For this essay option, we want you to craft an essay that answers the following questions, all of which center on the thesis of collective identity.

In his fiction, Gabriel Garcia Marquez often explored issues of collective identity, i.e. how a group of people struggle to form a unified view of themselves.  This particularly relates to his home nation of Columbia, a country that leading up to and during his lifetime experienced a tumultuous history of colonial and corporate power grabs.  In the short story of his that we read, a tiny seaside village, perched high on remote, rocky cliffs, projects its imagination upon a drowned stranger.  For this essay option, we want you to craft an essay that answers the following questions, all of which center on the thesis of collective identity.  

 

To earn at least an 80 on your essay, you must meet each of the following criteria…

• Include at least three total quotations from the relevant assigned reading selection(s)
• Analyze and not merely summarize each of the three quotations in their own separate paragraph
• Make clear connections between the text(s) and your stated claim/thesis/interpretation
• Write an essay of at least 500 words in length (you may go longer; but don’t exceed 1000 words)
• Employ generally sound grammar and coherent essay organization

NOTE: Do not merely summarize but analyze the moments in a given text.  Summarizing is merely rehashing WHAT HAPPENS.  Analyzing is when you attempt to explain the HOW and WHY of what happens.  Use language such as “this detail in the story conveys, demonstrates, illustrates HOW or WHY…the story or the narrator…”

You do not need to use a specific documentation format (MLA for instance).  Unless you cite from a source other than the course text, you do not need a Works Cited Page.  But we do want you to use quotation marks to denote any quoted material that you did not write.  If you neglect to quote such passages, we may assume you are attempting to plagiarize.  Essays containing any instances of plagiarism will receive a 0.  

Use paragraph/line breaks to separate each paragraph.

Intro paragraph – (50-100 words)
Reflect generally on your personal state of awareness on the topics you’ll be talking about in the essay.  Wind your way eventually to your thesis statement about the three writers you’ll be talking about.

1st body paragraph (150’ish words)
Analyze how one passage (2+ lines of a poem or 2+ sentences) from one writer’s text supports your overall response.  Should include at least one quoted excerpt from the poem. 

2nd body paragraph (150’ish words)
Analyze how one passage (2+ lines of a poem or 2+ sentences) from one writer’s text supports your overall response.  Should include at least one quoted excerpt from the poem. 

3rd body paragraph (100’ish words)
Analyze how one passage (2+ lines of a poem or 2+ sentences) from one writer’s text supports your overall response.  Should include at least one quoted excerpt from the poem. 

Concluding paragraph (50-100 words) – reflect on how reading these works has impacted you to view the world in a similar way.