Assignment Background: The literature from this course has been greatly influenced by the authors’ perceptions of their individual cultures and circumstances, which is universal among pieces of great literature. The themes and lessons of World Literature are universal. All people and cultures view the world through their own lenses. Race, religion, nationality, regionality, sexual orientation, etc. all have an effect on the way people are treated—or the way they believe they are being treated—at some point in their lives. It follows, then, that your heritage, lifestyle, or culture can have an extraordinary impact on your perception of the world.
Writing Prompt: For this Essay, you will have to examine your own background and explain how your experiences affect the way you relate to the reading assigned this semester. Start by defining yourself. Do you simply consider yourself an American, Korean, Italian, or other single nationality, or do you consider yourself to be of a particular nationality type (Italian American, for example)? Perhaps you identify more with a particular category, i.e. Mothers, Christians, Republicans, Scientists, West Coasters, Environmentalists. All of these components make up the filter through with you read literature. Consider everything we’ve read this semester, and choose at least 2 stories/poems with which you identify, and explain how your background has impacted your understanding or interpretation of theses piece. Every essay must use specific examples from the reading, including quotes, to demonstrate your assertions.
Consider these questions: What are the most important aspects of your life and your personal history? In other words, what aspects of your background impacted your interpretation of the literature? This is a narrative essay in which it is permissible to use first person (but not second person) pronouns. All other formal writing conventions must be followed.
Length Requirement: Essays must be between 500-600 words—no longer or shorter.
Citation and Formatting Requirements: The purpose of this assignment is to make a connection between your life (real life) and literature, so you must include passages from the reading with proper MLA in-text page citations. No Works Cited page is required. If you fail to make connections with the text and leave out quotes and/or citations, your essay will be incomplete. All essays must follow MLA formatting rules.