O’Connor, and record five interesting facts about her life; make sure you fully paraphrase and cite the information. For each fact, include a properly attributed citation. If you use the exact wording from a source, place it in quotation marks. Include an explanation of each fact as to its significance in your understanding the author’s works you read.

Fact 1:

Fact 2:

Fact 3:

Fact 4:

Fact 5: 15 points (3 points each)

4. Analyze the stories for literary devices, and record one example of the following devices from any of her stories that are exceptionally well-done. Quote each example (include story title and page number for citation). Then, explain the rationale for your selection. Each explanation should be at least one paragraph in length (5-12 sentences).

Literary Device – Foreshadowing: Rationale for selection:

Literary Device – Irony: Rationale for selection:

Literary Device – Symbol: Rationale for selection:

18 points (6 points each)

LIT1100 Introduction to Literature University of Northwestern – St. Paul

5. Answer the following questions from the The Compact Bedford Introduction to Literature. Each answer should be 1-2 paragraphs (a paragraph can be between 5-12 sentences), and cite specific examples from the stories for support. • Question #1: How do Mrs. Hopewell’s assumptions about life compare with those of Kreb’s mother

in Hemingway’s “Soldier’s Home”? Explain how the conflict in each story is related to what the mothers come to represent in the eyes of the central characters.

• Question #2: Compare and contrast Mary Grace with Hulga of “Good Country People.”

• Question #3: Explain how “Revelation” could be used as a title for any of the O’Connor stories you have read.

18 points (6 points each)

6. After reading the essay, article, and your own research on O’Connor, choose two of these questions and respond: • Question 1: Consider how O’Connor’s fiction expresses her belief that “you have to cherish the

world at the same time that you struggle to endure it.”

• Question 2: A Time Magazine critic wrote this about Flannery O’Connor’s “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” in 1962: “Highly unladylike . . . a brutal irony, a slam-bang humor, and a style of writing as balefully direct as a death sentence.” How accurate do you think this blurb is in characterizing the three O’Connor stories you have read and why?

• Question 3: Choose an O’Connor story, and explain how grace – the divine influence from God that

redeems a person – is used in it to transform a character.

• Question 4: Choose something specific and concrete in one of the stories that is invested by O’Connor with symbolic meaning, and explain the significance of this symbol to the plot.

12 points (6 points each)

7. Evaluate O’Connor by responding to the following questions: • What makes this author worthy of study? • What did you personally connect with in these stories or the Perspectives readings? • What characters did you find engaging and why? • What (if anything) challenged you as a reader concerning your faith or worldview?

Cite specific short stories, the article, the essay, and your own research in your evaluation. Please write your evaluation in two to three paragraphs, using complete sentences (a paragraph can be between 5- 12 sentences). Please write your evaluation in two to three paragraphs, using complete sentences (a paragraph can be between 5-12 sentences). 12 points

LIT1100 Introduction to Literature University of Northwestern – St. Paul

Individual Author Study – Literature of the South

Directions: Review the questions below and then complete the readings and responses as directed. Type your responses in a word document and submit them in the course site. This assignment sheet is worth 75 points.

1. Read three short stories by southern authors:

 William Faulkner, “A Rose for Emily”

 Flannery O’Connor, “Revelation”

 Zora Neale Hurston, “Spunk”

2. Complete the Week 9 Lit of the South Quiz in the course site.

3. Read about southern literature and southern gothic literature and record five interesting facts or ideas from your reading (the main selection or links to other essays, research, and websites). For each fact, include a citation with proper attribution. If you use the exact wording from a source, place it in quotation marks and attribute it correctly. Include an explanation of each fact as to its significance in your understanding of the author’s works you read. Fact 1:

Fact 2:

Fact 3:

Fact 4:

Fact 5:

15 points (3 points each)

4. Analyze the stories for literary devices, and record one example of the following devices from any of these stories that are exceptionally well-done. Quote each example (include story title and page number for citation). Then, explain the rationale for your selection. Each explanation should be at least one paragraph in length (5-12 sentences).

Literary Device – Foreshadowing: Rationale for selection:

Literary Device – Irony: Rationale for selection:

Literary Device – Symbol: Rationale for selection:

18 points (6 points each)

LIT1100 Introduction to Literature University of Northwestern – St. Paul

5. After reading all three stories, answer the following questions from the Compact Bedford Introduction to Literature. Each answer should be 1-2 paragraphs and cite specific examples from the stories for support.

 “A Rose for Emily” Question #1 (modified): How does Faulkner’s ordering of events affect the reading of this story?

