Literary Response for setting as a device
This assignment focuses on your ability to: learn how to interpret the literary device of setting and how it affects the character of the story/poem.
The purpose of completing this assignment is: as a student, in your career, and individual lives, you will often need to look beyond the plot and summary of what you are reading and put a different spin on it. An example of this might be interpreting data and the varying components of how that data was created, as well as what to do with the data as you move forward. ______________________________________________________________
Prompt (What are you writing about): Choose one of the readings from this unit and in a well-crafted 2 page essay, respond to the following prompt:
How are the main character’s actions and feelings shaped by their setting?
Note: Remember that Setting is not only the place in which a story occurs. It is also mood, weather, time, and atmosphere.
Instructions (how to get it done): Read through all of the instructions of this assignment. Read all of the unit resources. Select one of stories or poems to write about. Your audience for this essay is people who have read the stories/poems. Use text examples to support your answer. Your essay will have the following components: o A title page o An Introduction o A thesis at the end of the introduction that clearly states how setting affects the story o Supporting sections that defend your thesis/focus of the essay o Text support with properly cited in-text citations o A concluding paragraph o A reference page
Requirements: • Length and format: At least 2 pages.
• The title page and reference page are also required, but they should not be factored into the 2 page length of the essay. • It should also be double spaced, written in Times New Roman, in 12 point font and with 1 inch margins. Essay should conform to APA formatting and citation style. • Use the third-person, objective voice, avoiding personal pronouns such as “I,” “you,” “we,” etc. • Please use the short story sources and any outside sources you need to create a properly-formatted APA reference page. • Use APA format for in-text citations and references when using outside sources and textual evidence. • Skills to be assessed with this assignment: creating effective thesis statements, incorporating text, responding to literature. • Please be cautious about plagiarism. Make sure to use in-text citations for direct quotes, paraphrases, and new information.
These are the reading resources of the assignment:
The United States boasts more cultural diversity than any country in the world. However, even though we are all in the same setting, our views and experiences can be poignantly varied. In this unit, you will be reading different resources that have America as a setting. Enjoy!
Alexie, S. (2017). This is what it means to say Phoenix, Arizona. In L.Kirszner& S.Mandell(Eds.), Portable literature: Reading, reacting, writing, 9thed (pps. 205-216). Boston, MA: Cengage Learning. (Original work published 1993)
Whitman, W. (2017). I hear America singing. In L.Kirszner& S.Mandell(Eds.), Portable literature: Reading, reacting, writing, 9thed (p. 795). Boston, MA: Cengage Learning. (Original work published 1867)
Hughes, L. (2020/1926). I too hear America singing. American Literature.
Tan, A. (2017). Two kinds. In L. Kirszner & S. Mandell (Eds.), Portable literature: Reading, reacting, writing, 9thed (pp. 471-480). Boston, MA: Cengage Learning. (Original work published 1989)
