A pdf of this can be found on the class website through MyPortal.
Fall 2014 EWRT1A Essay 3- Fun Home in comparison
For the last out-of-class essay, you will be writing about Fun Home and at least one other text. I am looking for an essay with a well-developed thesis statement that states a clear connection between the works you discuss. The thesis should be backed up by concrete details from both Fun Home and the other work(s). As with Essay 2, the focus here is on synthesis. So find points that the texts you discuss have in common.
1. Speaking of Fun Home, Alison Bechdel says that “the words don’t just illustrate the pictures, but… work on a completely separate track.“ I want you to try to explain what this might mean. Choose a specific scene (or perhaps related scenes) from Fun Home and explain how the narration and monstration work to create the meaning of the scene. What role does each play? Use Scott McCloud’s Understanding Comics to help explain your analysis. Use only the term or terms which help you explain your thesis.
2. Both Fun Home and “A Clack of Tiny Sparks” deal with the experiences of homosexuals in the United States. Bechdel’s father, Bruce, was born in 1936 (30), so was a teenager in the 1950s. Bernard Cooper was a teen in the 1960s. And Alison Bechdel was a teen in the 1970s. Putting these two texts together, what conclusions can you draw about how being a homosexual has or has not changed over the decades. Feel free to mention other characters in Fun Home.
3. In the course of Fun Home, Alison Bechdel’s family sometimes acts as an obstacle to her self discovery and sometimes acts as an asset. Explore one of these in your essay. How does family hinder a person’s identity? Or, how does family help one to discover one’s identity? As with the other prompts here, answer this by looking at both Fun Home and another text from our class. Some possible authors include: Mike Rose, Richard Rodriguez, Gloria Anzaldúa, and Bernard Cooper
4. Part of Alison Bechdel’s self discovery comes through reading books. Thinking of at least one other text in our class, how do books act as a means of self discovery? What do they offer? Answer this with examples from Fun Home and at least one other class text. Focus on finding similarities in the texts. Some possible authors to choose from: Malcolm X, Mike Rose, and Gloria Anzaldúa.
5. If you have another idea that you’d like to write about concerning how one of the previous texts in the class and Fun Home connect, then please talk with me about it.
Requirements
The essay needs to be in the MLA style. So make sure that you include page numbers when you quote or paraphrase specific scenes and provide a works cited list. I expect the paper to be about 4-6 pages in length, double-spaced, and in a font no bigger than twelve point Times New Roman. Two drafts are required.
First draft due November 25th
Final draft due December 4th
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