Essay Assignment #3:

Critiquing the Stories of Toni Cade Bambara

Toni Cade Bambara (1939 - 1995)

You are to write an essay interpreting some aspect of one of the short stories from Toni Cade Bambara's collection, Gorilla, My Love in a paper that should be about three or four pages in length.  Understand that a literary critique is an analysis paper, and that any analysis aims to understand the complexity of a subject by examining a component (or components) of that subject. For example, if you are a doctor trying to understand what ails a patient, you gather some symptoms, consult your sources of expertise (experience, colleagues, research) and filtering the data come to conclusions about the likely outcome of your analysis, and thus how to treat the patient.

A good analysis involves exploring some aspect or curiosity of a subject that has piqued your interest: what is making that pinging sound in my engine? How did our monthly budget end up with a deficit of $150? What makes Captain Ahab so obsessed with Moby Dick, the white whale?

For the literary analysis (or "critique"--the words can be used synonymously), you should consider the following assumptions before you dig in. Do you agree?

Because critical reading is an essential step for success in this assignment, you should follow closely the reading strategies we will cover in class. Marking your story, making notes, and evaluating your reactions are all extremely helpful components of a critical reading.

The skill in reading a good short story depends on several factors, one of which is your willingness to believe that in good short stories, there exists much below the superficial storyline itself. While we will discuss symbols, metaphors, and the like, consider these five categories of questions to get you started in your investigation.  After you have read the story you have chosen, we will spend some class time working together to help formulate some assertions about the text.

Once you have critically and carefully read your short story, check to make sure you can answer all questions of fact surrounding the story (the who? what? where? when? questions). In addition, consider:

• What’s this story about? Is there a clearly visible point to the story or is the meaning difficult to discover? (These are questions to help you formulate your thesis.)

• Why does the author tell us this story? What assumptions has the author made about his/her readers? (These questions should help you decipher the author’s purpose.)

• What (if anything) do readers need to know about the author, or about the place and time in which this story takes place? How much does the author reveal? (Critical reading means recognizing the intended audience for a piece of writing; these questions should help you discover that audience profile.)

• What impression does the story leave with you? What attitude does the storyteller have toward his/her audience? (These questions should help you articulate the author’s tone. By realizing tone, you may be able to consider challenges to your value system, and/or recognize emotional or prejudicial manipulation by the author.)

When you feel you have a handle on the details of the story, consider what I have called the questions of interpretation. These are the questions about plot, character, setting, etc. that might give you ideas for an interpretation, and therefore a thesis. We will practice first using these investigative questions with our first story, "My Man Bovanne."

After our initial investigation into "My Man Bovanne," you should use these other story questions to get you started on the remaining Bambara stories.

As you continue to explore your thoughts with any of the stories, consider these component questions. We may also discuss literary terminology to help understand the craft of storytelling. These terms may include metaphor, simile, symbol, allusion, foreshadowing, framing, irony, and archetype. Please pay attention in class and ask questions about any of the terms as our discussions are intentionally fluid and unpredictable! Some terms on this list may not be discussed and others not on this list may be emphasized: keep up and take notes!

A good critique will include a thesis that is both non-obvious in its interpretation, and arguable in its approach. You are, after all, trying to convince your audience that the interpretation you propose has merit. To do this, be sure you have evidence and use the text of the story itself as your primary source. Above all, remember that your critique sheds some light on the story for your readers. You must be able to answer the "So what?" question for yourself whenever you make a claim about the story. If you have not asked that question, you may be writing a superficial (or merely informational) interpretation! Above all, avoid these five common errors in literary critiques.

Your final draft should be in the three- to four-page range when you're done. You do not need to borrow from outside sources to justify your interpretation. However, if you do use sources other than the story itself, please follow the MLA guidelines from A Writer's Reference for producing a Works Cited page (or consult this page from Purdue University's Writing Center). You should cite from the story itself! This is your evidence. When you do, simply follow any quote with a page number in parentheses, and then a period.  

Borrowing from the Text

An important skill to learn so that your critiques are well-constructed is to integrate your textual evidence smoothly. Frequently, you will find yourself constructing paragraphs that have heft and size because you will have textual evidence (and analysis around that evidence) in a number of paragraphs. Here is an overview of that kind of paragraph construction.

In addition, you should work to make any borrowing fit seamlessly with your own writing. To that end, check out this link to see guidelines and examples.

Other Resources

For advice and reminders about writing about literature, check out the web pages from the Purdue University's Writing Center, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Writing Center.

The web is chock-full of good college and university writing center websites that tackle every writing problem imaginable.  I'd encourage those of you working with developing your thesis or revising paragraphs to browse these sites and consider their advice.

To see a couple of sample literary critiques, check out these two selections. These are from students who are writing about stories we haven't read, but which still should display features in a critique you can recognize and imitate. The first example is just the opening page of an analysis of Hemingway's short story, "Hills Like White Elephants." The second is a full analysis of the short story by James Joyce called "Araby."

If you are asked to (or are able to) solicit the help of a colleague or peer to review your draft one last time, make sure that reader sees your thesis and your evidence, and that your argument is plausible.  At minimum, check your draft against these proofreading checkpoints before you submit.