English 340: Multicultural American Literature



English 340: Multicultural American Literature Mid-Term Examination [250 Points]

Your mid-term examination will consist of four parts: An identification section including five character names, significant objects, or key phrases selected from the assigned short stories [50 points]; a short essay question asking you to discuss identity and assimilation in two stories [60 points]; a short essay question asking you to discuss gender issues in two stories [60 points]; and an essay on Bless Me, Ultima to be written in-class on Wednesday, October 3 [80 points]. Instructions for completing the identification questions and the text of the two short essay questions are provided below. For Bless Me, Ultima on Wednesday, you will write a coherent, detailed discussion of one of the motifs identified as a discussion issue through the Friday, 9-21 link at our web syllabus. For your convenience, the list of motifs from our web handout is reproduced in Section IV of this document.

Section I: Identification Items [50 Points]

The five identification items will be selected from the assigned short stories. Your task will be to identify the story and author relevant to the item, then to comment on the significance of each item in three or four concisely worded sentences. You comments should indicate how the designated item is significant to the narrative structure, a thematic concern, or a conflict in the story. A list of the stories and authors will be provided with the examination.

In our class discussions we used the following examples of identification items: coffee, a carved sandalwood box, and a hand-carved tortoise shell boat. Here are sample responses to these three ID items:

Coffee—In “Monkey Business” by Joseph Geha, Nazir [Zizi] has lost his wife, Samira and has convinced himself that his son, Jameel, needs a new mother. Coffee is important to the story because Samira had always made ZIZI comfortable after a hard day’s work by taking his shoes off and serving him coffee. At the end of the story, after Zizi’s engagement with Uhdrah is ended, Jameel comforts Zizi by removing his shoes and socks and serving him coffee, indicating that they will be just fine by themselves and that, in fact, Zizi is the one who had needed comforting, not Jameel.

A Carved Sandalwood Box—In “When Mr. Pirzada Came to Dine,” Lilia keeps the candy that Mr. Pirzada gives her at dinner each evening in this box, which belonged to her Indian grandmother and seems to symbolize for her a connection to her parents’ home country. Before Mr. Pirzada arrived, Lilia didn’t think much about her ancestry, but his candy gifts came to symbolize for her something special about their friendship and to link her to her family’s cultural past, as is evidenced by her using the sandalwood box to store the candy.

Tortoise Shell Boat—In Susan Nunes’ “A Moving Day,” the tortoise shell boat with a broken sail further develops the theme of the “brutality of the next generation” because the boat was broken by the daughters, who played with it and took it outside to show their friends against their mother’s instructions. The daughters were fascinated with the boat because of the stories that their mother associated with it; however, the daughters’ using the boat as a toy began the process of erasing the cultural history contained in those stories.

The above answers are samples, not definitive answers. Every respondent would likely reply differently. To score well, use character names, summarize [in your view] the principle emphasis of the story, and refer to specific events or to language that supports your point.

Section II. Short Essay on Assimilation and Identity [60 Points]. The strongest answers to this question will use our supplemental readings—Takaki and DuBois, for example—to establish a framework for discussing the two stories that you select.

Many of the stories that we’ve read and discussed address generational conflict and the senses of gain and loss that accompany the younger generation’s assimilation to American cultural values or to values outside the home. Compare and contrast any TWO of the following stories’ development of this assimilation theme. Narrow your focus by opening with a definition of the specific relation of assimilation and identity that you would like to explore, making sure that you have selected a focus that applies equally well to each story.

“When Mr. Pirzada Came to Dine” by Jhumpa Lahiri

“Monkey Business” by Joseph Geha

“A Moving Day” by Susan Nunes

“Everyday Use” by Alice Walker

Section III. Short Essay on Gender and Identity [60 Points]

Many of the assigned stories either directly or indirectly comment on the relation between gender and personal identity. Discuss how any TWO of the following stories investigate how women’s identities are shaped by forces in culture and/ or in the family. Again, you will need to narrow your focus to ensure that you can develop your topic in the allotted space and time. You might, for example, choose to explore mother daughter relations in two stories; alternatively, you might explore how two stories define women’s identity through sexuality and marriage.

“Seventeen Syllables” by Hisaye Yamamoto

“Yellow Woman” by Leslie Marmon Silko

“Woman Hollering Creek” by Sandra Cisneros

Section IV. Essay on a Motif in Bless Me, Ultima [80 Points]

Write an essay that discusses the significance of ONE of the motifs in the following list. Be sure to carefully plan your response and to begin your essay with a clear, focused thesis statement.

The Owl Motif

Curandera vs. Bruja

The Farmer/Priest (Luna) vs. Conquistador/Vaquero (Marez)

Antonio’s Dreams

Innocence vs. Experience

The Christian God vs. The Golden Carp

The Virgin Mary vs. Ultima, the Curandera

Confessions

The Idea of Communion

Antonio’s experiences with death (Lupito, Narciso, Florence, etc...)

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