Compare and Contrast Feminist Perspectives
Reading –
40 Short Stories: A Portable Anthology – “Happy Endings” by Margaret Atwood, “Interpreter of Maladies” by Jhumpa Lahiri, “Birdsong” by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.
For this assignment, you will write a 2-page compare and contrast paper on two of the authors from this week’s reading or video. Be sure to give equal weight to each author. You may include some background information on your authors, especially if their backgrounds impacted their subject matter. When writing about short stories, you do not want to simply restate the plot or events in the story, but instead, focus on the details of how each author handled the theme of the story. In this case, you might want to examine how the author explored gender roles in the time period of the story. Remember, this may not be in the same period as the author is writing but could be a different period in history.
Ideas to consider when comparing and contrasting (these are not required, just suggested):
Do both stories reflect the same theme? If not, what is the theme of each story?
What are the characters’ conflicts? How does each character resolve that conflict or do they?
Are there any epiphanies? (An epiphany is where the character changes as a result of the conflict)
What about symbolism? Are any major symbols or metaphorical images used?
Use quotes and lines from the work to illustrate your points with in-text citations as needed. Use a References page to list your resources, including the assigned readings. You may use the Autumn Gem video as an outside resource if you choose to select Qiu Jin for one of the authors for your compare and contrast paper this week as well. Use the Study Guide tab on the video for more questions to guide your writing this week, if needed.
Solution Preview
Compare and Contrast Feminist Perspectives
“Happy Endings”
Atwood deliberately twists the relationship between the plot and story; she depicts various stock developments, characters, and scenarios consisting of marriage and romance, to demonstrate the manner through which narrative-telling tropes are trivially propagated.
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