 “Revelation” Question #3 (modified): Discuss Mrs. Turpin’s prideful hypocrisy in connection with racism. How do pride and personal illusions inform her racial attitude?

 “Spunk” question: What seems to be the author’s primary theme in this folktale? 18 points (6 points each)

6. Choose two of these questions and respond:

 Question 1: Consider William Faulkner’s characterization of Tobe in “A Rose for Emily.” Why do you think Tobe is a “wooden stereotype” or realistic portrayal of a black man from that era?

 Question 2: Compare two of the stories you read for this study and discuss the way in which regional speech is rendered. Which rendition of southern dialogue do you prefer and why?

 Question 3: Considering “Revelation,” could this story have been set in the South if it had been written in the past five years? Why or why not?

 Question 4: Beyond the obvious (that these stories are written by southern authors and place in the South), what similarities do these three short stories have?

12 points (6 points each)

7. Evaluate these southern authors by responding to the following questions:

 What makes these authors worthy of study?

 What did you personally connect with in these stories?

 What characters did you find engaging and why?

 What (if anything) challenged you as a reader concerning your faith or worldview?

Cite specific short stories and your research in your evaluation. Please write your evaluation in two to three paragraphs, using complete sentences (a paragraph can be between 5-12 sentences).

12 points

LIT1100 Introduction to Literature University of Northwestern – St. Paul

Individual Author Study – Nathaniel Hawthorne Directions: Review the questions below and then complete the readings and responses as directed. Type your responses in a word document and submit them in the course site. This assignment sheet is worth 75 points.

1. Read three Hawthorne short stories:

 “Young Goodman Brown”

 “The Minister’s Black Veil”

 “The Birthmark”

2. Complete the Week 9 Hawthorne Quiz in the course site.

3. Research Hawthorne online. Then, record five interesting facts from your research; make sure you fully paraphrase and cite the information. For each fact, include a proper citation. If you use the exact wording from a source, place it in quotation marks and attribution. Include an explanation of each fact as to its significance in your understanding the author’s works you read.

Fact 1:

Fact 2:

Fact 3:

Fact 4:

Fact 5:

15 points (3 points each)

4. Analyze the three short stories for literary devices, and record one example of the following devices from any of his stories that are exceptionally well-done. Quote each example (include story title and page number for citation). Then, explain the rationale for your selection. Each explanation should be at least one paragraph in length (5-12 sentences). Literary Device – Foreshadowing:

Rationale for selection:

Literary Device – Irony (do not use the example from Literary Terms 2 Note Sheet): Rationale for selection:

Literary Device – Round or Dynamic Character: Rationale for selection:

18 points (6 points each)

LIT1100 Introduction to Literature University of Northwestern – St. Paul

5. Answer the following questions taken from the Compact Bedford Introduction to Literature. Each answer should be 1-2 paragraphs (a paragraph can be between 5-12 sentences) and cite specific examples from the stories for support.

 Question #1: What does Goodman Brown’s pursuit of sin have in common with Aylmer’s quest for perfection in “The Birthmark”? How do these pursuits reveal the characters’ personalities and shed light on the theme of each story?

 Question #2: Explain how Faith in “Young Goodman Brown,” Georgiana in “The Birthmark,” and Elizabeth in “The Minister’s Black Veil” are used to reveal some truth about the central male characters in each story. Describe the similarities that you see among these women characters.

 Question #3: Compare Hawthorne’s use of symbols in “The Minister’s Black Veil” and “The Birthmark.” Which symbol do you think works more effectively to evoke the theme of its story?

18 points (6 points each)

6. Choose two of these questions and respond:

 Question 1: Note the use of symbol in either “Young Goodman Brown” or “The Minister’s Black Veil.” Examine one central symbol in detail, explaining its significance in the broader concern of the story.

 Question 2: Based upon the reading of these three stories, how did Hawthorne view our relationship to God? Do his stories reflect an emphasis on religion or a relationship and why?

 Question 3: In “Young Goodman Brown” by Nathaniel Hawthorne, what do the woods symbolize? How do they function in the story, and how do they guide the overall meaning of the story?

 Question 4: Is there one overarching theme that connects these three Hawthorne stories?

12 points (6 points each)

7. Evaluate Hawthorne by responding to the following questions:

 What makes this author worthy of study?

 What did you personally connect with in these stories or the Perspectives readings?

 What characters did you find engaging and why?

 What (if anything) challenged you as a reader concerning your faith or worldview?

Cite specific short stories and your research in your evaluation. Please write your evaluation in two to three paragraphs, using complete sentences (a paragraph can be between 5-12 sentences). 12 points

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