Write a paper of about 800 words analyzing conflict and setting in either one of these stories: “The Children” by Julie Otsuka (1067 in Charters) or “The Act” by Adam Haslett (click on the link)

Paper Pre-writing Prep:

Reread Chapters Three and Five in Lostracco.

I would also recommend that you review the sample papers in Chapter 10 of Lostracco, but please note that some of what is being asked of you in my paper (research, for example) is not addressed in the Lostracco text.

Review the discussions on the discussion board on Conflict and Setting.

Paper Guidelines:
This paper will be at least five paragraphs long.

The first two paragraphs should be modeled on your Central Idea Paper–the first paragraph should include a synopsis of the story and a statement of the central idea; the second paragraph should be a brief exposition of your central idea statement and an explanation of how the central idea applies to the story.

The third paragraph must begin by identifying the climax of the story and explain why this is the story’s climax. In the rest of the paragraph, you will need to discuss two conflicts (one secondary and the other primary) that produce the climax. You may want to do this by first identifying a secondary conflict, determining whether this conflict is internal or external, and then examine the ways in which this secondary conflict contributes to the primary conflict. Then you must identify whether the primary conflict is internal or external, show how the primary conflict leads to the climax, and discuss whether this conflict is resolved by the end of the story.

The fourth paragraph should discuss discuss the importance of setting to the story. Begin this paragraph with a sentence that establishes the setting of the story. For example, any of the following sentences structures could work:

The story is set in London at the beginning of the eighteenth century.

The story takes place in a two-bedroom apartment in modern-day Cincinnati.

The story is set in an unnamed Nigerian village towards the end of the British colonization of Africa.

After writing the sentence establishing the setting, analyze the physical setting in the story and its relationship to the central idea. Think about why the author chose this particular setting for the story. How is the physical setting described in the story? Does the author’s description of the setting shed light on any other elements (character or conflict)? Could the physical setting be symbolic in any way to what occurs in the story?

In the next section of the paper (ideally this should be around two paragraphs), you must incorporate research that you did about the social setting of the story. You must tie this research into your understanding of the central idea of the story and how integral the social setting is to the reader’s understanding of the story. You should not look for journal articles that discuss the story itself; instead you should research the time period/place in which the story takes place, or if you are discussing the social setting of the story, you should research the social/cultural milieu within which the story is set. For example, if the story is set in a particular country and the central idea revolves around the culturally specific roles of men and women, you may want to research particular aspects about gender roles in that country. Make sure to explicitly relate your research to specifics in the story that you choose to analyze. This section of the paper needs to be at least one paragraph long.

Research Section Requirements:

Any research you do will have to be from a reputable and credible source like a scholarly book or a journal article from the ACC library database. Go see a librarian. Ordinary Google searches and websites will not suffice.

You must have at least two secondary sources for this paper. Call or email me if you are having trouble.

One of your sources must be from the academic database.

Additional Requirements:

The paper must be typed and have an original title.

The paper must be in MLA format. For MLA formatting conventions, refer to a handbook.

Font used should be 12 Point Times New Roman.

Do not include a separate cover sheet.

Use quotations.

Provide parenthetical page number citations when quoting or paraphrasing.

Include a works cited page.

Revise and proofread for all grammatical and mechanical errors.