LACC Conflict in Salvation by Langston Hughes and Two Kinds by Amy Tan Essay

For Essay 1, your main task is to formulate and argue for an interpretation of the messages in two of the short stories you have read for our unit about shot fiction. You can choose any two short stories that you thing are connected, but be sure you explain how they are connected and make that part of your analysis. Choose one of the options below: 

How do the writers convey criticisms of social mores and social conditions surrounding women protagonists in the stories of Adichie, Chopin, Devi, Hemingway, or Sembene (pick any two)? Do you find these criticisms effective? Are criticisms embedded in stories more effective than those conveyed more directly, such as through online campaigns, opinion essays in newspapers, or political speeches? Explain how you find criticisms in stories more or less effective than other forms of social criticism.

How do the writers convey criticisms of social mores and social conditions surrounding child protagonists in the stories of Al Shayk, Heker, Hughes, Joyce, Kashkuli, Salih, or Tan (pick any two)? Do you find these criticisms effective? Are criticisms embedded in stories more effective than those conveyed more directly, such as through online campaigns, opinion essays in newspapers, or political speeches? Explain how you find criticisms in stories more or less effective than other forms of social criticism.

1. What are the conflicts faced by two protagonists? Are the protagonists struggling against other characters, themselves, larger social forces? Are these conflicts every day experiences or are they exceptional? What can readers learn from the experiences of the protagonists?  

How do writers use figurative language, foreshadowing, and symbolic objects to help readers gain a deeper understanding of their stories? What is revealed through such examples as Adichie’s garden and serpent in “Tomorrow …”, Carver’s use of light and alcohol in “What We Talk About …”, Lim’s paper house in “Paper”, Sembene’s use of Noumbe’s heart medicine in “Her Three Days”, or Tan’s piano and the musical pieces in “Two Kinds”?

Adichie, pp. 209 – 217, “Tomorrow Is Too Far”Atwood, pp. 257 – 267, “The Art of Cooking and Serving”Butler, pp. 287 – 305, “Bloodchild”Carver, pp. 307 – 318, “What We Talk About When We Talk About Love”         Chopin, pp. 321 – 326, “Desiree’s Baby”Devi, online, “Giribala”Hemingway, pp. 342 – 346, “Hills Like White Elephants”Lahiri, pp. 358 – 374, “Hell-Heaven”Lim, online, “Paper”Ousmane, online, “Her Three Days”

Al-Shaykh, online, “The Persian Carpet”Alvarez, pp. 235 – 244, “Trespass”Heker, online, “The Stolen Party”Hughes, online, “Salvation”Joyce, pp. 350 – 356, “Araby”Lahiri, pp. 375 – 388, “When Mr. Pirzada Came to Dine”Kashkuli, online, “The Button”Salih, online, “A Handful of Dates”Tan, pp. 409 – 420, “Two Kinds”