English 1121 / Spring 2008

Essay #1 -- A Personal Response to a Literary Work

My initial thought for this assignment was to ask you to seek comparisons and connections between August Wilson's play, The Piano Lesson, and your own life (people, places, situations, events, "themes," etc.). I was going to present you with the two standard comparison-and-contrast organizational plans for you to consider as you made direct (or even indirect) connections between the play and your own life. However, on second thought, this assignment seems almost "too easy," and I'm also afraid it might lead to essays that lack sufficient depth of critical thinking. We might be tempted to summarize two or three elements of the play (characters, scenes, details, etc.), present anecdotes and details from our own lives that bear some resemblance to those from the play, and leave it at that. "For one thing, August Wilson's character, Wining Boy, reminds me of my Uncle Al because . . . ." Hmm . . . I think we can do better. But since this first essay needs to be a personal response to a literary work, in order to fit into the framework of the course as I presented it on the first day of class, we also don't want to lose sight of the personal element as we write about August Wilson's play.

Let's begin, instead, by considering some common ideas about works of literature:

1. A "canon," as defined in literature, is a list of books that someone (or a group) has decided is "required reading." A canon might be thought of as "the best of the best" or, to quote one famous literary critic, the canon represents "the best of what has been thought and said." So, do we think August Wilson's play belongs in a/the canon?

2. Some say that the works of literature that stick around the longest are those that have "universal" qualities to them. In other words, they cross many different types of "boundaries" (race, ethnicity, class, gender, age, etc.) -- they "speak" to many different kinds of people, in many different places, in many different situations, in many different times. In sum, it's not just readers who resemble author or the characters in the work of literature who can relate to the work. So, is it true that we might be African American, but we don't have to be, to understand, appreciate, and like August Wilson's play?
    
3. One reason writers write, perhaps, is to find some "meaning" -- or to find "truth" -- in a certain character, place, situation, event, or object. Maybe August Wilson wrote the play to find out what might happen, or what would happen, or what should happen, in this situation -- or in situations like this one. So, if we connect August Wilson's play to our own lives, has the play helped us to find "meaning" or "truth" in similar people, places, situations, events, and objects?

So what about this for the assignment: Write an essay of 2-3 pages (700-1000 words?) in which you explore one of these three ideas in relation to August Wilson's play, The Piano Lesson. Definitely use both your own ideas and examples and details from your own life as you work your way through the essay. But also don't lose sight of the play: summarize or describe or refer to things from the play (characters, scenes, details, dialogue, etc.) in your essay as well. And when you do this, give the relevant page numbers in parentheses, like this (87), after your summaries, descriptions, and references.

Your paper, your personal response to this literary work, should use both the play and your own ideas and experiences to give others new ways to think about the play and their own experiences. Remember, the most exciting academic writing makes the familiar strange and creates new knowledge about everyday life. You will want to re-see and re-think the play and your experiences in an attempt to see something or some things you haven't seen before.

When I eventually read and grade your essay, here's what I will look for:

• An introduction that (1) clearly identifies the author and title of the literary work you are writing about, and (2) clearly states the focus and perhaps the direction of the essay. Think of your introduction as a promise you are making to your readers -- it's what you hope to accomplish, show, or prove -- and the body of your essay needs to deliver on that promise.
• Several body paragraphs that explore, illustrate, or unravel the focus of your essay. Here's where you will bring things from the play, and from your own life, and try to make sense of them -- or use them to figure out what you want to figure out, or to show your readers what you want to show them. The body section probably should not be a narrative, organized chronologically; instead, each idea should have it's own paragraph and readers should be able to move clearly and smoothly from paragraph to paragraph.
• A conclusion that brings things together in a satisfying way. A typical conclusion restates the focus (and perhaps the main ideas) of the essay, but a really good conclusion keeps readers thinking long after they put down the essay.
• A pleasing style, an attention to sentences and words, that shows you care about what you are writing about. Sentences should be clear and complete, they should not be "comma splices" or "run ons," and fragments should be used sparingly and only for emphasis. Words should be carefully chosen, vivid, and used correctly -- remember, words can be spelled correctly but they might not be the right word (e.g., defiantly/definitely or weather/whether).

Four (4) copies of a first draft, at least one full page long, are due on Wed. 1/30. Two (2) copies of an advanced draft, at least two full pages, are due on Fri. 2/1. The final draft is due on Mon. 2/4. (Note the changes in page-length requirements.)

Any questions?