Research Essay for “The Red Convertible” By Louise Erdrich and “Slingshot” By Andrew Lam

Please note that the use of any AI material in your papers will result in an automatic failure of the assignment

PROMPT FOR YOUR FINAL PAPER

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“The Red Convertible” by Louise Erdrich and “Slingshot” by Andrew Lam’s depict the profound displacement and emotional struggles faced by soldiers returning from war. Henry, a Native American Vietnam veteran, grapples with the impossibility of fully coming home; exile and displacement become his permanent internalized state. Similarly, Uncle Steve is unsettled and seeks a connection to his unresolved past by becoming a blundering regular at a Vietnamese restaurant. Both men suffer from trauma, which, according to Bessel van der Kolk, “results in a fundamental reorganization of the way mind and brain manage perceptions. It changes not only how [they] think and what [they] think about, but also [the] very capacity to think” (21).

In an MLA-formatted essay, using research from Bessel van der Kolk and Karl Marlantes, identify and analyze the soldier’s experience returning from war and how their bodies have internalized the war.

This MLA formatted essay will be 6-8 pages (1500-2000 words) and thesis-driven.

Your paper should:

1. Identify and analyze Henry and Uncle Steve’s impossible struggle to resettle after the war.
2. Incorporate insights from Karl Marlantes’ What It’s Like to Go to War and Bessel van der Kolk’s research to provide psychological context. Consider how trauma affects identity, relationships, and the ability to “return home” both physically and emotionally.
3. Support your assertions with evidence from the texts, including direct quotes (not paraphrases) and thoughtful analysis of the characters’ behaviors and emotions. Use the literature to support your claims.
4. Optionally, expand your discussion to include Roger Briggs from Love Leather. A discussion of grappling with the shadow in Marlantes’s chapter on ‘Numbness and Violence.”

Possible Ways/Ideas to organize and develop this paper

• Physical Manifestations of Trauma: Van der Kolk discusses how trauma is “stored” in the body. Analyze scenes where Henry or Uncle Steve exhibit physical behaviors or actions that reflect their inner turmoil.
• Loss of Agency and Purpose: explore how trauma diminishes a sense of control over one’s life. How are the characters disconnected or powerless?
• Broken Relationships: Trauma often disrupts interpersonal connections. Explore Henry’s alienation from his brother or Uncle Steve’s longing for connection. Trauma fractures trust and intimacy.
• Healing and Coping Mechanisms: If you address efforts at healing or resolution, evaluate whether the characters engage in healthy or maladaptive coping strategies, comparing them to those suggested by Van der Kolk or practiced by Marlantes

Overview of Assignment

Be sure to show proper document formatting,

Actions in-text citations,Actions and a works-cited page.

You will submit a draft to Net Tutor or the GCC Learning Center before submitting your final paper. A tutor must review your paper before final submission.

Your research paper will offer an introduction that directly responds to the prompt with a clear thesis. Each body paragraph that follows the introduction will be organized with a strong topic sentence. You must show direct quotes from the stories and in depth analysis of the text. Do not summarize or overly paraphrase. You need to show signal phrases and the integration of sources.

You will use direct quotes from the stories, Bessel van der Kolk, and Karl Marlantes. If you use another source, it must be from the GCC library. To be clear, you will use quotations from the literature to support your claims and situate the discussion. In using the primary texts of the literature and the secondary texts of research, you will create precise MLA formatted in-text citations and strongly organized paragraphs.

Please do not use personal pronouns in this essay. You will lose significant points for using personal pronouns. We, I, or You do not create objective analytical prose. Using pronouns works well in a personal narrative, but it does not work well in this essay.

Review the Dos and Don’ts of Academic Writing.

Your paper’s paragraphs will create the general formatting of academic essays. You will have an introductory paragraph that includes a robust and detailed context and a clear thesis that responds directly to the prompt. Your thesis may NOT be a purpose statement.Links to an external site. Stating that you will be writing about X and Y is not making an argument claim. Here is a source that explains the difference.Links to an external site.

Your contextualization will set up the claim in your thesis. You will have body paragraphs with direct quotes and critical analysis. Finally, your conclusion will show your discussion’s relevance and offer a final affirmation of your scholarly ideas. Here is a good guide on conclusions.

All of your sources must come from the GCC databasesLinks to an external site. or the essays provided in the course. Avoid Google scholar and general web searches for this paper. You will not get points for using non-GCC database sources. Only GCC library sources will count because this will ensure good scholarship. Your library workshops were designed to introduce you to working with our resources.

PLEASE NOTE THAT A FINAL DRAFT WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED WITHOUT PROOF OF TUTORING.

LINKS:

Slingshot by Andre Lam: https://archive.ph/67BGc

Bessel Van Der Kolk Video: https://youtu.be/BJfmfkDQb14