Zweig letter from an unknown woman

Analytical Essay For A Letter From An Unknown Woman By Stefan Zweig

GERM 1027 Essay #2

Date: Monday, March 4

The test consists of you writing one essay response to one of the following questions. As with your previous essay, you must use proper essay structure. For the test, you can use your book. The questions have already been posted on Brightspace, which gives you time to prepare your response; as a result, my expectations are higher for this test than they would be otherwise. I encourage you to prepare notes for the essay, be it jot notes outlining your structure or even rough drafts. For the test, you can bring in a sheet with your thesis statement (not your introductory paragraph), and your 3-4 supporting points in jot note form. This will be handed in with the test, and part of your mark will be based on this.

When it does come to preparing, I would recommend that pick a topic that interests you, that you establish your thesis/argument, that you chart out 3-4 argumentative points that can serve as your paragraphs and help to support that thesis, and that you find the relevant passages/quotations that you will use for support in your essay.

When it comes to quoting from the text in the test, shorter passages can be quoted in their entirety, while longer passages (anything more than three lines) can be quoted with the first few words, an ellipsis, and then the last words, e.g. “I have perhaps not yet learnt enough ... now with my other eyes” (161-62). If you use the edition of the play assigned for the class, then you do not need to include the publication information at the end of the test; however, if you do use another text or printout, you must include the publication

information (you will lose points if you do not).

Just to reiterate, you can bring your books (or printouts if you do not have a paper copy). You can also bring your thesis statement and your 3-4 supporting points in jot note form. While writing out extended notes and/or drafts can be helpful prior to the test, they cannot be out during the test. Some students have requested the use of dictionaries for language reference, and this is acceptable. Laptops and phones are not allowed; if either are out during the test, your test will be taken away and you will receive an automatic zero.

As always, please let me know if you have any questions.

1. What role does memory and the past play in A Letter From an Unknown Woman and one of the other short stories by Zweig? To what ends? Possible angles to consider would be the role of the past, the effects of nostalgia, memory and confession, the faultiness of memory itself, etc.

0. What role does love play in A Letter From an Unknown Woman and one of the other short stories by Zweig? To what ends? Possible angles to consider would be the pain of lost love, young/naive love, the power of first love, the nature of devotion, lust vs. love, the links between love and cruelty, etc.

0. What role does class play in A Letter From an Unknown Woman and one of the other short stories by Zweig? To what ends? Possible angles to consider would be the gap between rich and poor, the impact of economic destitution, the frivolity of wealth, etc.

0. What is the function of story-telling in A Letter From an Unknown Woman and one of the other short stories by Zweig? To what ends? Possible angles to consider would be the use of letters, the links made between memory and fiction, stories within stories, the “storyteller” figure, the concern over capturing the real vs. imagining a fiction, etc.

0. What is the role of accident and/or coincidence in A Letter From an Unknown Woman and one of the other short stories by Zweig? To what ends? Possible angles to consider would be chance meetings, mistaken identities, false impressions, missed opportunities, etc.

6. What connections are made between the past and the present in A Letter From an Unknown Woman and one of the other short stories by Zweig? To what ends? Possible angles to consider would be learning about the past only after it is past, failing to understand the past, trying to rectify the problems of the past, the loss of innocence that comes with the acquiring of experience, etc.

7. Discuss the role of revelation, both its presence and its absence, in A Letter From an Unknown Woman and Fantastic Night. The former withholds any real revelation, or at least it teases the reader with its possibility. The latter contains a moment of true revelation, even of epiphany, only to have the impact of this revelation be horribly and ironically overturned.

8. Discuss the role of World War I in two of the stories by Zweig. How does the war impact the plot and the characters of the stories. To what ends?

GERM 102

7

Essay #2

Date: Monday, March

4

The test consists of you writing

one

essay response to

one

of the following questions.

As with your

previous essay, you must use proper essay structure. For the test, you can use your book.

The

questions have already been posted on Brightspace, which gives you time to prepare your response;

as a result, my expe

ctations are higher for this test than they would be otherwise.

I encourage you to

prepare notes for the essay, be it jot notes outlining your structure or even rough drafts.

For the

test, you can bring in a sheet with your thesis statement (not your int

roductory paragraph), and your

3

-

4 supporting points in jot note form.

This will be handed in with the test, and part of your mark

will be based on this.

When it does come to preparing, I would recommend that pick a topic that interests you, that you

e

stablish your thesis/argument, that you chart out 3

-

4 argumentative points that can serve as your

paragraphs and help to support that thesis, and that you find the relevant passages/quotations that

you will use for support in your essay.

When it comes to

quoting from the text in the test, shorter passages can be quoted in their entirety,

while longer passages (anything more than three lines) can be quoted with the first few words, an

ellipsis, and then the last words, e.g. “I have perhaps not yet learnt en

ough ... now with my other

eyes” (161

-

62).

If you use the edition of the play assigned for the class, then you do not need to

include the publication information at the end of the test;

however, if you do use another text or

printout, you must include the

publication

information (you will lose points if you do not).

Just to reiterate, you can bring your books (or printouts if you do not have a paper copy).

You can

also bring your thesis statement and your 3

-

4 supporting points in jot note form.

While w

riting out

extended notes and/or drafts can be helpful prior to the test, they cannot be out during the test.

Some students have requested the use of dictionaries for language reference, and this is acceptable.

Laptops and phones are not allowed; if eith

er are out during the test, your test will be taken away

and you will receive an automatic zero.

As always, please let me know if you have any questions.

1.

What role does memory

and the past

play in

A Letter From an Unknow

n Woman

and one of the other

short

stories by Zweig?

To what ends?

Possible angles to consider would be the role of the past, the

effects of nostalgia, memory and confession, the faultiness of memory itself, etc.

2.

What role does love play in

A Letter

From an Unknown Woman

and one of the other short

stories

by Zweig?

To what ends?

Possible angles to consider would be the pain of lost love,

young/naive love, the power of first love, the nature of devotion, lust vs. love, the links between

love and c

ruelty, etc.

3.

What role does class play in

A Letter From an Unknown Woman

and one of the other short stories

by Zweig?

To what ends?

Possible angles to consider would be the gap between rich and poor,

the impact of

economic destitution, the frivolity o

f wealth, etc.