1) Discuss James Baldwin's "Sonny's Blues" using the method of Biographical Criticism to show how his life influenced this story. You must show specifics from both Baldwin's life and from "Sonny's Blues." You may read the story's introduction of Baldwin and the section written by Baldwin, as well as any other information you research regarding this author to help with your ideas.
2) Develop an evaluation of John Updike's "A & P" considering the differences between male and female ways of looking at situations. To do this, use a combination of the Psychological and Reader's Response Approaches. You must use specific details from the story, and you can do any additional research to expand your ideas.
3) Using Gender Criticism, evaluate either William Faulkner's "A Rose for Emily" or John Steinbeck's "The Chrysanthemums." To do this, you must use specific details from the story and can use any other research to expand your ideas.
4) Parallel Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery" to one of the following: *Men being selected for the army through lottery/draft, or *People/communities holding on to a "tradition" that may be very outdated or, worse, harmful. You must include details from the story and can use other research you find on the subject to expand your ideas.
Your essay should be two to three typed pages. It must bring in specifics that relate to the type of criticism you are using, so be certain to reread the definitions and utilize them in your ideas. Please use MLA format to write your essays. You can find information about this format by going to Cowley E-library link.